There are plenty of ways to pass a pleasurable Friday night in Bristol, a vibrant and diverse city providing a veritable cornucopia of entertainment options, but the many rugby-minded folk of the southwest will recognise where the best show in town should be. The centuries of conflict between England and France mean that their rivalry will draw much of the focus on Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-final weekend yet the collision between New Zealand and Canada perhaps promises a closer contest.
Before last year, few would have given Canada too much hope of derailing the six-time world champions but Kevin Rouet’s smart, experienced and uber-athletic side have broken new ground in the last 18 months. On a quiet, cold night in Christchurch last May, the Canadians broke new ground in conquering New Zealand for the first time to fully establish themselves as World Cup contenders; 12 months later, they very nearly did it again, a 27-all draw snatched by the hosts at the death by Sylvia Brunt’s score in the 83rd minute. Expect, then, Friday night fireworks – with Canada under no illusions about the habit of the Black Ferns to rise to the sport’s biggest occasion.
“It’s positive that we’ve beaten them before – we have that one win under our belt,” star lock Sophie de Goede, who missed that draw while working her way back from a serious knee injury, said. “But you still look at history and it definitely favours the Black Ferns.
“They are always incredible at World Cups. They always perform on the big stages. We can’t look too far into the past; we just have to focus on putting in a performance. Each week is different, each team that we play poses very different challenges. We have to go back to the drawing board against New Zealand.”
The well-wishers for Canada this week have included Shania Twain, the Queen of Country Pop getting behind her compatriots in a huge week. She, and they, might not have been much impressed by the Black Ferns in the first half against South Africa last week, the Springboks Women’s heavy ball retention strategy and typically off-the-wall tactics – including a 14-player lineout – causing the world champions plenty of problems. Canada’s methods are likely to be more orthodox, but their capacity to generate rapid ball and cannonball power athletes through the wider channels has the capacity to seriously test New Zealand’s defence.
“Canada are not as direct as South Africa; they like to get on the outside and shorten up your defensive line and then move the ball really quickly,” New Zealand assistant coach Steve Jackson assess. “So, we’ve got a job to do in terms of our defensive efforts and making sure that we’re dominant in those areas around the tackle and breakdown.”
But within and beyond a sticky 40 minutes in Exeter also came a reminder of why the world champions are so good. It was an imperfect, imprecise performance in many ways from Allan Bunting’s side but they still romped away in serious style. They, like Canada, have the potential to play at a pace that opposing defences can’t match – four tries in 13 minutes after the interval against South Africa to blow the game open were proof of purpose and potential.
It is a blow, mind, to be without Jorja Miller, who compares to some of the great sevens of history in her capacity to marry extreme athleticism with the more nuanced and nigglier elements of openside skulduggery. “She’s an incredible person, but she’s also done a lot for the team off-field, she does a lot for me,” co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu, an outstanding replacement to be able to call upon, hailed of her injured teammate. “She’s an incredible player. We haven’t felt her presence leave for once and she continues to serve the team in a different way.”
The Black Ferns have not confirmed the extent or even nature of Miller’s issue for reasons of “privacy”. In a sign of just how much of a threat the 21-year-old poses, her tackle evasion rate of 67% is the best of any player to have faced 20 or more attempts at this tournament; the presence of dynamic double-barrelled duo Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee as the third and fourth best players by that metric at the tournament is little surprise, either, given the threat out wide they provide.
The pair encapsulate part of why New Zealand are so hard to beat. Woodman-Wickliffe, out of retirement at 34 for one last dance, could lay claim to being the greatest try-scorer of all time and has the banked experience of two World Cup wins and three Olympic campaigns, yet has been arguably outshone at this tournament by teen sensation Sorensen-McGee, the latest wing wonder off the production line. If Canada’s defence fails to fold in the manner it did for Australia’s sole try by Desiree Miller last week, New Zealand have the ability to slice them open repeatedly.
And yet there is a real confidence about the Canucks, the cohesion and connections in a squad tightly-bound by the challenging circumstances in which they exist. A largely semi-professional outfit, Canada had to crowdfund to boost their preparations for this tournament, while much of their squad live far from home and ply their trade in England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR). A one-squad mentality has helped them reintegrate their Olympic sevens silver medallists, and is evident in the way they play, each individual action backed by the collective.
Despite their breakthrough win last year, such is New Zealand’s remarkable record at the World Cup that defeating them at this stage would be an upset. But Canada carry belief. “You can’t be over-confident but for sure we are confident,” Rouet said. A semi-final spectacular could well await.
