Black Ferns too strong for Women’s Eagles

The pace and power of Portia Woodman was once again in full display as the dynamite winger landed four tries to lead New Zealand past the USA by 45-12 in the Semi Final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup on Saturday. Kingspan Stadium hosted an exciting match that saw the Eagles give the Black Ferns a real test until running out of steam in the final quarter.

A shaky start for the USA allowed New Zealand to get on the scoreboard with fans still finding their seats. The Black Ferns worked an overlap on the right side and quick ball gave them all they needed to put Victoria Subtrizky-Nafatali over as the clock ticked over the two-minute mark. Kendra Cocksedge couldn’t connect on the conversion, however, and that opened the door for a mighty surprise as it was the Eagles who scored next.

Naya Tapper came in off her wing to wreak havoc in the midfield. The USA got their own quick ruck and Cheta Emba took out two defenders, popping the offload over the top to Kristen Thomas in space. Woodman’s tackle attempt was fended off and Thomas was into the corner. Alev Kelter’s superb conversion sailed over and the Eagles had an unlikely lead.

It was short-lived, however, as Cocksedge sent over a penalty goal just moments later, and then Woodman got her hands on the ball. Popping up as first receiver she barreled through four defenders to score in an awesome display of strength. The conversion would be the final scoring act of the half as the Eagles managed to hold out until the break.

Woodman was first on the board in the second half, though this time it was a team effort. Kelly Brazier stabbed the ball in behind the defense for Selica Winiata to run onto and the diminutive fullback popped the ball out of Emba’s tackle to give Woodman the easiest of scores.

Kelter showed her pace with a 45 meter foot race to the line, just fending off Winiata to score for the USA against the run of play. Jordan Gray charged down Subritzky-Nafatali’s kick and Stacey Bridges was the recipient of the deflection, the second row wriggling through and dropping the ball into Kelter’s hands.

The final quarter belonged to New Zealand, however, with Woodman’s third kicking off four unanswered scores. A fourth for Woodman was followed by one each to Te Ngata Aerengamate and Kelly Brazier, the latter capping a superb match for the midfielder.

New Zealand march on to the World Cup Final against England on Saturday as the two best teams in the world have thus far obliged all predictions. The USA will have their shot at Bronze when they take on France, also at Kingspan Stadium, kickoff set for noon Eastern.

 

SCORING

NEW ZEALAND 45
Tries – V. Subritzky-Nafatali (2’), P. Woodman 4 (25’, 48’, 61’, 71’), T. Ngata-Aerengamate (74’), K. Brazier (77’)
Cons – K. Cocksedge 2 (26’, 78’)
Pens – K. Cocksedge 2 (18’, 54’)
Yellow cards – L. Itunu (65’)

USA 12
Tries – K. Thomas (15’), A. Kelter (58’)
Cons – A. Kelter (16’)

 

TEAMS

NEW ZEALAND
1 Toka Natua (17 Sosoli Talawadua 66’), 2 Fiao’o Fa’amausili (capt.) (16 Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate 70’), 3 Aldora Itunu (18 Aleisha Nelson 60’), 4 Eloise Blackwell, 5 Charmaine Smith (19 Becky Wood 68’), 6 Charmaine McMenamin (20 Lesley Ketu 60’), 7 Sarah Goss, 8 Aroha Savage (21 Linda Itunu 59’), 9 Kendra Cocksedge, 10 Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali, 11 Renee Wickliffe (23 Carla Hohepa 59’), 12 Kelly Brazier, 13 Stacey Waaka (22 Theresa Fitzpatrick 74’), 14 Portia Woodman, 15 Selica Winiata

USA
1 Catie Benson (18 Nicole James 56’), 2 Katy Augustyn (16 Sam Pankey 70’), 3 Tiffany Faaee (capt.) (17 Hope Rogers 46’), 4 Stacey Bridges (19 Abby Gustaitis 66’), 5 Alycia Washington, 6 Sara Parsons, 7 Kate Zackary (20 Kristine Sommer 76’), 8 Jordan Gray, 9 Deven Owsiany (21 Kayla Canett 70’), 10 Kimber Rozier (22 Tess Feury 74’), 11 Kristen Thomas (23 Jessica Wooden 74’), 12 Alev Kelter, 13 Nicole Heavirland, 14 Naya Tapper, 15 Cheta Emba

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Alhambra Nievas (FER)
Assistants: Sean Gallaher (IRFU) & Rose LaBrèche (RC)
TMO: David Grashoff (RFU)