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
Whitney Hansen believes a tactic used by Australia to slow down the Black Ferns in their World Cup opener will be commonly used against them in their quest to retain the trophy.
With the New Zealand side looking to play a high-tempo brand of rugby, the Australians tried to slowthe game down where they could and made the most of that when it came to setting up their set piece.
For the Black Ferns, playing fast is something they want to achieve across the park, not just when the ball gets to the backline. In addressing the time it took to get scrums completed at the weekend, assistant coach Hansen said speed wasn't an issue on her team's side of the equation.
"It's definitely a tactic I think teams will try to use against us. We're trying to play fast, exciting footy that is great to watch, and I think teams are going to try pull that out across the World Cup because it eats away minutes of us doing exciting things," Hansen said.
"Hopefully it's something that the referees will look at and police. We're certainly practicing how quickly we can do it. In our trainings we've got it down to about 10 seconds. So, bring on opposition; we're welcome to any challenges around that."
The Black Ferns pack a scrum against Australia in their world cup opener. Photo / Photosport
The set piece has been a major area of focus for the Black Ferns since the side were outmatched in that area by England and France on last year's northern tour.
Hansen, whose coaching portfolio includes set piece and forwards as well as some attack duties, has been working alongside former All Blacks scrum coach Mike Cron to shore things up in that area.
While there has been some clear improvements, Hansen said the Black Ferns' win over Australia on Saturday proved there was a lot more work to be done in the coming weeks.
"We're pretty critical of ourselves. Forwards do, probably, more thinking than backs, so we're even more critical," Hansen said.
"But I think they recognise it wasn't good enough; we're better than that and we didn't showcase or introduce ourselves in the way that we set out to, so we've got to look at that and go out and do it next week.
"It was better, and we've been on a journey with that. But it's not good enough. Being the brains of the operation in the forwards, we're pretty critical on what we put out there. We've all just talked about it not being good enough; we've got to go again, be better this week and continue to build."
Black Ferns assistant coach Whitney Hansen. Photo / Photosport
Hansen didn't waste any time in reviewing that element of the match, with the set piece expected to go a long way in deciding the tournament. That might count more so for the Black Ferns, with the pack playing a vital role in setting the platform for their fan-friendly attack to launch from.
While there were lessons to take from the performance against Australia, the Black Ferns were able to claim a bonus-point win to finish the weekend atop their group.
On Sunday, they'll meet second-placed Wales, who edged out Scotland 18-15 in their first match of the tournament.
"They had some good options on attack," Hansen said of the Welsh side. "They certainly are here to play and are a force to be reckoned with. They'll be a good challenge for us."
