Yet Ireland were held scoreless for the first time in 14 internationals, dating back to February 2023. The Black Ferns last kept an opponent scoreless in a 62-0 whitewash over Australia last year.
So which is better, 40 or 0? “I’d say the zero,” responded Player of the Match Sylvia Brunt, who knocked down those in green like tenpins.
“Our coaches say defence wins championships.
“This was our hardest training week. This one is as much about those who didn’t jersey-up as those who did. It felt good.”
Initially, Ireland built sustained pressure with repeated phases but, ultimately, they were repelled emphatically each time. From a defensive viewpoint, loosehead prop Chryss Viliko set the tone early with a colossal tackle. Liana Mikaele-Tu’u thwarted a concerning lineout threat and followed that with a grasscutter as Ireland threatened. Lock Alana Bremner was immense with two steals and, when the Irish players collided with each other in one shambolic foray, it seemed like they’d run out of ideas.
Black Fern Stacey Waaka dots down against Ireland in Brighton last weekend. Photo / Tony O Brien / action press
The Black Ferns’ initial breakthrough came in the 15th minute when centre Stacey Waaka scored her 13th test try. Mikaele-Tu’u blasted through the middle and, four passes later, Braxton Sorensen-McGee offloaded nimbly to Waaka. Five minutes later, Viliko barreled through for another score.
When asked how it felt to score her first Rugby World Cup try, a startled Viliko glanced at her toes to avoid the glare of the camera lights and softly responded, “Good,” before a raucous Ayesha Leti-I’iga interrupted, “You got a try baby, yeah that’s my girl” before the pair burst into laughter.
The departure of Irish fullback Stacey Flood, carried off on a stretcher, just before halftime, was no laughing matter. Flood’s exit adds to a mounting Irish injury list, which includes Aoife Wafer, Dorothy Wall and Erin King – all pivotal in Ireland’s upset of the Black Ferns in Vancouver last year.
Waaka exploited the space that Flood would have covered, setting up Sorensen-McGee almost immediately after the injury. With three tries and 114 metres gained in possession, Sorensen-McGee had another field day.
Ireland gave it heaps after halftime, mauls, mauls, mauls, kicks that didn’t quite bounce the right way or narrowly trickled out of reach. All the while the Black Ferns maintained their shape, and brutally so on defence.
A disallowed try in the 72nd minute perfectly illustrated the Black Ferns’ hunger. After a quick tap by Ireland just five metres from the Black Ferns’ line, Sorensen-McGee urgently retreated and made a lunging intervention. This led to a turnover, and fullback Renee Holmes slammed the ball into open space using her less-favoured left boot.
As Irish second five Eve Higgins scrambled, Jorja Miller and Leti-I’iga prowled. However, a delicate touch from Leti-I’iga disrupted Higgins’ attempt to pick up the ball, preventing Holmes from celebrating a try from the subsequent ruck.
Still, the Black Ferns had favourable territory and, after forcing another mistake, Sorensen-McGee crossed for her third try from a routine scrum move. From the restart, Leti-I’iga and Miller combined again, with the Wellington winger surging 40 metres before supplying Miller, who sent replacement halfback Maia Joseph clear.
“Job done, pretty proud of that one, Scott [Bemand] and the Irish ladies really threw everything at us and put us under a lot of pressure,” Black Ferns director of rugby Alan Bunting said afterwards.
“We were formidable on D, we didn’t want to let them past and that’s what it’s going to take to go further in this competition.”
The Black Ferns’ next match is their quarter-final against South Africa at Exeter at midnight on Saturday, live on SkySport.
PM on the train
Josef Shadwell, a former head prefect and First XV halfback at Hutt Valley High School, was among the Kiwi cheer squad in Brighton at the weekend.
To avoid the crowds afterwards, Shadwell and his friends decided to head to Lewes, a small town nearby, to enjoy a kebab.
While waiting for their train back to London, they noticed someone at the station: former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, with her husband Clarke Gayford and their daughter Neve.
