{"id":150553,"date":"2025-09-17T20:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/150553\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T20:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:46:09","slug":"show-them-a-new-style-of-black-ferns-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/150553\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Show them a new style of Black Ferns rugby\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Zealand<\/a> co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu is ready to show Canada \u201ca new style of Black Ferns rugby\u201d when the two sides meet in the 2025 Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup<\/a> semi-finals, with the winner set to face either England<\/a> or France<\/a> for the top prize.<\/p>\n

Canada<\/a> haven\u2019t lost to New Zealand since 2023, when the Black Ferns claimed a one-sided 52-12 win on July 8. That result is an anomaly in the last three meetings between the sides, with Canada winning one and drawing another over the last 16 months.<\/p>\n

Christchurch\u2019s Apollo Projects Stadium was the host venue for one of the most famous victories in Canada\u2019s rugby history. The Maple Leafs defeated the Black Ferns for the first time in New Zealand during the 2024 Pacific Four Series, and almost repeated those heroics this year.<\/p>\n

\"Video<\/p>\n

Vermeulen explains the importance of Jasper Wiese\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0team<\/p>\n

\"VideoVermeulen explains the importance of Jasper Wiese\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0team<\/p>\n

Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu Atai\u2019i (Sylvia) Brunt crashed over for a match-levelling score in the final play of a thriller between the sides on May 17. Canada were held to a 27-all draw, with the New Zealanders going on to claim the Pac Four title after beating the USA<\/a> 79-14.<\/p>\n

Stacey Waaka issued a warning on Tuesday ahead of the semi-final showdown at Bristol\u2019s Ashton Gate, with the two-time Rugby World Cup winner believing Canada haven\u2019t \u201cplayed the best version of the Black Ferns\u201d \u2013 and Tukuafu has since hinted at the growth of the side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a quality side, they\u2019re innovative and they\u2019re really connected, they\u2019ve played a lot of rugby together,\u201d Tukuafu told reporters in Bristol.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just excited for the weekend to show them a new style of Black Ferns rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Black Ferns side to face Canada, the selection of co-captain Ruahei Demant<\/a> at first five-eighth is a historic moment for the team. Demant will become just the third Black Fern to reach the 50-Test mark, joining Kendra Cocksedge<\/a> and Fiao\u2019o Fa\u2019amausili in that club.<\/p>\n

Demant debuted for the Black Ferns in 2018 against Australia, before becoming team captain ahead of the home Rugby World Cup in 2022. The playmaker was among the standouts in that tournament, receiving Player of the Final honours after the win over England at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

Black Ferns Sevens captain Risi Pouri-Lane<\/a> returns to the matchday 23, partnering Demant in the halves. Maia Joseph<\/a> drops to the bench, while Theresa Setefano and Ayesha Leti-I\u2019iga provide cover for other backline positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuahei is an exceptional human. She leads our team with so much pride, she\u2019s powerful in her words. Nothing changes for her, she\u2019s going to go out there and do her job,\u201d Tukuafu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s going to lead our team as she does and 50 games is an amazing milestone, but I know that she\u2019d say \u2018It\u2019s just another game\u2019. She\u2019s been amazing for our group, especially this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director of Performance Allan Bunting has named a strong side for the knockout clash, although the absence of HSBC SVNS Series star Jorja Miller<\/a> was a big talking point on Wednesday. Tukuafu has replaced Miller in the starting side at openside flanker.<\/p>\n

Tukuafu joins Liana Mikaele-Tu\u2019u and 14-Test No. 8 Kaipo Olsen-Baker<\/a> in the loose forwards. On the bench, Layla Sae<\/a> will look to make a difference off the pine, joining other forwards like Amy Rule<\/a> and Chelsea Bremner<\/a> in the reserves.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Miller is] an incredible person, but she\u2019s also done a lot for the team off-field, she does a lot for me. I go to her if I need help and she\u2019s an incredible player,\u201d Tukuafu explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t felt her presence leave for once and she continues to serve the team in a different way. We all know that she\u2019s going to do everything she needs to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu is ready to show Canada \u201ca new style of Black Ferns rugby\u201d when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-150553","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\/150553","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=150553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}