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Aisle be Back: The Super Rugby semi-finals and the Black Ferns

  • By Kevin McCarthy

Hopefully, there are a few Hurricanes kicking about the streets right now, wondering what to do with their immediate future. As in the next two weeks, while they watch the top four teams battle out for the Super Rugby title.

The Canes should be feeling regrets, and a bit of a remorse, not to be at Eden Park against the Blues. Yet on Saturday night in Canberra, there was that feeling at about 60 minutes that not quite enough had been done in the stages of the game where we had some sort of edge.

Chiefly, that 20 minutes of red card advantage (albeit it became 14 on 14 not long afterwards for 10 minutes). I’d liked the pragmatism shown up to then, mixed with some good attack. Taking the penalties, instead of hitting and hoping into the corners.

Yet, like the Crusaders, the Brumbies maul is such a tough weapon to combat that if they can stay within rough striking distance, they can close matters right up.

You can argue the toss about the timing of the replacements, which seemed to knock the team backwards. It’s done the trick before to the positive, and we can never know what leaving the starting line-up on longer would have done.

But the real killer to me seemed to be those turnovers at key moments – the isolated player picked off, and the chance to keep up the pressure lost.

Frustrating but actually, if you sampled the great masses at the start of the season, then I’d wager very few were picking the Hurricanes to get fifth, and pretty close to the semis. More common were predictions of 9th or 10th ignominy, based on reasonable worries that this was a largely green squad, punctuated by a few stars.

Yet there were plenty of good pointers that this can be a squad on the rise in 2023. Let’s hope the signature signers have been busy at work already. And no, sacking the coach is not the solution.

As for the actual contenders, the Blues surely will have flushed themselves off the quarterfinal’s lethargy, where they were pretty ordinary for the first half. And no-one will bet against the Crusaders. Expect them of course once again to be matching up at Eden Park in two weekends time.

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I hope you enjoyed the sheer old school ness nature of the Black Ferns win over Australia on Sunday in their opening Pacific Four match.

There was actual mud, torrents of rain, and a ground packed out with tightly-clutched umbrellas. There was even Ted scowling from the stand.

The Black Ferns, studded with players on debut, were pretty nervy and bad for the first 20, except for their defence.  There’s no doubting women’s test rugby is a different tempo to the men’s game – but that’s not a bad thing at all.

Yet in the end, that defensive grit, and a change of tactics, saw them home over Australia – who remain winless over New Zealand after something like 20 goes.

Baby steps and all, but plenty of reason to keep watching and see just how much the Ferns can turn things around before the world cup.

Black Ferns Pacific Four fixtures
Black Ferns vs Australia 23-10
Monday 6 June, 2.45PM, Tauranga Domain

Black Ferns vs Canada
Sunday 12 June, 2.45PM, Trusts Arena, Waitakere

Black Ferns vs USA
Saturday 18 June, 4.00PM, Semenoff Stadium, Whangarei

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