The Black Ferns will try to conquer world champions England at Twickenham this weekend, the London ground holding special memories for coach Whitney Hansen.
New Zealand are coming off eight straight wins and are two from two so far this WXV series, backing up their 28-14 win over France in Lyon with a 66-14 victory away to Scotland last week in Edinburgh.
However, Hansen knows England, who are unbeaten in their last 40 tests, will be their biggest challenge yet.
“We’ve talked lots about what their strengths are. They play a set-piece dominant game, so they’re going to try and play through us and they’ve got pace on the edge to go around us as well, so I think taking time in the collision is going to be huge in and amongst taking away that set-piece threat.”
England are unbeaten in their last 40 tests.
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With more than 55,000 fans expected at Twickenham it could be the biggest crowd the Black Ferns have ever played in front of, eclipsing the 42,500-strong crowd that showed up for the 2021 Women’s World Cup final at Eden Park.
Hansen said it was great for the women’s game.
“How exciting is that, first of all, right?” Hansen said.
“The support of women’s rugby, and yet again on this tour, creating a new piece of history.”
The Black Ferns are coming off a big win over Scotland.
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Hansen said they’ve prepared for what could be a deafening environment on Sunday morning.
“We’ve done a few different things. Simon Kneebone (Black Ferns assistant coach) has been sort of walking around the line-outs with a boombox with different bits and pieces of music on, like the Cranberries were the main hit on Tuesday training.”
Hansen is confident her team won’t get caught up in the occasion and said they’ve had plenty of experience in pressure situations.
“I guess mental performance and those skill sets can be generalised, so as much as they haven’t been in front of those numbers, they have been under pressure and individually, they know what they need to do to have that focus of performance.”
Being back in London ahead of a match at Twickenham brings back fond memories for Hansen, who spent some special time with her dad, former All Blacks coach Sir Steve Hansen, at the ground a few years ago.
“I actually had a really cool experience at Twickenham. My last time I was there was 2023, and I was coaching alongside my dad, actually,” Hansen said.
“It was a World 15 team, a men’s team that was there, him and Brad Mooar (former All Blacks assistant coach). We had a week at the Lensbury (resort) and I was kind of just going in at the beginning to do a bit of PD (personal development).
“But by the end of it, they said, ‘oh, we’re going to have you come in and be part of the group’ and that was really special and a special moment to have with Dad.”
Hansen said it’s an experience she’ll never forget.
“There’s not too many father-daughter combinations that have sat in a coaching box together in Twickenham.”
Whitney Hansen believes the Black Ferns can upset England this weekend.
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Hansen said she isn’t worried about the size of the crowd and said she’s relishing the chance to try and guide her side to what would be a statement win over the world No.1-ranked side.
“I coach because I love being part of people’s development and journey and helping them to find greatness. So for me, the opposition probably doesn’t really change it too much, the occasion part doesn’t really faze me too much,” Hansen said.
“So I’ll just try and be present and try and see the things and the different angles that they (the players) can’t and support our leaders to be able to manage that game with our messaging that we send down. But super excited for our athletes and for the Black Ferns to have this moment for sure.”
Hansen has named her team and three players are back from injury with loose forward Kaipo Olsen-Baker, winger Ayesha Leti-I’iga and lock Laura Bayfield back in the starting side.
“We’re super excited to have them back in the mix,” Hansen said.
“They both come with real experience in big matches, big moments, and have had a heap of experience within their rugby careers individually and they both absolutely ooze our game, so to have them back in the starting line-up is exciting and gives the team real confidence.”
Ayesha Leti-I’iga is ready to take on the English.
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Leti-I’iga and Liana Mikaele-Tu’u have both played at Twickenham before and they’re confident they can use the crowd to their advantage on Sunday morning.
“I just love the atmosphere,” Mikaele-Tu’u said.
“It is a huge stadium with an amazing atmosphere and the times that we’ve played there we’ve had amazing crowds.
“I think just the support for rugby in general is something that is really infectious for us and we love that. It’s something that we’re probably not used to often and so when we are there, I think it’s something that we really embrace.”
Leti-I’iga, who is coming back from a calf injury, is looking forward to trying to end England’s 40-test unbeaten run (England had won 39 tests in a row until last week’s 26-26 draw with Canada.)
“It’s exciting, especially coming off their game last week and we saw the results from that game. We saw exciting rugby played and shown (by both England and Canada) and we haven’t played them in a while, so it will be good to play them and see and test where our rugby is at the moment.”