Black Ferns Chelsea Bremner and Joanah Ngan-Woo alongside assistant coach Whitney Hansen reflect on the lessons learnt after a tough battle with Australia. Video / NZ Herald / Photosport
Black Ferns assistant coach Wes Clarke admits changes to the side ahead of their World Cup opener played a role in their slow start, but says there are more changes to come.
The Black Ferns had to climb their way out of a hole against Australia at Eden Park onSaturday night, fighting back from a 17-point deficit to win 41-17.
The New Zealanders were slow out of the blocks, with the attacking execution leaving plenty to be desired and allowing the Australians to take an early stranglehold on the match.
Only one position in the back five was left unchanged for the test from that of their big win over Japan a fortnight ago, with Renee Holmes maintaining the fullback jersey. Wings Portia Woodman and Ruby Tui both started the match again, but were moved to the opposite sides of the pitch, while Amy du Plessis got her first start at second-five and Stacey Fluhler came into the starting side at centre.
Once they hit their stride, it was an onslaught, but in the opening half hour there were clear moments where players were not on the same page when they tried to launch an attack.
"That definitely played a part," Clarke said when asked if the new combinations added to the team's early issues.
"We've mixed them around a little bit and, to be fair, there's probably a couple more changes coming in the next game.
"There were a few things. I think arousal levels were maybe a bit high at the start. They settled into their work a little bit by the end of the half. Yes, we got our hands on the ball a bit more and were probably a little bit more accurate. Our attacking was slightly better at the end of the half, but it was pretty poor at the start of the game."
The Black Ferns turned the heat on Australia in the second half of their world cup opener. Photo / Dean Purcell
The coaching staff will continue to look at all available options through the group stages of the tournament, with head coach Wayne Smith indicating ahead of the test against Australia they would be looking to give players the opportunity to stake their claim to their role so that there was no doubt over what their best match-day 23 looked like come the knockout stages.
While not always pretty, there was plenty for them to take away from the win over Australia. It was a match that was telling of team's character as, despite falling into a huge hole early, they never shied away from their game plan of playing a high-tempo brand of rugby and ultimately earned a bonus point win.
That was one of a number of lessons Clarke said the team could take away from the performance, but he admitted there were some jitters in the coaching box as their side fell behind by double digits.
"There was a little bit of nerves. It's the same with the players, right? A big occasion; we've got to learn to deal with that and I think we probably learned some good lessons out of that.
"I'm just really stoked we could come away with the win – come away with five points – and still get the lessons that we got, so that's a good day."
