The Hat-Trick Chick

The world number ones need to continue fighting mounting pressure in their pre-world cup fixtures.

Any rugby player, in fact a player of any sport, regardless of level will tell you that for every game that your pre-match process becomes gospel; even for extraordinary, once in a lifetime fixtures that routine shall remain unchanged and you should approach each game with your same immaculate well-drilled process. 

And for sure there is nothing extraordinary about this weekend’s friendly fixture between the Red Roses and the Black Ferns; only a clash between the world cup winners and runner ups for five out of the last six world cups, the latter under a coach playing against his home country for the first time in the role and of course playing at the home of rugby in its inaugural match under a never before seen landmark naming rights deal. Yes, absolutely nothing extraordinary to note here. 

Looking at world cup statistics alone one would argue the Red Roses would come into such a fixture with a chip on their shoulder, coming out in second place in every instance of the aforementioned world cup clashes only finally claiming revenge best served in the form of a WXV tournament victory in Auckland at the home of the very team that has wronged them consistently over the modern history of the sport. 

Yes, friendlies are an opportunity to test plays, try your new blood and build a platform – but this game will feel anything but like a friendly as we get to watch the ultimate grudge match on rugby’s (or the world quite possibly- although I am somewhat biased) biggest stage.

Sponsorship management at Allianz must have been licking their lips to be blessed with such a fixture to kick off the debutant Allianz Stadium (but let’s face it .. those of us not contractually bound in a sponsorship deal will continue to refer to it as Twickenham), with ticket sales and crowd size looking to challenge the current record for a women’s match in England previously seen in the six nations. 

And afterall, the next show down on English soil between these two powerhouses could of course be a world cup deciding fixture next year. 

The Black Ferns come into this with an insurmountable challenge. Since their, what you could say as a, lackluster WXV performance as world title holders losing to England and France in the endeavor, the Black Ferns also lost to Canada earlier this year for the first time in the Pacific Four series in a monumental day for Canadian rugby. However, this was answered later in the season by what can only be described by an absolute demolition of their antipodean counterparts in the O’Reilly cup (twice…). 

Despite a rather chaotic series of recent results the ferns will have the added benefit of fresh analysis hot off the press in the form of England’s convincing win over France last week, but is that convincing enough to course the world champions to quake in their boots.

To England’s benefit, the match last week at Kingsholm was certainly a game used to brush off the preseason cobwebs. 

There were cob-webs, my my were there cobwebs – unforced handling errors, 4 intercepts by the French, mixed outcomes at England’s forwards set piece (a pack of 8 women that consistently terrify their opponents) and butchered simple 2v1s where any amateur rugby player would hear their coach screaming at them if they were do that themselves. 

To give credit where credit is due, the French arrived with a ferocity, a hungry line speed, ruthless defense and even turning over the England pack to score off their scrum. They are afterall the 4th highest ranked in the world still, matching that of their males counterparts in the World Men’s rankings. Any criticism of England aside, the game served its purpose; there were sensational tries reminding the world exactly why England are still number 1, whilst presenting new players with their first caps and allowing a both sides to test new plays ahead of the WXV later in the season. 

Every rugby fan will take to each international fixture over the next 6 months with increased scrutiny as we prepare to manage our emotions, expectations (and our high stakes fantasy teams) in the run up to the World Cup with this fixture being no exception. 

It will certainly be a clash of the titans.

The Red Roses’ have found themselves in a lose lose conundrum in these pre world cup fixtures. As world number ones by a whopping margin and with a home world cup on the horizon next year, fans, pundits and critics alike will no doubt be expecting the Red Roses to rise to the challenge tomorrow with poise and real dog fight, ultimately coming out on top. Even a convincing victory over the Ferns isn’t out of the question for many fans and would only add to the impressive winning streak of the Red Roses. We’ve been in this situation before, where the pressure of a magnificent winning streak and immaculate form surmounted to heart-break in 2022 in Auckland for the England squad. 

And well should the Red Roses lose …  that’s the other side of the conundrum. 

The Black ferns will give their all to this game regardless of its “friendly” title but coming out of a season with some shocking results to overthrow the world number 1s at home will they really need to pull something special out of the bag. A monumental day, with the Ferns coming a-knocking – that and a day for the potential highest number of pundit slip ups in history as everyone reminds themselves that Twickenham is no longer called Twickenham even though all the fans will continue to call it Twickenham as they arrive in Twickenham to watch a game at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.