New Zealand kicked off the defence of their IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup title in style with a 10-try haul in their 66-7 defeat of host nation Canada at Ellerslie Rugby Park in Edmonton.
The Black Ferns were on the offensive right from the start with wing Claire Richardson benefiting from some good forward work to score in the corner after only two minutes of the game.
Five minutes later the tournament favourites broke through again, full back Amiria Marsh unlocking the resolute Canadian defence to allow Stephanie Mortimer to score their second try.
Flanker Melissa Ruscoe and Richardson got on the score sheet themselves to give the Black Ferns a 24-0 lead with only 25 minutes on the clock, Emma Jensen having converted both these tries.
The home fans though were on their feet just before the break when scrum half Julie Suguwara threw a deft dummy from the base of a ruck and then collected her own chip ahead just before Marsh to claim Canada’s first try of the tournament.
The Black Ferns led 24-7 at half-time and picked up where they left off with further converted tries for Diane Maliukaetau, Richardson – completing her hat-trick – and Ruscoe putting the result beyond doubt before the hour mark.
Canada began to enjoy some possession in the New Zealand half, but the Black Ferns held firm and managed to turnover the ball for Marsh to race the length of the field to score a try of her own.
Fiaoo Faamausili and Huriana Manuel completed the try scoring for the Black Ferns, who could not have asked for a better start. Canada continued to show passion and effort, but will hope for better things in their next game against Spain.
QUOTES
New Zealand captain Farah Palmer: “The score line was what we were looking for coming into the game, but we need to work on our handling and I especially need to work on my lineout throwing, it was shocking!”
New Zealand full back Amira Marsh: “Canada are improving and get better every game but it’s the culture that we are brought up in and just watching the men’s game back home that we benefit from, and at times that was obvious today in some of the decisions that we made.”
Canada scrum half Julia Suguwara: “My try was all I could possibly have imagined it to be, a typical scrum half individual try, something I am immensely proud of and it came in the first game of the World Cup against the world champions!”
Canada coach Neil Langevin: “Our first up tackles were not good enough, we made some wrong decisions, but there are some good things to take away from the game. We are improving, we improve every game and we will catch them, that’s the beauty of sport, it’s the chase and we will catch them one day.”