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England sluggish, Matthews and Leti-I'iga bring energy to Allianz Stadium
England made it 17 Test wins in a row as they signed off from their WXV 1 preparations with a 24-12 defeat of New Zealand at the newly christened Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
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Captain Marlie Packer, Abby Dow, Ellie Kildunne and Natasha Hunt crossed the whitewash for the Red Roses to send the majority of the 41,523 fans in attendance home happy.
However, this was not as routine a victory as the scoreline might suggest. Although the result was decided before Katelyn Vahaakolo scored the first of her two second-half tries, the Black Ferns dominated for large periods.
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Both sets of coaches will have departed Twickenham with pages of notes and an idea of where their teams need to improve before WXV 1 – where they are due to meet again – gets underway in a fortnight.
Here are four takeaways from a sunny afternoon in south-west London.
England start slowly again
For the second week running, England had to dig deep in the early stages as their opponents dominated territory and possession.
There was a general sloppiness to the way the Red Roses played in the opening quarter as passes failed to hit their targets, kicks were charged down, tackles were missed, and gaps appeared in defence.
One glaring example came when Sylvia Brunt punched a hole in the England rearguard and Black Ferns scrum-half Maia Joseph was able to saunter to the breakdown and nonchalantly measure a pinpoint crossfield kick to the returning Ayesha Leti-I’iga.
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Fortunately for Mitchell’s side, New Zealand were unable to capitalise on any of the opportunities forged by Leti-I’iga’s furrows down the right wing and once Packer opened the scoring, the momentum tipped decisively in the hosts’ favour. The Black Ferns’ second-half salvo coming too late.
It was a similar story against France at Kingsholm seven days ago but while there is something to admire in the team’s resilience, they will know there is work to do on the road to next year’s home Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Especially given the Red Roses’ sole defeat in their last 48 matches came in their most important game of that run: the 2022 World Cup final.
After the match, Mitchell spoke about the need for his team to “finish” opponents when they are on top. “I thought our discipline in the last 20 metres of the field let them off the hook,” he said.
Matthews shines brightest for hosts
At the heart of much of what England did well on Saturday, particularly as the Red Roses struggled to find a foothold in the opening exchanges, was Player of the Match Alex Matthews.
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The number eight put in an incredible 23 tackles, helping to stem the early flow of New Zealand pressure and was no less impressive with ball in hand.
Only five players made more carries than Matthews’ seven in the Twickenham sunshine. One break stood out in the first half as Matthews glided through a gap in the Black Ferns defence to put England on the front foot.
The momentum was lost moments later, however, as Holly Aitchison passed the ball straight into touch.
Matthews was forced to sit out the end of Gloucester-Hartpury’s triumphant Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) campaign but is clearly back to her best and loving life at the base of the Red Roses scrum.
Leti-I’iga provides ‘energy’ on return
Ayesha Leti-I’iga only made six carries on her return to Test rugby but that does no justice to the impact she had in south-west London.
The last time she appeared on this stage, almost two years ago, Leti-I’iga scored a brace of tries to help the Black Ferns defeat England and claim their sixth World Cup title.
And but for some committed defence from England in Twickenham she could have had at least two more on Saturday. The Red Roses struggled to contain the winger in the early exchanges but any momentum she created invariably fizzled out before the try line.
“She’s a ball of energy,” Black Ferns director of rugby Allan Bunting said. “When she gets the ball in hand, she is hard to stop. It was great to see her running out there again.”
Leti-I’iga’s fellow winger Vahaakolo added: “She is such a lethal player on both sides of the ball, defence and attack, and she’s also a really awesome team-mate off the field.
“She brings a lot of energy to our team, and I think she made some awesome breaks out there and I think she has had an awesome comeback. I’m so excited to see more of what she’s going to give in the next few games.”
Vahaakolo admitted she and the team are “sore losers” but can also be pleased with her performance at Twickenham, having provided two excellent finishes to get the Black Ferns on the board.
Bunting certainly has plenty of depth to pick from out wide. The biggest cheer for any New Zealand player was reserved for Ruby Tui when she was introduced during the second half, but on this evidence the World Cup winner faces a battle to get back into the team.
Rivalry remains No.1
When evaluating the Black Ferns’ performance in Twickenham, it cannot be ignored that this was their first match since July and the bulk of the squad had arrived in England only a week ago.
It is only natural to wonder what they could have achieved with a little more time to adjust to the conditions and overcome the jetlag associated with completing half a lap of the globe.
Luckily for fans of international rugby, that is not something we will have to ponder for too long given these teams will meet again in three weeks’ time, during the second round of WXV 1 2024 in Canada.
The Black Ferns will undoubtedly benefit from spending that time together and having more time to acclimatise to local conditions, given they are due to leave London for Vancouver, via a stop in Germany, on Tuesday.
Yet, the same could be said for England; there is no guarantee they will be as sluggish starters at Langley Event Centre on October 6th.
What Saturday’s encounter proved, moreover, is that while the fixture has been relegated to the second weekend of WXV 1, this is a rivalry that remains the headline act of the women’s game.
More than one fan on their way to Allianz Stadium on Saturday could be overheard musing about the possibility of returning to Twickenham in a little over a year to watch these two teams contest the World Cup final.
There is a lot of rugby to be played between now and September 27th, 2025, but it feels likely that if these sides do meet at next year’s showpiece tournament, then the winner would finish it with gold medals hanging from their necks.
I would have thought that NZ would have lost sufficient World Ranking points on Saturday for Canada to rise to 2nd in the world. Why no exchange of points? Despite an attempted explanation by World Rugby as to how they are calculated they are still a mystery.
The NZ winger Leti-l'iga brings energy for 20 yards but even Red Roses second row can catch her over 40 as Zoe Aldcroft did on Saturday. Not the energy that would get her into a Red Roses squad. The BFs were here last weekend so jet lag was not an issue. I was there and the Red Roses never looked like losing and won comfortably without playing awfully well. They switched off somewhat in the second half. They'll get a chance to blow a few more cobwebs away playing the USA in Canada. The BFs were all smiles as they came off on Saturday, relieved I think to have avoided a thrashing.