The Black Ferns’ short bus journey from their central city hotel to Eden Park on Saturday for the World Cup final and the biggest game of their lives will not be a quiet one.
When the All Blacks did a similar trip for their World Cup final assignment against France in 2011, insiders say the players, almost to a man, were tuned into their own music and thoughts but that will certainly not to apply for the Black Ferns as they travel to their date with destiny against England.
“We love dancing and music, that connection is really important,” prop Amy Rule said. “I think that’s the difference to the men’s game.”
The music will not be coming from individual headphones, but from a speaker. For the Black Ferns, the shared experience is everything.
“It was definitely a bit of a culture shock for Smithy [head coach Wayne Smith] coming into this environment because there are a lot of big personalities - we’re all very different.”
There are various other obvious differences – the eye-opening family atmosphere at games, the gratitude of the Black Ferns for the media coverage (Rule and midfielder teammate Theresa Fitzpatrick thanked those who attended their press conference today), the more open style of game with less kicking and the general unpredictability of matches.
It all makes for a compelling package and the response by the public will show that this week.
A world-record crowd of about 40,000 is expected on Saturday – thousands of tickets were snapped up in the hours after their nerve-shredding 25-24 semifinal win over France – and those lucky enough to get a ticket will arrive in the expectation of entertainment and likely leave fulfilled if last Saturday was any indication.
And for the Black Ferns the entertainment will likely start on the bus ride and continue even through the national anthem.
It was notable before their crunch clash against France that several players were smiling during the anthem and not all of it, apparently, was down to their joy at being in such a privileged position.
“We love each other but when you’ve got girls belting out that national anthem, sometimes it’s very hard not to chuck a wee smile out,” Rule said.
For Fitzpatrick, who scored the try against France which put the Black Ferns ahead and made an enormous front-on tackle which led to a penalty for New Zealand in the final, frantic minutes, (“I just knew I had to give every ounce of energy that I had,” she said), the team’s determination to enjoy each moment transfers to how they play.
“We pride ourselves on having fun and enjoying ourselves,” she said. “By expressing ourselves on the field we hope to inspire and empower young boys and girls that you can do anything you can dream of. This is a massive dream for all of us to be playing in a World Cup final at home.
“I’m shaking thinking about it. It’s real. We’ve been putting in the hard work for six weeks and it’s finally here. We know that this week is going to be another tough one mentally and physically. We need to show up on Saturday and make our nation proud and hopefully bring back the gold.”
England, the world’s No.1 team on a 30-match winning streak, will likely enter as favourites but Canada showed in pushing them all the way in the Red Roses’ 26-19 semifinal victory that their defence isn’t flawless.
The Black Ferns have far greater attacking weapons than Canada, made up entirely of amateur players, do, and there will be no going away from the up-tempo game plan which has got them to this point.
“We have a game plan that we know works,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’re focusing on that. We can only put our best foot forward, we know it’s going to be a real exciting game. We can’t wait to take on England and show the country and world what we’ve got.”
Many of those within the crowd and around the world could hardly bear to look when French first-five Caroline Drouin lined up the penalty from 35m out which would have taken the game from the Black Ferns but Rule, watching from the sideline after being replaced, was relatively relaxed.
“I had a weird sense of calmness… I had this gut feeling and when the kick didn’t go over… words can’t describe it.”
Regarding the upsurge in interest in the women's game during this tournament (the previous world record for a women's rugby game was 34,235 set at Eden Park on match day one last month), Rule said: "It's just the beginning."
After the year they've had, that could probably apply to the Black Ferns as well.
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