FERNS FRAZZLE ENGLAND

Michael from Trentham

Glory was again in Black at Eden Park but this time a women's team who where not expected to come close even to the rolling Roses that were the English.

Even the stats were against NZ - 16,000 female players in NZ including less than 1000 senior players to that of almost 600,000 female players in total within the boundaries of England.

How the game has grown though among women. When I actually wrote a published story on rugby numbers, NZ had just over 2000 female players and England 150,000.

The Ferns deserved their win. They had exhausted the English to such an extent that with a three point lead, twice the English could not take a penalty shot at goal because a successful kick (which was likely) would have only tied the game for extra time to be played which would have favoured fitter, faster NZ. And of the last three lineouts in the game, the English were outjumped twice when previously they had lost only one through to the final several minutes.

Substitute lock, Joanah Ngan-Woo who nabbed the ball in the final lineout with time up should become legionary because a clean take by the English 99% guaranteed them trytime with their almost unstoppable rolling maul.

Ngan-Woo hails from Wellington and is 1.82m tall.