{"id":140478,"date":"2025-09-13T15:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140478\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:44:08","slug":"new-zealand-blitz-south-africa-after-break-to-reach-womens-rugby-world-cup-semis-womens-rugby-world-cup-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140478\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand blitz South Africa after break to reach Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup semis | Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

In New Zealand rugby the female of the species is currently deadlier then the male. South Africa\u2019s women were always going to struggle to replicate the Springboks\u2019 record-breaking result<\/a> in Wellington a few hours earlier but, after a stuttering first half, the Black Ferns raised their game significantly in the second to secure their place in next weekend\u2019s World Cup semi-finals.<\/p>\n

The scoreboard tells only half the story of a contest often as notable for collective South African power as belated Kiwi finesse. South Africa, smartly coached and packed with forward muscle, took their opponents on physically in virtually every area and, at 10-10 at half-time, had the Black Ferns genuinely rattled.<\/p>\n

South Africa even opted for a couple of whole-team lineout mauls for extra effect but were eventually outflanked by New Zealand\u2019s flying wingers and mobile back row. On another great day for hyphen aficionados there was another brace of tries for the prolific 18-year-old Braxton Sorensen-McGee plus a couple more for the industrious No 8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker and full-back Renee Holmes.<\/p>\n

It was a fascinating clash of styles from start to finish. The Black Ferns possess plenty of impressively lithe athletes but South Africa\u2019s set-piece potential was consistently striking. The underdogs duly enjoyed the lion\u2019s share of early possession and territory, with the No 8 Aseza Hele leading the charge, and New Zealand\u2019s rising penalty count reflected the pressure they were absorbing.<\/p>\n

Kaipo Olsen-Baker powers over for the first of her two tries. Photograph: Andrew Boyers\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n

South Africa could already have registered a couple of tries before they were eventually rewarded at the third attempt when the tighthead prop Babalwa Latsha crashed over after 20 minutes for the game\u2019s first score. It seemed as if the Black Ferns had responded immediately only for Liana Mikaele-Tu\u2019u to ground the ball just short of the line with five points tantalisingly within reach.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideNew Zealand 46-17 South Africa: teams and scorersShow<\/p>\n

New Zealand: Holmes; Sorensen-McGee, Waaka, Setefano (Leti-I’iga 34), Woodman-Wickliffe; Demant (co-capt; Vaha’akolo 66), Joseph (Hohaia 59); Viliko (Tangen-Wainohu 59), Ponsonby (Lolohea 55), Mahutariki-Fakalelu (Henwood 59), Roos (Bayfield 55), Bremner, Mikaele-Tu’u, Miller (Tukuafu 45; co-capt), Olsen-Baker.\u00a0Tries: Setefano, Sorensen-McGee 2, Holmes 2, Olsen-Baker 2, Vahaakolo. Cons: Holmes, Sorensen-McGee 2.<\/p>\n

South Africa: Dolf; Samboya, Mpupha, Ngwevu (Webb 56), Malinga; Van Rensburg, Roos; Charlie (Ngxingolo 48), Gwala (Hanekom 65), Latsha (Mdlik 65), Booi (capt; Ubisi 48), Lochner (Qolo 48), Solontsi, Mcatshulwa (Makua, 64), Hele (Jacobs 48).\u00a0Tries: Latsha, Ngwevu, Makua. Con: Dolf.<\/p>\n

Referee: Sara Cox (England).<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

The dam would shortly burst. A South Africa clearance kick was charged down to give Theresa Setefano the chance to score before a solid attacking scrum offered a platform for Sorensen-McGee to ghost over on the right. Once they get ahead New Zealand generally become significantly harder to subdue.<\/p>\n

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That said, England\u2019s coaching team will take a keen interest in this particular match video. The simplest way to frustrate the Black Ferns\u2019 fleet-footed attackers is to suffocate them at source but doing so for 80 minutes is easier said than done. South African limbs began to tire and energy levels drop as New Zealand cut loose with four tries in 14 second-half minutes.<\/p>\n

While the Black Ferns were a long way from perfect they do possess some gifted gamebreakers and the precocious Sorensen-McGee, in addition to her smoothly taken tries, is a decent goal-kicker when given the chance. Lerato Makua did manage a late consolation score for South Africa while another notable figure was the referee Sara Cox, who gave a calm and composed performance in her home city.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s 40 year old captain Nolusindiso Booi is carried off the field after her final World Cup appearance. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

As an occasion it was also another joyfully uplifting one. A healthy, enthusiastic crowd, middle aged blokes proudly wearing pink cowboy hats, rousing renditions of Nkosi Sikelel\u2019 iAfrika in the main stand. If you could bottle the atmosphere of this tournament and sprinkle a few drops over every sporting event not a single neutral would ever leave disappointed. And the best, hopefully, is yet to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In New Zealand rugby the female of the species is currently deadlier then the male. South Africa\u2019s women…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-140478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}