Red Roses claim victory over Black Ferns in WXV

6 Oct 2024 | 5 min | 2

Red Roses claim victory over Black Ferns in WXV

The Red Roses scored nine tries to beat the Black Ferns 31-49 in their second WXV 1 fixture.

A hattrick from Jess Breach, braces from Abby Dow and Ellie Kildunne, and scores from Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison secured the win for the Red Roses.

The Black Ferns opened the scoring through No 8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker who picked the ball off the base of the scrum in the Red Roses 22 and used her strength to power over the try line. Renee Holmes converted to give her team a 7–0 lead after eight minutes.

The Red Roses responded just two minutes later through Dow. A long pass from Kildunne found Dow on the wing, who fended off Holmes to dot down. Helena Rowland added the extras from the touchline to level the scores.

A breathless five minutes followed with phases of attack launched from midfield by both teams. But it was the Red Roses who converted their attack into points.

A strong Red Roses scrum gave them an attacking platform. They shipped the ball both ways across the pitch, with Abbie Ward and Maud Muir punching towards the line. Hunt then shipped to Rowland who passed short and flat to Breach who scored in the corner and gave the Red Roses a 7–12 lead after 18 minutes.

Kildunne scored the Red Roses’ third try ten minutes later. Her kick to Black Ferns flyhalf Hannah King was dropped on the 22 giving the Red Roses an attacking scrum. The Red Roses passed through the backs and found Kildunne in space on the 15m line. She ran in to make the score 7–17.

The Black Ferns responded minutes later through winger Ayesha Leti-I'iga. They took a penalty in the Red Roses 22 quickly and the forwards picked and went before a wide pass from Ruahei Demant found Leti-I'iga on the right wing. Her try made the score 12–17.

Kildunne scored her second just before halftime. After an overthrown lineout, the Red Roses regained possession and advanced toward the try line through their forwards. Captain Marlie Packer brought them just short of the line before quick hands from Holly Aitchison found Breach on the wing. As Breach was tackled and falling, she deftly passed the ball back infield to Kildunne, who dotted down and gave her team a ten-point lead at the break.

After half-time, the Red Roses extended their lead to 12-27 through Dow. Quick hands from the backline got the ball to Dow in some space and she ran in for her second of the day.

Minutes later, Hunt charged down a New Zealand kick and dotted down. Rowland converted to make the score 12-34.

Breach then scored her second after 50 minutes. Dow darted down the wing to create a two-on-one and threw an inside ball to Breach who scored to extend their lead to 12-39.

Black Ferns got one back through their hooker Georgia Ponsonby. The forwards pursued the Red Roses' line before Layla Sae popped the ball to Ponsonby who darted over. King added the extras from the touchline to bring the score to 19–39.

Minutes later, Olsen-Baker intercepted a pass in her own 22. She sprinted down the pitch before Rowland dragged her down. The Red Roses scrambled back but second row Maia Roos shrugged off defenders to score and cut the deficit to 15 points.

With ten minutes to go, Breach scored her hattrick try. She slipped through a tackle from Ruby Tui to bring the score to 24–44 after replacement Emily Scarratt’s conversion hit the post.

Harrison scored the Red Roses’ final try of the day. Her teammates punched towards the line before Harrison received the ball on the wing and stepped inside to make the score 24-49.

The Black Ferns had the final say when Maama Mo’onia Vaipulu dove over from close range. King converted to bring the final score to 31-49.

The Red Roses will face hosts Canada next week as they seek to retain the WXV 1 title.

Reaction

Head Coach John Mitchell said: "We've come together cohesively in attack - everyone has a responsibility and as you can see, we're quite happy to play both sides of the ruck.

"A lot of our defensive plans were good today. We knew the pick-and-go was going to come and we've had a good workout ready for next week."

Captain Marlie Packer said: "We've talked about how we want to grow this tournament and make sure we attack it - and that's what we're doing.

"We're massively looking forward to next week. We've not been concentrating on Canada just yet. We'll recover hard and we'll grow and build this week and hopefully put on the same performance next week against a good Canada team."