Ruthless New Zealand inflicts more misery on Australia in women’s rugby test | Women’s Rugby Union

The Black Ferns continued their absolute dominance over the Wallaroos with an unanswered 10 tries in a crushing 62-0 victory in the women’s rugby test at Ballymore Stadium.

Australia had high hopes of a breakthrough win over New Zealand after beating Fijiana 64-5 last week. But in their first match at their new home in Brisbane on Sunday, they were outclassed and outgunned from the start.

Katelyn Vaha’akolo arrested four tries while the Wallaroos scored no points as the Black Ferns extended their run to 27 wins from 27 meetings between the trans-Tasman rivals.

The Black Ferns were set for a first try within four minutes after their pack threatened to cross the line several times from kick-off before hooker Georgia Ponsonby found a gap between Kaitlan Leaney and Cecilia Smith to score. The Wallaroos tightened their defence to hold off the Black Ferns attack for almost 10 minutes until Layla Sae scored in the corner.

The world champions heaped more misery on the Wallaroos when a lucky bounce from a Renee Holmes kick ended with the ball in the hands of Ruby Tui, who the star player dove over. Vaha’akolo grabbed her first try when a Sylvia Brunt grubber was left up just short of the line. She broke two Wallaroos tackles and scored again just before half-time.

The Wallaroos thought they had responded with a stunning solo try from Eva Karpani, but replays showed the ball was retained and the Black Ferns went into half-time with a commanding 29-0 lead.

Vaha’akolo added a third try when he broke the line to finish under the posts just two minutes after the restart, with Brunt going solo to collect her own kick shortly after. Vaha’akolo was on the end of another stunning move as the Wallaroos’ resistance gradually crumbled, while Atlanta Lolohea capped off a dream debut by scoring from a rolling maul before playing a key role in a penalty after the final whistle.

The Black Ferns winger played down her contribution to the four-try haul, saying “all I had to do was put the ball down”.

“The last two weeks we’ve really made a change in our team, we’ve tried to improve our skills, improve our work in the middle,” Vaha’akolo said. “I still feel like we have a lot more to offer, but it’s a journey and we had a lot of fun today.”

Australia pushed hard for a consolation attempt, but the ruthless Black Ferns kept holding off surprise attacks late in the game. Despite the improved performance in the second half, the hosts were given a clear message of how far they are from the benchmark.

Wallaroos captain Michaela Leonard lamented her team’s lack of execution but admitted that “New Zealand outplayed us to be honest”.

“We know that physicality is one of their strengths and we know that’s probably an area that let us down against them in the Pacific Four series,” Leonard said. “For us, it’s more our ability to perform against that pressure and that physicality, and making sure we bring it on the other side of the ball.”