“The Prime Minister catching the train – how Kiwi is that?” Shadwell laughed.
“Only a few recognised her. Everyone was chatting about footy all the way to Clapham Junction, and then we all waited at the door to go our separate ways. Unbelievable!”
Ardern has been a visitor in the Black Ferns’ dressing room.
Jacinda Ardern with Black Ferns star Portia Woodman-Wickliffe during the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. Photo / Black Ferns
Ayesha to Ardie
Ayesha Leti-I’iga is the only Black Fern in the Rugby World Cup touring party from Wellington. She has played 84 matches for her beloved Oriental Rongotai (Ories) club in Miramar, scoring 198 tries.
Ories is the same club that Ardie Savea represents. On Saturday, Savea helped the All Blacks secure fortress Eden Park with a stirring 24-17 triumph over the world champion Springboks in his 100th test.
“O-Tide Baby, O-Tide!” Leti-I’iga exclaimed as she lifted her jersey to proudly display an Ories tattoo on her body.
“One game for New Zealand is special; 100 games for New Zealand is even more special,” she said of Savea’s achievement. “I’m so proud it was at home. I know he would have enjoyed that, because none of us would be here without the grassroots support.”
In her last appearance for Ories, Leti-I’iga scored four tries. She also scored three tries and received a yellow card in a high-stakes, 100-minute 24-24 draw in a final against Petone last year. Her record for the most tries in a single game for Ories is eight, and she set a season record with 41 tries in just 12 games.
Ories have produced several Rugby World Cup winners, including Julian Savea, Ma’a Nonu, John Gallagher, Rebecca Liua’ana and Joanah Ngan-Woo.
The oldest Black Fern on tour
At 65, Christine Rodd proudly declares that she is the oldest living Black Fern and one of their most ardent supporters. While waiting at a crowded train station in Brighton, she mentioned to a young boy that she was Black Fern No 33.
Stunned, he reached for his phone, and so did I.
The loose forward from Canterbury attended the first Rugby World Cup in 1991, helped organise the pioneering World Rugby Festival in Christchurch in 1990, and toured with the Crusadettes – a University of Canterbury team that broke new ground by touring the US and Europe in 1988.
Former Black Fern Christine Rodd with reporter Adam Julian on the Brighton station platform. Photo / Adam Julian
The Crusadettes, equipped with their own uniforms and a strong team culture, contributed 10 players to the first Rugby World Cup team. Remarkably, Rodd survived a stabbing incident on the tour in Spain.
Having retired after more than three decades in IT, she is now enjoying the World Cup festivities before returning to Christchurch, where she is involved in a Canterbury Rugby legacy project aimed at numbering and capping all of Canterbury’s female players.
The project’s purpose is to connect the past with the present, similar to efforts in the Bay of Plenty and Wellington. Former Black Fern Erin Rush was a significant driver in the Wellington initiative.
Meanwhile, Rodd is set to link up with Maree Fitzgibbon next week. Fitzgibbon scored the winning try in New Zealand’s first-ever fixture against the California Grizzlies in 1989.
England equal their world record
England weren’t at their convincing best in a 47-7 victory to conclude Pool A in Brighton against Australia; nonetheless, they equalled their own world record for the most consecutive international victories. The longest international rugby winning streaks in global men’s and women’s rugby are (with points for and against shown in brackets):
2023-Present: England Women, 30 (1534-352)
2019-22: England Women, 30 (1402-247)
2008-14: Cyprus Men, 24 (1070-177)
2002-09: Black Ferns, 24 (871-153)
1992-97: England Women, 21 (541-134)
1994-2001: Black Ferns 19, (1146-69)
2015-16: All Blacks, 18 (751-253)
2015-17: England Men, 18 (621-300)
2004-06: France Women, 18 (445-79)
2022-23: Ireland Men, 17 (542-236)
1965-69: All Blacks, 17 (337-144)
1997-98: Springboks, 17 (662-239)
2006-10: Lithuania Men, 17 (611-138)
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.