A sell-out Eden Park crowd left on a high following the Black Ferns' World Cup win on Saturday night. Video / Jed Bradley / Claire Trevett
Black Ferns 34
England 31
With thousands of poi in the air and a mass of bodies on the ground, the Black Ferns tonight earned their sixth - and greatest - World Cup title. But only just.
New Zealand somehow survived the deadly English maul to topple a team hailed by coach Wayne Smith as the best of all time, thrilling a record-breaking Eden Park crowd and completing their incredible resurgence.
A year after twice being thumped by England - part of the Red Roses’ 30-match winning run - the Black Ferns made it back to the top of the world with the type of rugby that has become their hallmark.
They were electric in attacking from all parts of the field, taking risks in possession and taking their chances when it mattered.
They even withstood the early loss of Portia Woodman, forced from the field after copping a high shot from Lydia Thompson that left England to battle more than an hour with 14 players.
It was a battle the Red Roses almost won. With the hooter having sounded and with England camped in the corner looking for their fifth maul try, Joanah Ngan-Woo came up with a decisive lineout steal and the Black Ferns emerged triumphant.
It would have surprised few that the maul played such a significant part in proceedings - it was a well-known weapon for England and became even more influential once they had lost their right wing.
It wasn’t that the favourites were incapable of shifting the ball through hands. They had done so with aplomb earlier in the tournament and opened the scoring tonight in the third minute through a slick exchange of hands that saw Ellie Kildunne cross in the corner.
But once Thompson had seen red, they had little reason to stray from the tactic. Not when the Black Ferns were unable to stop New Zealand-born hooker Amy Cokayne from crossing for a first-half double, and not when Marlie Packer was able to finish off another that rolled all of 20 metres.
One of the rare occasions England did attempt to spread the ball almost led to disaster, with Renee Holmes superbly picking off a loose pass before racing 70m to the line. But that was nullified by referee Hollie Davidson playing a lengthy advantage and, in a major swing, England used the penalty to score their fourth try.
But through it all, the Black Ferns would have never thought the game was slipping away, a feeling that owed to a pack possessing an effective maul of their own and a backline willing and able to strike from anywhere.
Georgia Ponsonby and Amy Rule were beneficiaries of the former while the latter was clear every time the home side sniffed space, of which there was plenty.
Woodman had been the first to stretch England before copping a nasty if unintentional shot that ended both her and Thompson’s involvement.
It was a trade England almost would have taken, a reduction in numbers but no more chasing Woodman’s shadow. Except for one factor: Ayesha Leti-I’iga came off the bench and proved equally difficult to contain.
Leti-I’iga scored her side’s second, playing the numbers game against England’s short-handed backline, and she made the midfield bust that led to Rule’s try on the stroke of halftime.
Ruby Tui of New Zealand celebrates winning the Rugby World Cup 2021 Final. Photo /Getty
That cut England’s edge to seven and what must have been a straightforward halftime message was put into practice immediately after the break as the Black Ferns found their first lead.
From the kickoff, Stacey Fluhler finished off a brilliant break after swapping passes with Holmes, showing England’s 14 women how difficult the next 40 minutes would be for their defence. Then, after a 50-22 from Kendra Cocksedge, Krystal Murray stepped off the bench to put the Ferns in front, crashing over in the same left corner.
A stunned England could have been forgiven for going back to basics, especially when the Black Ferns kept ingraining and Cokayne soon rumbled across the line to retake the lead.
That two-point advantage must have felt ever narrower given their numbers but England were breathing a little easier when Kennedy Simon, not long after being introduced, was sent to the sin bin for contact with the shoulder.
But the Black Ferns were unbowed and, following an inch-perfect kick from Ruahei Demant, Leti-I’iga collected a popped pass from Fluhler to score her second - and World Cup-winning - try.
