By Jonathan Bowen
Against all the odds, New Zealand’s Blackferns won the Rugby World Cup in Auckland last Saturday.
In a game that the English team dominated, New Zealand’s self-belief and determination saw them defend the title they won five years ago in Dublin.
The English team were deflated at the final whistle, seeing their chance to win a third World Cup and continue their undefeated run of 30 successive wins come to an end was all too much for an emotional English captain Sarah Hunter during the post-match press conference.
The atmosphere at Eden Park was electric. The stadium was full of 42,579 screaming New Zealand fans and the hopes of the nation were riding on the team’s back.
England started the game with passion and vigour. It took England only three minutes to break down New Zealand’s defense and score the first try of the game through Emily Scarratt.
New Zealand tried to get back into game with some great individual play by Ruby Tui and Portia Woodman, however England’s dominance at the breakdown and rucks meant that New Zealand couldn’t make too much progress.
In the 13th minute after an English penalty kick pushed play up to within ten meters of their try line, from the corresponding lineout which England won they then created the maul which marched New Zealand back across their own try line to score the try through arguably the player of the tournament Amy Cokayne.
Following the restart, the defining moment came after a brilliant run down the wing by Portia Woodman came to a halt. A charging Lydia Thomson went to tackle Portia but she collided heads with her and knocked Portia out. Portia’s final would come to an end after she failed the HIA test and Lydia Thomson’s day came to an end after receiving a red card for a head collision tackle.
With Lydia being sent off this would mean England were down to fourteen players for the rest of the match.
New Zealand would fight their way back into the match when, in the 17th minute after a New Zealand penalty kick saw play move deep into England’s defensive half, New Zealand would win the corresponding lineout and create the maul which they used to drive the English defense backwards leading eventually to Georgia Ponsonby scoring the try for New Zealand.
New Zealand’s fight back wouldn’t last long though, they knocked on the ball from the restart and England used the opportunity to attack. winning a lineout deep within New Zealand’s defensive half and creating a rolling maul that New Zealand couldn’t stop. Marlee Packer would fall off the back of the maul and cross the line for the try.
England were starting to feel the pain of being a player down when they were caught offside and New Zealand used the penalty to kick for touch and put the pressure on England’s defense again. New Zealand won the line out and went to their maul which this time wasn’t making the progress it had previously. The half back then passed the ball wide and after multiple passes Ayesha Leti-l’iga found herself in space and ran across the try line to score. At this stage 24 minutes of the game had been played and the score 19-14 in England’s favor. There was a feeling this game was only getting started.
England and New Zealand were going at it for the next eight minutes, phase after phase, kicking and chasing with each team trying to break down the other.
The game changed when a brilliant intercept pass from New Zealand led to a length of the field try, however the try was disallowed as the referee had blown for a penalty as she was paying advantage for an earlier maul bring brought down illegally.
England took their opportunity and didn’t look back. They took the penalty and kicked for touch and won the corresponding lineout. They then created the maul and, sure enough, Amy Cokayne was there to fall off the back to score the try. This was a heartbreaking moment for New Zealand where the team went from a potential intercept try to conceding a try themselves.
After some back and forth play New Zealand would take the opportunity given to them just before half time when, after some good possession and playing the ball through the hands, England conceded a penalty on their defensive 22-meter line.
New Zealand would kick for touch and would win the line out and create the maul which this time was able to push England backwards over their own try line only for Amy Rule to fall off the back of the maul and score the try. This score would be the final play of the half and England would be happy with the fact they were leading 26 -19 with 14 players on the field.
The second half started with a bang, New Zealand would take possession of the ball through Stacey Fluerer and she then ran at the English defense where with some clever play with Renee Hayes passing the ball to each other, she ran through the gaps of the English defensive down the wing for Stacey Fluerer to score an easy try which brought New Zealand back into the game. New Zealand had a sniff that the game might be there for the taking now.
Errors were starting to creep into both teams’ game, however a kick by New Zealand got in behind the English defense leading to an England lineout 20 meters from their try line. New Zealand would win the line out and maul however the maul collapsed and New Zealand played the ball through the hands. The progress of their attack was slow and didn’t seem to be making much progress only for the pass to go to Crystal Murray who found the try line and scored for the Blackferns. This score would put New Zealand in the lead for the first time in the game.
A New Zealand knock on from the restart would lead to England using the opportunity to build an attack which would lead to the referee awarding a penalty to them, which again they kicked for touch. They won the lineout and created their infamous rolling maul and sure enough Amy Cokayne was there to score her third try, swinging the pendulum back towards England and retaking the lead, 31-29.
The game was not over yet, far from it. New Zealand made an opportunity from nothing when in the 71st minute Ayesha Leti-L’iga scored a try after some great kicking and passing movements. This swung the lead back to New Zealand, 34-31, with 7 minutes to go.
Everything came down to the last minute. England were aggressively attacking New Zealand’s defensive line and were making progress when a penalty was awarded by the referee to England. England kicked for touch and put them within 5 meters of the try line with a minute to go on the clock.
Normally you would bet the house on England winning the line out, creating the maul and scoring the try. This time however Joanah Ngan-Woo would challenge the English lineout and win it. This was an incredible moment and New Zealand kicked the ball out and the final whistle was blown, New Zealand winning the World Cup for the 6th time, an incredible record.
If you want to keep up to date with all the latest rugby news you can find me on Instagram @jb052006 or and at twitter@Jonatha2590684.