Middleton: Black Ferns under 'massive' pressure to win RWC final at home
Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton believes the Black Ferns are under “massive” pressure to defend their World Cup crown in front of their home supporters this weekend.
Under the tutelage and guidance of super coach Wayne Smith, the Black Ferns have embarked on an epic journey at their home World Cup – and have inspired the nation with their character.
The Black Ferns had lost two Test matches against both England and France by emphatic margins on their end-of-season tour last year, but have well and truly turned their fortunes around.
Superstars including Stacey Fluhler, Portia Woodman and Kendra Cocksedge have showcased their unwavering determination on the field, and appreciation of the occasion off it.
While the women in black faced their toughest test of the tournament so far in the semi-final, sneaking past France by one-point in a thriller, it doesn’t get any easier in the decider.
The Black Ferns have shown that the form book can be irrelevant in these big Test matches, as a stadium of five million prepares to get behind their team once more. #RWC2021 #WomensRugby https://t.co/XCYf3yvBPA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2022
The Black Ferns have New Zealand rugby fans daring to dream ahead of their epic clash against World No. 1 England at Auckland’s famous rugby venue.
Call it mind games, call it reality, but while pressure is part of elite sport the Red Roses have made sure to remind the Black Ferns of the stakes of Saturday’s decider in front of a New Zealand crowd.
“It’d be more intimidating for them to lose in front of their home crowd is a tough gig. The pressure on them in absolutely massive,” Middleton told reporters.
“We’ve been to some pretty hostile environments, Bayonne this year was incredible. But you thrive on it.
“I watched the girls come off the field at the end of the warmup in Bayonne, when we’re going for the Six Nations title against France in France, again probably as tough as it can be.
“The crowd were really getting stuck into them. You could see it lift them.”
Other than a disastrous start to their World Cup campaign, going behind 17-nil against rivals Australia in their opener, the Black Ferns were relatively untested until their semi-final.
New Zealand scored 209 points during their first four Test matches in the tournament, before facing France for a spot in the decider.
The women in black had lost two Test matches against France last November, but were spurred on by the home crowd in a hard-fought clash.
New Zealand rugby fans aren’t going to forget the 2011 epic World Cup final decider against Les Bleus anytime soon – and just like that Test 11-years ago, fans from both nations held their breath as the match came down to the dying stages.
French flyhalf Caroline Drouin missed a chance to give her side the lead with a penalty goal inside the last minute, and the Black Ferns desperately did what they could to run out the clock.
The Black Ferns were well and truly pioneers of women’s rugby in Aotearoa, and they’re now just 80-mintues away from rugby immortality.
As for the Red Roses, who had qualified for the final after beating Canada earlier in the day, they watched as the chaotic end to the Test unfolded.
Coach Middleton fired another shot at the Black Ferns ahead of the final though, saying they were “lucky” to have beaten France.
“We were all sat in the room downstairs, all the girls and all the staff, and I have never heard so many screams in my life,” he said.
“It was great fun because you could see the drama of it all unfolding. Your heart goes out to Caroline Drouin because it was such a tough moment for her.
“Some could argue the Black Ferns are lucky to be in the final but that’s sport.
“As Sarah (Hunter) mentioned earlier, you take your chances when they come and nobody can predict what’s going to happen in sport.
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“The atmosphere was incredible in the room and we were just enjoying it, as you do when you know you’re in there, that you’re already in the final.”
World No. 1 England are currently on a 30-Test winning streak, and would be aware of the daunting prospect of that record coming to an end at the worst time possible.
But England captain Sarah Hunter said the team hasn’t felt the pressure this week, and has instead felt quite “relaxed” ahead of the final.
“We’ve had such a great week. We’ve had a great week of training, we’ve had a great week of being together, it just feels real relaxed, it doesn’t feel like we’re about to play a final,” Hunter said.
“I think that’s exactly where you want the squad to be, both staff and players, because I guess staff probably feel that pressure.
“There’s just been this sense of calmness and enjoying the week. Anyone that was at training yesterday could see the energy that was there, the enjoyment of a Wednesday session that I don’t think we’ve ever said.
“There’s that real sense of wanting to be together… just go in and play without fear. There’s things in life that you don’t get to do very often and very few people get to do, and that’s to play in a World Cup final.
“If you don’t enjoy playing in the biggest occasions then you’re in the wrong place. We just want people to be in that and just go enjoy themselves, play without that fear.
“In sport things don’t always go your way but we’ll always look back and know we have done everything we can do on Saturday, regardless of the result, and we can be proud of that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments