In the end, an historic night at Eden Park which began for the Black Ferns with a heady anticipation fuelled by a moving haka and included a match which featured an inspired Wallaroos start and a stirring and comprehensive comeback, may just have been the perfect way for the home side to kick off their World Cup defence.
After five years of waiting, they are on the board after taking themselves and their supporters on quite the journey last night.
In fact, they were thoroughly tested by the Wallaroos before gaining a foothold on the game after half an hour via lock Joanah Ngan-Woo’s try and the first of Portia Woodman’s three.
Conceding three early tries had the potential to cause them real problems but those 12 points late in the first half allowed the Black Ferns to clear their first-night nerves. It helped them remember that when they retain possession they are one of the best attacking teams in the world.
And yet, given the circumstances, their error-ridden start probably shouldn’t have been unexpected.
This is how skipper Ruahei Demant felt when standing in the tunnel preparing to run on for the first time: “It was electric. It’s actually quite surreal to walk out on to a sold-out Eden Park and see all the black.
“It’s been a magical night and I don’t want it to end.”
In the second half they piled on an additional 29 points, including 14 while Australia skipper and loose forward Shannon Parry and wing Ivania Wong were in the sinbin for a high tackle and intentional knock-on respectively.
The timing of the yellow cards for two acts of foul play was cruel on a Wallaroos team hoping to beat the Black Ferns for the first time but they could have no complaints.
“The referee said I made contact with the head so that’s the rule of the game – you can’t make contact with the head,” Parry said of her high tackle on Black Ferns No.8 Liana Mikaele-Tu'u. “Thankfully the player is all right.
“We took it to them,” Parry added. “When we played in Adelaide and Christchurch recently we let them dominate us for the first 30, but tonight we took it to them.”
They did, until they were overwhelmed by an attacking force that finally delivered on its promise.
Woodman had highlighted her threat when bursting straight through Wallaroos No.10 Arabella McKenzie for her first try, but a late Ruby Tui double, which had seemed so unlikely in the opening quarter, felt like a fait accompli in the second half – an encore, almost - with centre Stacey Fluhler and first-five Demant also increasingly influential.
“We maybe let the occasion get to us - forgetting to just play simple; catch the ball and run hard,” Woodman said. “Looking ahead – we’ve got Wales next – we’re going to have to clean that up a lot because they’re a really good rugby side.”
Demant said: “Aussie came out firing and they wanted it more. We knew exactly what we needed to do and we flicked that switch and got the job done in that second 40 for sure.
“I’m proud of the impact our bench made, I’m proud of the messages we took on at halftime and how we implemented them. I don’t know why it took that long for us to get into the game. It wasn’t anything new that we needed to do.”
British pop star Rita Ora had raised the anticipation levels before kick-off but that was nothing compared with how the Black Ferns decided to kick off the first women’s World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere.
The karanga, or welcome, to start the haka, performed by Woodman, Demant and Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu, was something the trio came up with themselves. And it set the scene perfectly because it was authentic and delivered with style.
“This is the first time it’s been held in Aotearoa and it’s only right as wahine we karanga and welcome all the teams here to Aotearoa and Tamaki Makaurau,” Demant said.
“It was special to be able to do that and the crowd really got behind it.”
They sure did. The more than 34,000 in the crowd, many of whom had watched France beat South Africa and England beat Fiji in the early games, expressed their approval with a visceral roar.
And then, well, it felt like the Black Ferns were a little too generous with their welcome, the Wallaroos going out to a 17-0 lead before the half hour mark thanks to a double from right wing Bienne Terita and a try for left wing Wong.
Gradually the Black Ferns came back. Woodman’s second try allowed the Black Ferns to draw level, with replacement prop Awhina Tangen-Wainohu also finding the line before Woodman, again, and Tui struck, the latter scoring a double in six minutes. Her second was a stunning individual effort.
Woodman, still buzzing from the win, and the occasion, said the Black Ferns coaches, including director of rugby Wayne Smith, were relatively calm at halftime when faced with a 12-17 deficit.
“Smithy was very calm and collected – ‘girls, we’ve just got to hold on to the ball. In terms of defence we’ve got to chop [tackle], we’re getting carried eight metres every time we make a tackle’. Ultimately it was ‘get aggressive and just chop’.
They did all of that and more. After a nervy start, the Black Ferns are up and running. Next up is Wales at Waitakere Stadium next Sunday.
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