Kennedy Simon will make her return against Wales this weekend. Photo / Photosport
Kennedy Simon will make her return against Wales this weekend. Photo / Photosport
Kennedy Simon’s road to the World Cup has been rocky.
An accidental clash during one of the Black Ferns’ first training sessions of the year saw the loose forward sidelined from the international arena for more than three months with a dislocated knee, torn calf muscle and ligament damage.
Shewas able to return to the pitch in the first match against Australia in the Laurie O’Reilly Trophy series in late August, putting in a solid 80-minute performance. However, she was limited to just 29 minutes the following week and left the ground on crutches after sustaining a lower leg injury.
While she had hoped to be fit for the start of the World Cup campaign six weeks later, she has instead had to bide her time and watch on as her teammates earned the top seed heading into the quarter-finals.
This weekend, as the Black Ferns head into the knockout stages against Wales in Whangārei, their co-captain will return to the pitch after a two-month absence.
“It was difficult, I won’t lie about that,” Simon said, reflecting on her second lengthy recovery period this year. “Training on the sideline, getting the rehab running going, watching the team gel and find their combinations, it was hard, but the team is really special. They got around me and made sure I was up to speed. We’d talk about the little things they picked up in the team training that I could take into this week. It’s been a journey, but my coaches have had my back.
“I’m really grateful to still be here and have the faith of my team and coaches to allow me to take the opportunity to put my feet out on the park and put the black jersey on.”
Kennedy Simon has featured for the Black Ferns since their win over Australia in Adelaide in late August. Photo / Photosport
Despite the setback, Simon said she never had any doubt that she would get her opportunity to represent the country at some point during the World Cup. When she takes to the field on Saturday from the bench, she will become the final player in the 32-strong squad to play in the campaign. It will be her World Cup debut.
Although Simon hasn’t been able to help the team on the field on game day, the 26-year-old has been sure to stay active in training sessions and has looked for ways to be helpful at any opportunity.
Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith was full of praise for his co-captain and the impact she has been able to have in a non-playing role.
“She’s probably the most innovative captain I’ve been involved with,” Smith said. “When she wasn’t training, she’d get stats done of training and feed them back to the girls.
“She helped the coaches a hell of a lot, her messaging is really clear, she’s really direct and well respected, so it’s great to be able to get her back on the field.”
Those qualities will be welcome additions to the Black Ferns as they head into the business end of the tournament, with a rematch against Wales first on the agenda.
The Black Ferns toppled Wales 56-12 during pool play. However, they were not happy with their performance in terms of physicality and around the set piece in that outing.
“They pumped us physically in that first game that we played them, so we’ve got some ground to make up,” Smith said.
Simon’s inclusion on the bench is one of several personnel changes made from last weekend’s outing against Scotland at the same venue, with several players welcomed back into the starting side including top try scorers Portia Woodman and Ruby Tui.
While the Welsh pack got the better of their New Zealand counterparts last time out, it will be a different group matching them at scrum time, with many players from last weekend’s impressive performance against Scotland – a vastly different pack to that which faced Wales in pool play – lining up again.
Black Ferns: Ruby Tui, Portia Woodman, Stacey Fluhler, Theresa Fitzpatrick, Ayesha Leti-I’iga, Ruahei Demant (c), Kendra Cocksedge, Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, Sarah Hirini, Alana Bremner, Chelsea Bremner, Maiakawanakaulani Roos, Amy Rule, Georgia Ponsonby, Phillipa Love.
