Ferns romp home against Wallaroos

The Black Ferns have continued their utter domination over the Wallaroos with an unanswered 10 tries in a crushing 62-0 victory in the women’s rugby union Test at Ballymore Stadium.

Australia had high hopes of a breakthrough win over New Zealand after brushing aside Fijiana 64-5 last week, but were outmuscled and outclassed from the early exchanges in their first match at their new home base in Brisbane on Sunday.

Katelyn Vaha’akolo bagged four tries while the Wallaroos were held scoreless in front of 5,365 fans, as the Black Ferns extended their streak to 27 wins from 27 meetings between the trans-Tasman rivals.

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The Black Ferns were in for a first try inside four minutes after their pack threatened to cross the line several times from the kick-off before hooker Georgia Ponsonby found a gap between Kaitlan Leaney and Cecilia Smith to touch down. The Wallaroos tightened up their defence to hold out the Black Ferns attack for almost 10 minutes until Layla Sae scored in the corner.

The six-time world champions heaped more misery on the Wallaroos when a fortunate bounce off a Renee Holmes kick finished with the ball in Ruby Tui’s hands for the star winger to dive over. Vaha’akolo picked up her first try when a Sylvia Brunt grubber sat up just before the line. The No 11 then broke two Wallaroos’ tackles to touch down for another just before half-time.

The Wallaroos thought they had responded with a stunning solo try from Eva Karpani but replays showed that the ball had been held up as the Black Ferns took a commanding 29-0 lead into the break.

Vaha’akolo added a third try when breaking the line to finish under the posts in the first minute after the resumption, then Brunt went solo to get on the end of her own kick shortly after. Vaha’akolo was on the end of another superb move as the Wallaroos’ resistance gradually gave way, while Atlanta Lolohea capped off a dream debut when scoring off a rolling maul before playing a key role in a penalty try after the final hooter.

The Black Ferns winger downplayed her contribution to the four-try haul, saying “all I had to do was put the ball down”.

“For the last two weeks we’ve been really making a shift in our team, trying to better our skillset, trying to better our work in the middle,” Vaha’akolo said. “I still feel like we have a lot more to give, but it’s a journey and we had a lot of fun today.”

Australia pushed hard for a consolation try but the ruthless Black Ferns continued to chase down any surprise attacks late in the game. Despite the improved showing through the second half, the hosts were handed a clear indication of how far away they sit from the benchmark side.

Wallaroos captain Michaela Leonard lamented her team’s lack of execution but conceded “frankly, New Zealand outplayed us”.

“We know that physicality is one of their strengths and we know that’s probably an area that let us down against them during the Pacific Four series,” Leonard said. “For us, it’s more our ability to execute against that pressure and that physicality, and to make sure that we bring it on the other side of the ball.”