Evans: NZ will bounce back

An impressive win was made futile by Canada??s draw with England just a few hours before, meaning the almost unthinkable happening at the Women??s World Cup - the Black Ferns knocked out before even reaching the semi-finals.

While recognising that there would be shock in New Zealand at his side??s fate. Evans paid tribute to the rising standards in the game.?˜

??Other teams have gotten better, there is no doubt about that. I still think we are a very good team and if we had made the semis we??d have had as good a shot as as any but we didn't and we are not. It comes down to letting ourselves down in the first half against Ireland and they shut us down and deservedly won, but overall the standard has gone up massively. Back in New Zealand people think this is a huge shock but those of us who have been watching the game over the last four years know there has been a huge rise and that is a good thing for the game.??

After the USA win, Evans called the squad together to discuss what next and he says his side will be determined to turnaround positively in the final two games.?˜

??It was good to get a win against America snd we scored some good tries but at the end of the day that isn't going to make us feel too much better. Some of the girls knew going into kick off what the situation was and a lot of them cottoned on as soon as the game ended so they are obviously gutted.??

??We had a quick meeting in the changing room afterwards and we wanted to do that sooner rather than later. Going out at this stage doesn't make anyone here bad people it just hasn't worked out for us this time?˜ and there is a reason for that. We didn't play well enough against Ireland and they did and beat us.?˜ It is hard to take when the team has had such a strong legacy but it is what it is and we have to bounce back.??

??We will enjoy the rest of the tournament to be honest now. The players like to move the ball around and that is what they will want to do. If anything it takes some pressure off the team to just play rugby now. That pressure was huge on them I think and all the talk of five in a row - that is vey demanding after a while. It can??t last forever unfortunately and it has been an amazing record - one of the best in sport anywhere. Everybody is proud of that.??

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