‘No tomorrow if you lose’: Black Ferns prepare for Springbok Women

Assistant coach Steve Jackson insists the Black Ferns “are going to leave no stone unturned” as they prepare to face the Springbok Women at Exeter’s Sandy Park, with the winner earning another two weeks at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand have played at their quarter-final venue before, beating Japan 62-19 on August 31. They also defeated Spain at York Community Stadium earlier in pool play, before saving their best performance for last, knocking off Ireland 40-0 in Brighton.

Stacey Waaka opened the scoring in the 14^th minute before Chryss Viliko and Braxton Sorensen-McGee crossed for first-half tries. Sorensen-McGee completed a hat-trick during the second term, before Maia Joseph had the final say with a five-pointer in the last minute.

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe – The Threads That Bind Us

Emotive new short film features Woodman-Wickliffe’s Mount Albert Grammar School pupils speaking about the New Zealand rugby legend ahead of kick-off at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe – The Threads That Bind Us

Emotive new short film features Woodman-Wickliffe’s Mount Albert Grammar School pupils speaking about the New Zealand rugby legend ahead of kick-off at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.

Director of Performance Allan Bunting highlighted the team’s “ferocious” defence post-game, as they held one of the top-five sides in women’s rugby to nil. But with that match now in the past, the Black Ferns are firmly focused on knockout rugby and the challenge that awaits.

“We’ve been slowly building, we put up a really good performance out against Ireland the other day, to keep them scoreless. Happy with the tries we scored, pretty happy with where they came from,” Jackson told reporters.

“It’s not the complete performance that we are looking for, but I think we are coming into this game nicely. We saw glimpses for long periods of that game of what we can do with ball in hand but also without the ball in hand.

“Mentality changes 100%. This is a quarter-final, there is no tomorrow if you lose. We cannot be complacent – we will have to be at our best to come out on top,” he added.

“This isn’t pool play anymore, if you win you move forward, if you lose you are back on the airplane the next day going home. We understand how big this game is, we are going to leave no stone unturned week.”

South Africa qualified for their first-ever Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final with wins over Brazil and Italy. That result against Italy was especially important, with Sinazo Mcatshulwa scoring with seven minutes to play during the 29-24 triumph.

While South Africa were beaten by France last weekend, history awaits against for the Springbok Women. They will face the Black Ferns on Saturday, just hours after the Springboks take on the All Blacks at Wellington’s Sky Stadium in The Rugby Championship.

“It’s something to look at definitely, I wouldn’t say that we are wary of it right now, but we know that it is their game, they are big, they are physical and very direct,” Jackson explained.

“The other thing that we will have to deal with on the weekend is their passion. They will be very passionate being in their first quarter-final, it’s about how we can deal with that emotion especially in the first 20 minutes.

“We know what we are in for, we will give them every respect that they deserve.”