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England dismiss New Zealand in first match at Allianz Stadium
England saw off New Zealand 24-12 in the first-ever standalone match between the two at the newly renamed Allianz Stadium in front of over 41,000 fans.
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Tries in the first 40 from Marlie Packer, Abby Dow, and Ellie Kildunne gave the Red Roses a 17-0 lead at the break despite a positive start to the match from the Black Ferns.
Katelyn Vahaakolo injected life into the Black Ferns scoresheet in the second half adding two tries to draw the scores closer, but a sole Red Roses try from Natasha Hunt was enough to give the WXV 1 champions their second consecutive win over the World Champions.
New Zealand’s Ayesha Leti-I’iga made a strong return to the Black Ferns, featuring for the first time in two years since she scored the World Cup-winning try in the final against England.
Referee Aimee Barrett-Theron wrote her name into the history books when she blew her whistle to start the match at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham as she became the first female referee to oversee 40 Test matches.
A double knock-on from England gave New Zealand the first scrum of the match, the Black Ferns starting the 32nd meeting between the two sides with a solid display in the set piece.
The Black Ferns held 64% possession in the opening ten minutes, and while line breaks from players in either side left fans on the edge of their seats, both sides stood firm in defence.
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England’s maul prevailed to provide the first score of the match 18 minutes in, captain Packer once again providing the goods for the home side to give them a 5-0 lead.
The attritional battle between the two sides continued into the quarter mark, with scramble defence being called into action as the line breaks continued.
Handling errors crept in from both sides which halted momentum, but England remained patient to work towards their next score.
Dow tiptoed down the touchline to score England’s second try on the half-an-hour mark with an impressive solo effort, but they were denied the extra two points as the shot clock ran out on Holly Aitchison’s conversion attempt to leave the score at 10-0.
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Kildunne, who was one of the scorers in the 2022 Rugby World Cup final, danced her way through the Black Ferns to add their third try as she dotted down next to the right post to add another five points to England’s scoreline, converted this time by Aitchison to give the Red Roses a 17-0 lead.
England’s numbers were depleted just before half-time as Zoe Aldcroft was shown a yellow card, but they were able to win the penalty as the Black Ferns were penalised at the maul to see out the first half with a clean sheet.
The Red Roses started the second half with intensity, scoring their first try of the second 40 just two minutes into the half.
Hunt spotted a gap in the Black Ferns defence to break the line five metres out, giving the show and go from the ruck before placing the ball on the line with an outstretched arm to add to England’s growing lead, made 24-0 by Aitchison’s simple conversion.
MIGHTY MO 💪@huntie_1 finds a way to the line | #ENGvNZL | #RedRoses pic.twitter.com/RImMyuMS6Q
— Red Roses (@RedRosesRugby) September 14, 2024
It took 12 minutes for the Black Ferns to reply, Vahaakolo creating and scoring their first try. The winger was able to capitalise on her own kick, which was passed back to her by Ruahei Demant to allow Vahaakolo to speed to the try-line, fending Aitchison on the way.
Vahaakolo was pivotal to the Black Ferns scoresheet in the second half, crossing for her second try eight minutes later, set up well by a pass from Ruby Tui who entered the field minutes earlier to rousing applause. Renee Holmes added a pinpoint conversion to reduce the deficit to twelve points.
Gloucester-Hartpury’s Georgia Brock was introduced to the field to make her England debut in the final ten minutes, replacing try-scorer Packer. Earlier in the match, back-row compatriot Maddie Feaunati left the field injured.
While they didn’t reduce the difference in the scoreline any further, the Black Ferns put up a strong fight against England, particularly in the opening and closing quarters of the match which will stand them in good stead going forward.
After the result, the Red Roses travel to WXV undefeated in their two warm-up fixtures against France and New Zealand.
Tickets for the opening and final matches of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 will go on sale next week.
From 24th September at 10:00 (GMT+1), registered fans, RFU member clubs, constituent bodies, and members of the England Rugby Club will be able to purchase tickets in the official pre-sale.
Demand is expected to be high, and fans can sign up to secure a place in the pre-sale here.
Mastercard will additionally be giving cardholders access to an exclusive pre-sale between 17-19 September.
From the price of just £30, a family of four [two adults and two children aged 15 and under as of match-day] will be able to watch the tournament’s opening match at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on 22 August 2025.
Tickets for the World Cup final, which in the last edition was a nail-biting thriller between New Zealand and England, will take place on 27 September 2025 at Twickenham Stadium, with tickets starting at £30.
England and New Zealand will next face each other on 6 October as the Red Roses look to defend last year’s WXV 1 title.
The sides will meet in Canada for with all-important bragging rights and vital preparation ahead of the World Cup which kicks off in under a year’s time.
The World number one side and World Cup defending champions will join Canada, Ireland, France, and the USA for three rounds of matches from 29 September until 12 October.
Tickets are on sale now for all three levels of WXV, taking place in Canada, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates with RWC 2025 qualification on the line.
Buy tickets for WXV 1 here.
