Black Ferns set sights on Twickenham clash against England after Pacific Four series

The Black Ferns beat the Wallaroos 67-19 in Albany. Photo / Photosport

Concluding their Pacific Four series with a 67-19 win over Australia on Saturday, the Black Ferns will now have the best part of two months before they return to action.

But that next test – against Australia in Brisbane – isn’t the one they’ve got circled on their calendars.

In September, the Black Ferns will travel to England for a standalone test against the Red Roses at Twickenham. It will be the first time the sides meet after England taught the Black Ferns some lessons in the final round of last year’s WXV 1 tournament.

Speaking after the Black Ferns locked away the Laurie O’Reilly Cup for another year with Saturday’s win over Australia, coach Allan Bunting said there was plenty his side learned during their Pacific Four campaign that will help their preparations for September.

“We’ve learned quite a bit and we’ll have Aussie again and they’ll come back firing. They’ve had a hard series. They are a good team, Aussie and they fought back quite well and scored some good tries too; really tested our defence, but for us, we’ve got our eyes on Twickenham,” Bunting said.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff we need to work on, probably as a coaching group too. How we prepare our ladies a bit better for that sort of pressure but I think we’ve got those learnings now and can implement that.”

Over the course of the Pacific Four series, the Black Ferns saw themselves tested defensively in all three of their tests, while Canada were able to apply pressure through their accuracy and execution on both sides of the ball.

That sort of pressure can be expected, albeit taken up a notch, by the world No 1 English team.

“I think our coaches are preparing us really well and we know where we need to get to, but it’s taking that week by week at this stage,” Black Ferns co-captain Ruahei Demant said.

“We’re still trying to grow as a team and as individuals, and fortunately for us, we’ve got coaching staff that can help us get there. There’s been a lot of lessons learned over the last five weeks, and we know we’ll continue to build on these lessons as we build towards Twickenham.”

The Black Ferns adjusted their game quickly to exploit the Wallaroos, largely parking their kicking game after the early exchanges and blowing the Australians away with a high-octane running game.

Led by the work up the middle from the forwards – No 8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker particularly damaging – the back line moved the ball along quickly and accelerated when the space did open up.

Coming in off a loss to Canada the week prior and running out a squad with several new or returning faces, Bunting said the performance was a step in the right direction.

“It was definitely a lot better than last week, and good to see some of our players that haven’t played much get out there and play well. It’s pleasing to see our growth from last week.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.