As debuts as captain of your national side go, Poppy Cleall could not be much happier with the performance of her Red Roses team. England scored seven tries and were granted a penalty try in their back-to-back victory against the Black Ferns.
The win, which means that England have once again retained their world No 1 ranking, broke the record for the biggest defeat suffered by the Black Ferns. It was a record that was first broken last week in England’s 43-12 win on Sunday.
England’s hooker Amy Cokayne opened the scoring by bundling over the whitewash for the first of her three tries, the reward of a turnover won by Marlie Packer and the sprinting efforts of centre duo Holly Aitchison and Helena Rowland.
New Zealand, who struggled terribly at the set piece last weekend, rushed a lineout in a dangerous spot and practically gifted England’s second try to Ellie Kildunne. Irked by the error at the lineout, ill-discipline creeped in and Kendra Cocksedge, the most experienced Black Fern on the pitch, was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on that stopped Lydia Thompson cleanly collecting a pass from scrum half Leanne Infante. England headed into half time 28-0 ahead, collecting 11 more points in the first-half than they did the week before.
The second half continued in England’s favour and the side clocked up three more tries, including Cokayne’s hat-trick finisher, but New Zealand managed to make sure they would not have a zero next to their name on the scoreboard.
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The visitors’ first try came from Portia Woodman, long heralded as one of the best women’s rugby players in the world, who marked her return to Test rugby with two tries and a try-saving tackle to limit the damage caused by the Red Roses. The third New Zealand try came from Stacey Fluhler, who has been New Zealand’s most impressive player for both fixtures.
The former England centre Rachael Burford had warned that England should not expect the same as the week before, warning that New Zealand will not stay down for long. There were some marked improvements for the away team but England will not be too worried about their Rugby World Cup preparations less than one year away from the tournament.
The player of the match Cokayne told BBC Two: “Coming into this series we knew playing them back-to-back was going to be tough. It’s always a bit lucky being a hooker being at the back of mauls.
“The Black Ferns are a great side and it shows the hard work we have put in and the support we have received.”
Cleall added: “We wanted to back up our performance at Sandy Park. From a forward’s point of view, I liked that we continued our dominance in our driving maul. For Cokayne to finish them off just shows our hard work.
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“We can’t affect what happens in other nations but we are here to have the privilege of being a professional team. It’s hugely proud moment in my career.”
The BBC commentator Sara Orchard questioned whether she was witnessing a historic shift in women’s rugby, with a new world order being played out on the pitch at Franklin’s Gardens. The Black Ferns had all their domestic and Test matches cancelled during the pandemic as New Zealand remained on a tight lockdown. The effect for them has been over two years of no Test rugby, and a year and a half of no domestic competition. England, on the other hand, played 14 Test matches in that time and are buoyed by the domestic Premier 15s competition that provides weekly elite-level women’s rugby.
The gap at the top of women’s rugby has never been wider, and England will not be fazed by the rugby they saw today.
Player of the match Amy Cokayne.
England: Tries Cokayne 3, Kildunne, Penalty, Infante, Davies, Dow. Cons Harrison 7.
New Zealand: Tries Woodman 2, Fluhler.
England Kildunne; Thompson, Aitchison, Rowland, Dow; Harrison, Infante (vice-capt); Cornborough, Cokayne, Bern, Aldcroft, Ward, Matthews, Packer, Cleall (capt). Replacements Davies, Botterman, Muir, Millar-Mills, Hunter, MacDonald, Tuima, McKenna.
Sin-bin McKenna (65).
New Zealand Robins-Reti; Woodman, Fluhler, Brooker, Leti-I’iga; Demant, Cocksedge; Love, Houpapa-Barrett, Nelso, Ngan-Woo, Wills, Bremner, Elder (capt), Mikarele-Tu’u.
Replacements Ngata-Aerengamate, Itunu, Rule, Roos, Simon, Bayler, Maliepo, Hohepa.
Sin-bin Cocksedge (17).
Wales Women 23 Japan 5
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After the announcement of professional contracts for the Wales Women’s side last week, captain Siwan Lillicrap wasted no time in proving her value by crossing the try line in two minutes at Cardiff Arms Park.
The victory ends Wales Women’s 32-month wait for a win and shows what happens when a team feels believed in. Jasmine Joyce, Team GB sevens superstar, scored the side’s other two tries.
Japan’s Seina Saito scored a late consolation try but it was not enough to stop the most impressive Wales performance in recent years reach its deserved win.
Player of the match Jasmine Joyce
Wales Tries: Lillicrap, Joyce 2; Pens: Snowsill; Conversion: Snowsill
Japan Try: Saito
Wales Joyce; Neumann, Jones, Lake, Keight, Snowsill, Bevan; Thomas, Evans, Rose, John, Crabb, Evans, Lewis, Lillicrap (capt).
Replacements Phillips, Hope, Hale, Callender, Butchers, Lewis, Wilkins, Webb.
Japan Anoku; Taniguchi, Furuta, Nakayama, Nagura; Yamamoto, Abe; Minami (capt), Nagata, Sadaka, Sakurai, Sato, Saito, Nagata, Nagai.
Replacements Kokaji, Kato, Lavemai, Tamai, Ito, Tsukui, Imakugi, Kobayashi.
