The Black Ferns have retained the Laurie O’Reilly Cup with a dominant 50-0 victory over Australia at Dolphin Stadium north of Brisbane tonight.
The one-sided Test was New Zealand’s first since their narrow World Cup final victory over England at Eden Park last year.
They outscored the Wallaroos eight tries to nil, with 19-year-old second-five Sylvia Brunt, named player of the match, scoring two first-half tries. Debutant right wing Mererangi Paul also scored a double; her first a brilliant chip-and-chase effort.
After a nervous start in front of 7055 people, the largest crowd for a Wallaroos Test in Australia, the Black Ferns went on to the front foot and hardly relented.
With first-five and co-captain Ruahei Demant pulling the strings superbly, ably backed up by Brunt and No.8 Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, the Black Ferns extended their winning record against Australia to 24-0.
New Zealand were better across the park, with Australia, who pushed the Black Ferns extremely close in their first World Cup pool game last October, passive and short of ideas on attack.
The visitors, with a set piece advantage, were constantly asking questions on attack, with Demant and Brunt combining well and Paul, who opened her account with a fine individual try, too hot to handle for the Aussies.
The Bremner sisters, Chelsea and Alana, combined well in the tight and the Black Ferns had by far the biggest impact off the reserves bench, with forwards Luka Connor, Krystal Murray, Amy Rule and Joanah Ngan-Woo, the Black Ferns’ lineout hero from the World Cup final, all making their presence felt. Co-captain and loose forward Kennedy Simon also had a strong game.
It was an excellent first outing for new head coach Allan Bunting, who will know there is plenty of improvement to come.
They weren't as polished as they would have liked but were out on their own tactically and in terms of their ability to see and use space. They controlled the breakdown and were on different level in terms of their offloading game.
The Test was the two teams’ first in the Pacific Four Nations Series, also featuring Canada and the United States.
The Black Ferns’ next Test is against Canada in Ottawa on July 8.
Black Ferns 50 (Sylvia Brunt 2, Mererangi Paul 2, Tanya Kalounivale, Chelsea Bremner, Alana Bremner, Iritana Hohaia tries; Renee Holmes 4 cons, Tenika Willison con)
Wallaroos 0
Halftime: 26-0
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