‘They are brutal’: New Zealand trounce Wales at Women’s Rugby World Cup

Reigning champions and tournament hosts New Zealand overwhelmed Wales 56-12 at the Women’s Rugby World Cup on Sunday to lock up the top spot in Pool A and a place in the quarter-finals along with England and Canada.

Prolific winger Portia Woodman and 18-year-old centre Sylvia Brunt both crossed twice as the five-time world champions ran in 10 tries in a bonus-point win to delight the crowd at the Waitakere Stadium in Auckland.

Woodman’s combination of power and pace was all but irresistible at times as she improved her tally to 18 tries in seven career World Cup matches and her overall mark to 36 in 22 tests.

Brunt scored the pick of the tries with her second effort, however, crossing in the 49th minute at the end of a sweeping 80-metre attack in which the ball passed through a series of New Zealand hands.

“I’m really proud of our mental strength,” said New Zealand’s captain, Ruahei Demant.

“I’m happy that we had the courage to play into space regardless of where we were on the field and didn’t take the easy road by taking contact all the time.”

With some dominant scrums and powerful rolling mauls, Wales gave New Zealand a reminder of potential challenges ahead if, as looks likely, they meet European powers England and France later in the tournament.

It was from the lineout drive – a major weapon for tournament favourites England – that the Welsh scored both of their tries through scrumhalf Ffion Lewis and number eight Sioned Harries.

Any hopes of a comeback after Lewis’s try just before halftime were quickly extinguished, though, when Black Ferns lock Maiakawanakaulani Roos and centre Theresa Fitzpatrick crossed for tries in the four minutes after the restart.

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Women’s Rugby World Cup: Fiji secure first-ever win

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Karalaini Naisewa scored the winning try in the dying seconds as Fiji secured their first ever women’s World Cup win with a 21-17 victory over South Africa in an entertaining, if sometimes chaotic Pool C match, in Auckland on Sunday.

The South Africans looked like they had secured a first win of the tournament when fly-half Libbie Janse van Rensburg slotted a penalty to break a 14-14 deadlock with two minutes on the clock.

The Fijiana charged back down the other end on yet another bulldozing run from prop Siteri Rasolea, the Player of the Match, and earned a penalty under the posts.

In keeping with the spirit of the way the Fijiana had approached the game, scrum-half Lavena Cavuru tapped the ball and fed number eight Naisewa, who launched herself over the line through the despairing tackles of an exhausted defence.

“It means the whole world to us, it’s crazy,” said Fiji captain Asinate Serevi. “It’s the biggest stage in the world and winning one game pretty much means winning the whole thing for us, for our team, for our country.”

The Fijiana ran pretty much every piece of possession they had and eschewed the breakdown where they could by offloading to try and breach the South African defence.

Rather than tighten up the match, South Africa joined in the fun with Zintle Mpupha’s first-half try coming from a free-wheeling run around the backfield and then through a big gap in the defence.

Tries from wingers Ilisapeci Delaiwau and Akanisi Sokoiwasa gave Fiji a 14-7 halftime lead, but outstanding South Africa number eight Aseza Hele levelled up the scores by crossing around the hour mark.

Hooker Emily Tuttosi scored two tries as Canada secured a spot in the  quarter-finals with a 22-12 victory over Italy in an entertaining Pool B clash.

Winger Paige Farries scored a superb early try to cancel out an even better solo effort from Italy’s Vittoria Minuzzi, and Tuttosi crossed on the back of a rolling maul to give Canada a half-time lead.

Sara Kaljuvee extended the lead with a try 10 minutes into the second half after the Canadian pack had stretched the Italian defence to breaking point, with Tuttosi scoring her second off the catch-and-drive soon afterwards.

Canadian lock Emma Taylor was sent to the sin bin for a late shot, but her short-handed teammates kept the Italians out until Elisa Giordano crossed for a consolation try in the final minute.

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New Zealand number eight Charmaine McMenamin was in the sin bin for the last 10 minutes but the New Zealanders still added further tries from flyhalf Demant and fullback Ruby Tui, the latter set up almost inevitably by another Woodman break.

“It was a brutal 80 minutes,” said Wales’ skipper, Siwan Lillicrap. “I’ve got to credit the Black Ferns. When they throw the ball around, their pick-and goes, their offloads, their strength, they are brutal.”

While New Zealand can afford to rest some of their players for their final pool match against winless Scotland, Wales now almost certainly need to beat Australia next week to reach the knockout rounds.

source: theguardian.com