England have scored nine tries in a 49-31 victory over the Black Ferns to continue their dominance over the world champions in a WXV1 match in Langley, Canada, this morning.
The Red Roses were far better across the field in terms of skill, tactics and execution.
New Zealand, stung by their defeat to Ireland last week, began with real fire against the No.1 team in the world, with No.8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker scoring from an attacking scrum, but the English showed their composure to quickly reply and then take over for their second win of the tournament.
The Black Ferns, by comparison, are 0-2 and face another difficult challenge next in the form of France.
They have now lost their last three Tests to England and three in succession overall, a run begun at Twickenham recently and continued in Canada.
Their balance on attack still requires work, with England, who have won 49 of their last 50 matches – their only blip coming in the 2022 World Cup final at Eden Park - having by far the better kicking game.
There was real spite in the early exchanges as the Black Ferns attempted to make up for how they felt they “let the jersey down” in their shock loss to Ireland but unfortunately for them it didn’t translate to sustained accuracy on either attack or defence.
Too many unforced errors cost them and with England having by far the better scrum, every set piece carried jeopardy. Concede a penalty at the scrum, as New Zealand did several times, and pay the price with a lineout and potential driving maul.
To be fair, New Zealand's traditional maul vulnerability was not their biggest issue today.
Instead, it was their poor defence. England too often and too easily manipulated the Black Ferns’ defence and too often New Zealand fell off one-on-one tackles. Wings Katelyn Vaha’akolo and Ruby Tui and fullback Renee Holmes were at fault here.
Black Ferns coach Allan Bunting made several changes to his line-up, including a new front row and a new No.10 in 20-year-old Hannah King, with Ruahei Demant moving to second-five.
It was clearly a nod to the future and next year’s World Cup defence in England, but King had a mixed performance, although she marshalled the attack better in the second half as the Black Ferns took advantage of a tiring English defence.
England had a 22-12 halftime lead, with the excellent left wing Ayesha Leti-I’iga scoring before halftime to close the gap, only for the English to reply through fullback Ellie Kildunne, who had an excellent all-round match.
Abby Dow got her second try after the break and the score quickly blew out to 39-24 as Holmes had her clearance kick charged down by Natasha Hunt and Jess Breach went over for one of her three tries.
She had her hat-trick after Tui missed her on the right, with Zoe Harrison getting another for England.
Maama Vaipulu got one back for the Black Ferns from close range on the fulltime siren.
New Zealand’s loose forward trio performed well, with Olsen-Baker a stand out. Lita-I’iga was busy and aggressive, and most importantly accurate, with hooker Georgia Ponsonby, who scored a second-half try, good on defence.
Maia Roos finished a good performance by capitalising on an excellent Olsen-Baker intercept.
The Black Ferns' attitude in attempting a near impossible comeback can't be faulted, but they have a big job ahead as they prepare for France and an even bigger one ahead of the next World Cup.
England 49 (Jess Breach 3, Ellie Kildunne 2, Abby Dow 2, Natasha Hunt, Zoe Harrison tries; Helena Rowland 2 cons)
Black Ferns 31 (Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Ayesha Lita-I’iga, Georgia Ponsonby, Maia Roos, Maama Vaipulu tries; Renne Holmes con, Hannah King 2 cons)
Halftime: 22-12
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