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The Black Ferns ever-changing pack the biggest question mark ahead of France
Typically, affable Black Ferns Director of Rugby Wayne Smith was furious shortly after the 56-12 World Cup group victory against Wales on October 16.
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Despite outscoring the scarlets ten tries to two in Waitakere the erudite rugby authority complained.
“Really disappointing. A lot of them [penalties] are avoidable. It really annoys me when I see it. You do so much work during the week from staying up, hitting low, and we go out and do that. It’s disappointing because a lot of them are just stupid, avoidable penalties,” he said.
Five times the Black Ferns were pinged at the scrum and Wales had double the number of lineouts extracting four penalties and two tries from rolling mauls.
Scotland suffered the rebuke down 0-45 at halftime in the Black Ferns last group match in Whangarei on October 22.
Tellingly the forward display was clinical and of the starting pack against Scotland only Joanah Ngan-Woo was regulated to the bench for the Welsh quarter-final on Saturday.
The Black Ferns forward pack has been changed consistently in 2022 and has been the subject of earnest examination after the pathetic lack of resistance in 2021.
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Three questions remain ahead of the semi-final against France on Saturday at Eden Park. Who will start at hooker? Will exceptional Wellington lock Joanah Ngan-Woo return to the starting XV and how does the availability of previously injured by Kennedy Simon possibly alter the back row?
Canterbury hooker Georgia Ponsonby has been preferred ahead of Luka Connor in three of four matches at the tournament. A precise player, Ponsonby has taken her opportunities with solid improvement, but does she bring the bustling energy of Connor who has also has a happy knack of scoring tries?
Ponsonby is marginally better on the throw, holds her own in the scrum but wouldn’t provide the impact Connor could off the bench so expect Ponsonby to stay.
Joanah Ngan-Woo has started seven of the ten Tests in the Wayne Smith era. A damaging ball carrier she is also busy on defence but not the workhorse that Chelsea Bremner is.
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Bremner topped the tackle count against Australia, working feverishly to try and surpress a rampant start by the Wallaroos.
However, it was a muscular try by Ngan-Woo that sparked the revival against Australia. Ngan-Woo is surely too good to be overlooked so does Bremner go? Remarkably Mia Ross maybe scarified. The youngster has been phenomenal making 20 tackles and 23 ball carries in the last two games but to dent France, Ngan-Woo offers compelling attributes.
Alongside Valerie Adams and Lisa Carrington, Sarah Hirini is arguably the most influential Kiwi sportswomen this Millennium. How then could her starting position be under threat? Kennedy Simon, that’s why.
Hirini is present in the tackle, a proven leader and link player in the mould of Josh Kronfeld, scoring two good tries this tournament. However, is she bundled off the ball at the breakdown too often?
Hirini hasn’t been a prolific poacher in contrast to Simon who was named Black Fern of the Year in 2021, one of the few players that stood up against France and England. Simon might be undercooked with only 29 minutes under her belt at this tournament but is she worth the gamble ahead of Hirini or the bigger body of Liana Mikaele-Tu’u?
The backline is settled. Halfback Kendra Cocksedge was at her sprightly and calculated best against Wales. Ruahei Demant has been the biggest benefactor of a full-time professional contract. Almost non-existent at second-five on the disastrous tour last year she has emerged as a world class first-five and captain with a personality not dissimilar to past heavyweights Farah Palmer and Fiao’o Fa’amausili.
Theresa Fitzpatrick has been named player of the match twice at second-five and has flourished alongside Stacey Fluhler, doing enough to resist strong challenges from Sylvia Brunt and Amy du Plessis for the 12-jersey.
Ayesha Leti-l’iga, Portia Woodman and Ruby Tui comprise an electrifying back three that have scored 56 tries in 47 Tests combined. Renee Holmes might be the best long distance goal kicker on the roster, but Tui has the charisma of Martin Luther-King within the team and has played out her skin since debuting against Australia in June so won’t be discarded.
France made 227 tackles against England and only conceded one try, an honourable rearguard against a team on a world record 29-game winning streak. Otherwise, they’ve been hard to read this tournament, devastating at their best, and sleepy at their worst.
If the Black Ferns get the forward balance right, then perhaps their vibrant ambition combined with the weight of an enthusiastic home crowd will be enough to see them over the line.
On another note, how brutally efficient is England’s lineout? They have won 66 of their own 70 lineout throws, stolen a dozen of the oppositions and scored a bundle of tries from an imperious resource. When the Springboks won the World Cup in 2019, they won 69 of 70 lineouts and stole at least one opposition throw in every game, a serious weapon that disguised other glaring limitations.
Comments on RugbyPass
He seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
3 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
15 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
15 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
3 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
15 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
15 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to comments