Reigning champions New Zealand on Sunday started their quest for a record-extending seventh Women’s Rugby World Cup title with a 54-8 win over a gutsy Spain in York, England.
On an opening weekend where title rivals England and Canada enjoyed mammoth wins, the Black Ferns “only” led 21-3 at halftime against a Spain side ranked 13th in the world, but New Zealand ran in five tries after the break, despite having to play with 13 women for the final 17 minutes.
Black Ferns boss Allan Bunting had already used all his replacements when Kaipo Olsen-Baker was taken off on a stretcher in the 55th minute after injuring her left leg.
Photo: AP
New Zealand were reduced to 13 when wing Ayesha Leti-I’iga also had to go off because of injury.
They still managed to score a try, but a valiant Spain replied with one of their own with the final play of the game when forward Ines Antolinez stretched out to get over.
New Zealand’s Jorja Miller scored two first-half tries in an impressive 40-minute World Cup debut before being replaced, while the outstanding Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, who came out of international retirement in April in a bid to win a third successive World Cup, scored a record 21st World Cup try in the second half.
Bunting, asked what his side needed to work on, told the BBC: “Probably being more clinical, hold on to those passes and hold the passes for longer. I can’t fault them for playing with 13 players.”
Meanwhile, Spain coach Juan Gonzalez was proud of his side’s efforts.
“We came here trying to get the girls in Spain to be inspired by us. So we are really happy with the way we played... I think we have confidence to work and face the Ireland game with passion,” Gonzalez said.
Earlier, Eve Higgins scored the pivotal try as Ireland launched their Pool C campaign with a 42-14 victory over Japan in Northampton, England.
Japan were on the attack and pressing for another try, at 28-14 down, before inside center Higgins picked off a floating pass and ran the length of the field to score.
“Games are never perfect,” Ireland coach Scott Bemand said.
Japan coach Lesley McKenzie hailed her side’s attacking game, with Haruka Hirotsu and Masami Kawamura scoring well-worked tries.
“We didn’t get the result that we wanted, but we wanted the performance because it was going to captivate people, it was going to engage people and they are going to think what a phenomenal style of rugby these girls play,” she said.
In Pool D, South Africa won their first Women’s World Cup match since 2010 by thumping tournament debutants Brazil 66-6 in Northampton, with Springbok No. 8 Aseza Hele scoring three of their 10 tries.
Brazil, the first South American team to feature at a Women’s Rugby World Cup, got points on the scoreboard through two penalties from flyhalf Raquel Kochhann.
South Africa are now set for a clash with Italy, beaten 24-0 by France on Saturday, with Springboks coach Swys de Bruin insisting his side must raise their game if they are to secure a win that would likely book their place in the quarter-finals.
“We need to somehow pull off a victory against Italy, but we need to play far better,” he said.
Brazil now face another daunting encounter, against France, with back row Larissa Lima Henwood hoping they can demonstrate their attacking qualities after making a mammoth 168 tackles against the Springboks.
“The whole game was just defense,” she said. “I am waiting for the next game where we can show some attack, because we have so much energy for that.”
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
RSS