The Kiwi Ferns celebrate a try during their win over England in the Rugby League World Cup semifinal. Photo / Getty
Kiwi Ferns 20
England 6
The Kiwi Ferns are one step from glory.
They are through to another World Cup final, after an efficient — if unspectacular — 20-6 win over England in their semifinal on Tuesday.
The Ferns will play two-time defending champions Australia on Sunday (2:15am NZT) at Old Trafford, ahead of the men’s final between the Kangaroos and Samoa (5am).
New Zealand have contested every decider since 2000, taking out the first three tournaments (2000, 2003, 2008) before the Jillaroos’ recent dominance in 2013 and 2017.
It wasn’t completely straightforward on Tuesday, against a fired up England side.
When the two teams met at the same stage in 2017 it was a 52-4 thumping, but this was always going to be different.
New Zealand trailed until the 28th minute and only held a two-point advantage at the break. But their superior quality began to show in the second half and two tries in five minutes broke the game open.
Centre Mele Hufanga was a standout — scoring one try and featuring in two others while powerful back rower Amber Hall had another eye catching display.
Coach Ricky Henry won’t be happy with some of the inaccurate play — with a staggering 15 errors and a 64 per cent completion rate — but they defended strongly when it mattered and maintained their composure throughout.
Henry made two changes from the 17 that faced Australia last Friday, with Madison Bartlett replacing Autumn-Rain Stephens Daly on the flank and Charlotte Scanlan coming on to the interchange bench for Christyl Stowers.
The Ferns were still feeling the physical effects of last Friday’s battle, while England had a comparative cruise against Papua New Guinea in their last group game, and a day’s extra recovery.
That seemed to show early on.
The Ferns made a messy start, with three mistakes in the first 10 minutes.
That gave the home side the early initiative, in front of a large crowd in York.
England opened the scoring in the fourth minute, after Ferns fullback Apii Nicholls couldn’t clean up a kick. The home side went wide, with Francesca Goldthorp crossing down the right edge.
New Zealand took a while to get going, and their first try came from broken play, with Hall steamrolling three defenders from 25 metres out, before handing off to Hufanga.
The Ferns then grabbed the lead just before the half hour mark, with halfback Raecene McGregor forcing her way over from close range.
Two quick tries early in the second half made the game safe, with Hufanga key to both. First, she made a slaloming angled run, before a brilliant Nicholls’ ‘Hail Mary’ offload, which led to Otesa Pule crossing on the left flank in the 46th minute.
The Ferns ceded possession from the kick off — as the ball went dead — but went the length of the field to score off the next set.
Hufanga was again the architect, splitting the defence on the right, before prop Brianna Clark finished near the posts.
From there the Ferns managed the game well. England didn’t really come close to reducing the deficit — as New Zealand held firm on their own line — while the Ferns were content to play a territorial game, wary of the massive test coming in five days.
In the first semifinal, Australia scored 15 tries in an 82-0 demolition of Papua New Guinea.
Kiwi Ferns 20 (Mele Hufanga, Raecene McGregor, Otesa Pule, Brianna Clark tries Apii Nicholls 2 con)
England 6 (Francesca Goldthorp try; Tara-Jane Stanley con)
Halftime: 8-6
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