The Black Ferns built a three-point lead in the World Cup final by taking a series of bold but calculated risks. They saved their biggest for the final seconds.
England were threatening to score their fifth maul try of the match and snatch the trophy from their hosts’ grasp, camped in the corner after the hooter had sounded at Eden Park.
Up in the coaches’ box, while the Red Roses prepared the lineout feed, Wayne Smith could have been forgiven for watching through his fingers. Instead, the man known as the Professor imparted one final piece of guidance.
”We took a risk on that last lineout,” Smith said later, the World Cup gleaming in front of him. “The message was sent down: get somebody up. And that someone was Joanah Ngan-Woo, who’s a phenomenal athlete, good under pressure, and she did the business.”
She did indeed. While committing to the air could have severely hampered their maul defence, the substitute lock rose high and disrupted the English throw, earning a lineout steal that saw the Black Ferns seal their sixth World Cup crown.
