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New Zealand underlined their status as the world’s best with a thorough 28-13 victory over England at Torero Stadium in San Diego on Sunday afternoon. In doing so the Black Ferns excised the disappointment of defeat at the hands of France and clinched the Women’s Rugby Super Series title.
Emily Scarratt opened the scoring for England after Toka Natua was shown yellow for a cynical infringement just three minutes into the match. New Zealand struck back immediately through the boot of Kendra Cocksedge, who landed the first of five successful shots at goal to level the scores.
It was Scarratt who pushed the Red Roses back out in front soon after. Quick ball at the ruck found the rangy center in acres of space and she had more than enough speed to make it around the corner for the try. Scarratt added the extras to make it 10-3 just before Natua returned from the bin.
A scoring explosion from Renee Wickliffe saw New Zealand hurdle England in a matter of moments. Cocksedge broke from a ruck, stepped past three, and connected with Charmaine McMenamin who in turn found Wickliffe open to finish in the right corner. Immediately after the restart the flying winger picked off a loose pass to canter in under the posts. The conversion from Cocksedge made it 15-10 to the Black Ferns at halftime.
England came out quickly after the break with Scarratt landing another penalty, and then New Zealand were reduced to 14 again as Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate was sent for a 10 minute break for team infringements. The Red Roses couldn’t capitalize on the extra body, however, and with the clock ticking into the final quarter the black jerseys found another gear.
Cocksedge landed a penalty on the hour mark and Wickliffe struck for her third soon after. Theresa Fitzpatrick hit the line at speed, bounced off one and got the offload out of the tackle to send the Wickliffe in for the hat trick. A third Cocksedge penalty put the result beyond doubt as England ran out of time.
SCORING
ENGLAND 13
Tries – E. Scarratt (11′)
Cons – E. Scarratt 1/1 (12′)
Pens – E. Scarratt 2/2 (4′, 46′)
Yellow cards – H. Botterman (78′)
NEW ZEALAND 28
Tries – R. Wickliffe 3 (25′, 29′, 64′)
Cons – K. Cocksedge 2/3 (30′, 65′)
Pens – K. Cocksedge 3/3 (8′, 60′, 71′)
Yellow cards – T. Natua (3′), T. Ngata-Aerengamate (49′)
TEAMS
ENGLAND
1 Vickii Cornborough, 2 Lark Davies, 3 Sarah Bern, 4 Cath O’Donnell, 5 Abbie Scott, 6 Poppy Cleall, 7 Marlie Packer, 8 Sarah Hunter (capt.), 9 Leanne Riley, 10 Zoe Harrison, 11 Claudia Macdonald, 12 Emily Scott, 13 Emily Scarratt, 14 Lydia Thompson, 15 Sarah McKenna
Replacements: 16 Heather Kerr, 17 Ellena Perry, 18 Hannah Botterman, 19 Zoe Aldcroft, 20 Sarah Beckett, 21 Amber Reed, 22 Millie Wood, 23 Kelly Smith
NEW ZEALAND
1 Toka Natua, 2 Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate, 3 Aleisha-Pearl Nelson, 4 Eloise Blackwell, 5 Charmaine Smith, 6 Pia Tapsell, 7 Marcelle Parkes, 8 Charmaine McMenamin, 9 Kendra Cocksedge (capt.), 10 Ruahei Demant, 11 Ayesha Leti-I’iga, 12 Chelsey Alley, 13 Carla Hohepa, 14 Renee Wickliffe, 15 Kelly Brazier
Replacements: 16 Luka Connor, 17 Phillipa Love, 18 Leilani Perese, 19 Joanah Ngan-Woo, 20 Marcelle Parkes, 21 Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu, 22 Theresa Fitzpatrick, 23 Alena Saili
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Amy Perrett (ARU)
Assistants: Emily Hsieh (USAR) & Hayley Aguiar (USAR)
TMO: Davey Ardrey (USAR)
