Rugby: Six new caps named in Black Ferns

5.00pm

New national women's rugby coach Jed Rowlands has picked six new faces for his Black Ferns team to play a two-test series against a World 15 next month.

Linda Itunu and Mere Kingi from Auckland, Erin Rush of Wellington and Canterbury's Clare Richardson, Stephanie Mortimer and Stacey Lene are the new faces in the squad of 22 named today.

The team will be captained by Manawatu's Farah Palmer, who led the Black Ferns to World Cup victory in Barcelona last year.

Palmer is one of 14 players retained from the champion squad.

Canterbury's Maree Edwards was in the Black Ferns when they won the World Cup in 1998.

The Black Ferns first match is at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday as a curtain-raiser to the Auckland-Northland NPC match.

The second is on October 11 at Whangarei's ITM Stadium ahead of Northland's NPC game against Wellington.

"It wasn't easy to select the final 22," Rowlands said. "There were some players who played themselves into the squad after today's trial which illustrates how competitive the game was.

"The team has a good mix of experienced players with newcomers which is exciting."

Rowlands said he didn't know much about the World team but "what I do know is that they are big and strong so we will have our work cut out."

The Black Ferns squad:

Monalisa Codling (Auckland), Maree Edwards (Canterbury), Fiaoo Faamausili (Auckland), Victoria Heighway (Auckland), Linda Itunu (Auckland), Emma Jensen (Waikato), Mere Kingi (Auckland), Stacey Lene (Canterbury), Adrianne Lilii (Auckland), Amiria Marsh (Canterbury), Stephanie Mortimer (Canterbury), Tala Mulipolo (Auckland), Hannah Myers (Auckland), Farah Palmer (captain, Manawatu), Anna Richards (Auckland), Clare Richardson (Otago), Casey Robertson (Canterbury), Erin Rush (Wellington), Regina Sheck (Waikato), Exia Shelford (Bay of Plenty), Helen Va'aga (Auckland), Cheryl Waaka (Auckland).

- NZPA