Black Ferns: Backrower eyes third title

The Black Ferns play France in tomorrow's Women's Rugby World Cup semifinal. Photo / Getty Images

The best thing about talking to New Zealand's Casey Robertson is her straight talking no-nonsense assessment of how her team are shaping up for a fourth World Cup title in a row, scrumqueens.com writes.

Robertson herself is looking at her third World Cup title but the previous two victories came when she was lining out in the front row for New Zealand - and she's much happier now in her favoured positons in the backrow.

"I think it's fair to say I disliked propping. Back in 2002 the coaches were looking for mobile props so I went in there to get in the squad and stayed there for five years and two World Cups which we won.
It wasn't easy, I wasn't playing there at all at any other level and after the last World Cup in 2006 I decided to call a halt to it.

"I had slipped a disk in my neck and was experiencing really bad headaches. I was playing club and for Canterbury at flanker and 8 which I loved and I decided to just myself available again as a backrow player for New Zealand."

It was a brave decision for the experienced player who knew that the Black Ferns had great backrow talent who had been making strides while she'd been toiling in the front row.

It was a move that took a while to pay off as she was omitted from the squad who went to Australia in
2008 for a two test series, but her hard work made good when she was back in the squad for the tour to England last year.

New Zealand had mixed fortunes on that tour - winning the first test and the game against England A but losing the final test at Twickenham. She says the tour wasn't as enjoyable as others she'd been on.

"Terrible is a good way to put how that went! It was one of those trips where we knew the budget was always going to be very tight but I think we were could have been treated better. We were staying miles out of anywhere and the accommodation and food, things like that, were pretty poor. We played well at the start but we had a small squad and it was tough going so everything accumulated towards the end and it showed in the last test. We didn't play well and we were punished for it."

"Fair play to England they took their chances but they had two squads to play us and they were at home and we still managed to win two of the test games so we didn't do too badly to be honest."

Roberston accepts that New Zealand's preparation for this World Cup has been less intense than the likes of England, and France who they face next but she says that could be a benefit too.

"I think if we play how we want to play, a wide expansive fast game, no-one will match us and in a way it's good we don't play other teams as much because they would get used to the style we like and work out better how to combat that. So sometimes being unknown is a benefit. I don't envy the teams who play all the time really though. I like my life, I work fulltime on the farm at Mount Hutt, and I feel a bit more balanced. I don't sleep and breathe rugby, I train with the local men's team and it's like a small community and it's kept rugby exciting for me the last few years."

Robertson got her World Cup off to a storming start with a player of the match performance against South Africa.

"We have brought a a higher split of forwards here and I definitely needed to start with a bang to try and help get selected for the matches coming up now. I was disappointed to not be part of the squad for the Australia game - I have never played them - but I understand we have to rotate so I was raring to go for the Wales match which was scrappy but we pulled through."

Worryingly for France, who they play next, Roberston fully believes New Zealand have lots of room for improvement.

"In the Wales match we didn't really stick to our plan or stay calm enough but we did enough. At times we look really good and at times we have looked poor. We're finding the breakdown area quite tough - after the first game we felt that we weren't being allowed to clear it out or use our feet and it's frustrating as teams playing us want to slow us down so the game suffers. That's the benefit of moving on to the semis now. As we play better teams hopefully we can clear it out faster and have a bit more competition there. We have a lot of places to improve."

Of France, who they beat 40-10 at the last World Cup, she expects a tussle.

"They are such an unknown team. They played so poorly against Sweden, who they should have put away, and I think they will definitely put out a big first 40 against us. We need to stay on top of them and go out there and finish it off. We beat them well in the last World Cup but they were still scrapping till the end. The hard thing with France is that once they know they are beaten it turns into a a scrap so you have to just focus on staying controlled and disciplined."

Back in New Zealand she accepts that the game is in a delicate position, with the cancellation of the NPC putting pressure on the players to show that they deserve better support from the NZRU.

"There is always pressure on our team. We are not as well supported by our union as other teams and you don't want to give them any excuse to make things any harder for us. We want to be four time World Champs and we have definitely got the team here to do but but yeah there is pressure on us every game, probably the same pressure there is on England. People expect us to win, we have always had that so we know how to deal with it.

"Cancelling the NPC was disappointing, it is a step back. The NPC has always been on in a World Cup year. We don't have age grade teams so we need the NPC. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to develop a new strategic plan for the women's game with a lot of our ex-Black Ferns involved so hopefully the NPC will be back next year."

Robertson says she will definitely be hanging up her black jersey after this World Cup.

"I am getting to an age where I could do with having some more time to myself. I will play club I hope but this is it for me and the national team. It would be pretty special to go out with a third World Cup."

New Zealand play France on Thursday morning at 7.15am.