Finally, a Black Fern Test

9pm kick off, live and free to air on Prime

229 days after they lifted the Rugby World Cup, the Black Ferns are finally back in action! The first match of the year is the 24th test between Australia and New Zealand. Allan Bunting, in his first outing as head coach, will be keen to keep their 100% win record against their Trans-Tasman rivals. He’s not playing it safe though, naming six debutants in his lineup to take on the Wallaroos.

The hottest spots of contention for the Black Ferns are in the prop, halfback and wing positions. This is where we see new players stepping up due to form, retirement, sabbatical and injuries. Each of these positions tells a different story of where the women’s game is at and where it could be going.

As has been well documented, the Black Ferns number 9 jersey has been under lock and key for many years now. Many folks simply wouldn’t have seen a team without Kendra Cocksedge at halfback. Her long term understudy, Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu, is more than ready to step up and arguably should have been given more game time at last year’s World Cup. A player of immense mana in this group, she is my best bet to led the haka tomorrow night alongside Ruahei Demant.

Iritana Hohaia, pride of Taranaki, is her cover on the bench. In spitting distance now of the debut she was denied on the 2021 Northern Tour. She was in fantastic form for the Hurricane Poua this year. Hohaia is not a passive halfback, she’ll get stuck right in. The prospect of Demant running off her is exciting as it’s a combination we are yet enjoy.

Kate Henwood fairytale continues and she makes her debut as starting loosehead. Henwood is my age and therefore my hero. She inspires old girls everywhere to keep giving it heaps. I asked her in the press conference earlier this week, if her story was indicative of the other slightly older talent now ready to be discovered through the new opportunities on offer in the fifteens game. Here’s what she said:

We have seen a heavy rotation in and out of our props. Santo Taumata and Awhina Tangen-Wainohu were the bolters of last year’s World Cup but have been sidelined due to injury. Pip Love is noticeably absent from this line up which drops the average cap numbers significantly. Her omission and the benching of Amy Rule, likely due to the dominance of the Chiefs Manawa scrum this year.

Aotearoa seems to have an unending supply of talented outside backs. Good thing too with Portia Woodman returned to sevens, Ruby Tui on sabbatical and Ayesha Leti-I’iga currently recovering from Covid. Bunting has made it very clear that his Black Ferns team is a long term project. His vision coupled with the development of the domestic game (rumour has it Aupiki will double in length next year) could see the end of the sevens talent boomeranging into the fifteens side in World Cup years.

Kate Vaha’akolo will be making her debut at 11. She is no stranger to the world stage, having played for the Kiwi Ferns at last year’s League World Cup. Vaha’akolo has the spark and the charisma, she just needs a little polish and that jersey could be hard for Tui to take back. On the other wing, Mererangi Paul will also be making her debut.

Paul is another young athlete with a versatile skillset. She first made a name for herself in netball, playing for the Northern Mystics. Netball is hella competitive for women in New Zealand, so that achievement is nothing to be sniffed at. Paul then made her transition, just like Woodman before her, to sevens. Being named MVP of the now defunct Ignite Series (BRING IT BACK! ACTUALLY BRING ALL REGIONAL 7S BACK!). Waiting on the bench to cause trouble is Tenika Willison. I can’t say anything about Willison that this try doesn’t say all by itself.

As for Aussie, there are changes across the board to the team that put the Black Ferns fans on edge in the opening match of last year’s World Cup. Only three remain from that match’s starting line up; Grace Hamilton at 8, Ivania Wong at 11 and Georgina Friedrichs at 13. Hamilton was a hero for Australia last year, a relentless metre eater with ball in hand.

The Wallaroos have got the better of the Black Ferns recently in their starts. Last year, the two teams played each other four times and three of those times, Aussie scored first. Their discipline though has been a coach killer. In their four matches at last year’s World Cup, they picked up seven cards. Most painful of which had to be the two they got in the second half against the Black Ferns. In their first match this season against Fiji, they finally managed to stay out of the sin bin. They will be keen to keep it that way.

The most entertaining match up out there will be Carys Dallinger up against Ruahei Demant in the 10 jersey. Dallinger is well-known to the Black Ferns as a player who spent time on the cusp of this team. Having popped over to play in the Super W, the Manawatū first five decided to make use of her Aussie ancestry to play for the Wallaroos.

I don’t expect Black Ferns fans will give Dallinger the Quade Cooper treatment. She is not the first player who has grown up in the New Zealand system, only to end up heading over the ditch to play 10. My fellow Wellington Secondary School rep teammate, Nella Hake, already did that a while back. Our community is also smaller and at a different stage of development than the men’s game. Rather than a betrayal, I know I’m not alone in wishing her every success in the green and gold. If she plays well, Aussie will play well and we might finally have a decent Trans-Tasman contest.

TUNE IN:
Wallaroos vs Black Ferns
Kayo Stadium, Brisbane
Kick off 9pm NZT
Live free to air on Prime

With you,

Alice