Black Ferns v Scotland RWC
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More changes.
Black Ferns halfback Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu will lead the Black Ferns in their final pool match of the Rugby World Cup when they face Scotland at the Northland Events Centre in Whangārei on Saturday (kick off 4.45pm).
Coaches have again made a raft of changes to the match-day 23 as all members of the squad get game time in the pool phases of the competition.The Black Ferns team is:
1 Phillipa Love (21)
2 Georgia Ponsonby (9)
3 Amy Rule (8)
4 Joanah Ngan-Woo (13)
5 Maiakawanakaulani Roos (10)
6 Alana Bremner (9)
7 Sarah Hirini (13)
8 Liana Mikaele-Tu’u (8)
9 Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu (11) – captain
10 Hazel Tubic (19)
11 Ayesha Leti-I’iga (17)
12 Theresa Fitzpatrick (14)
13 Amy du Plessis (6)
14 Renee Wickliffe (46)
15 Renee Holmes (6)16 Natalie Delamare (2)
17 Krystal Murray (5)
18 Tanya Kalounivale (5)
19 Chelsea Bremner (8)
20 Kendra Reynolds (8)
21 Kendra Cocksedge (64)
22 Sylvia Brunt (6)
23 Ruahei Demant (23)Unavailable due to injury: Stacey Fluhler and Kennedy Simon
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Hmmm no room for Ruby Tui or Woodman then. Not sold on Wickliffe. Didn't know Fluhler was injured. Surprised to see Tubic at 10.
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@Jailbreak7 Smith is giving each squad player a chance to play. Tubic gets her first start and Delamare is in the 23. Leti-I’iga is back from injury.
I am assuming Fluhler is being rested as a precaution. Hopefully Simon is ready to go next week, likely from the bench.
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@Jailbreak7 said in Black Ferns v Scotland RWC:
Hmmm no room for Ruby Tui or Woodman then. Not sold on Wickliffe. Didn't know Fluhler was injured. Surprised to see Tubic at 10.
Was going to say all of the above.
And add, so bloody good to see Ayesha making her first appearance in the Cup.
Quite a strange team
- the starting front row from game 1
- Second row a mix from the first 2 matches with Chelsea Bremner getting a rest
- Loosies completely mixed up from the first 2 matches, clearly Smith not settled on his best lose forward combination
- 3rd halfback used in 3 games
- Tubic's first start
- Centre pairing are the 12's used from the first 2 matches with du Plesis moved from 12 to 13 (both are known quantities, would have like to see the youngster get another match as I thought she was very good against Wales)
- Back 3 without any of the 7's girls. Renee Holmes get's a chance to impress after a shocking opening match against Aus.
Hope that as @Bovidae says, Fluhler is being rested as a precaution as she is a must at 13 for the knock out rounds.
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A fair bit of combination testing in there as well.
Roos with Ngan Woo
The loosies.Kalounivale gets a redemption opportunity as does Holmes.
AMT and Tubic should have a ready made combo so this is possibly a bench/backup test.Wickliffe is a communicator and brings experience. Possibly there to take some heat off Holmes to get her started again and regain confidence.
One very weak point we have is kicking. Both from hand and off the tee I cringe whenever Demant has the ball. Tubic and Holmes are probably our better options but neither seem to be starters at the moment.
I can see an option of one of them starting in big games to have that kicking option early on. -
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@KiwiMurph is a shame so many seats in the main stand are empty, when I looked yesterday, there were no doubles available, only single spots...must be those tour group blocks and/or sponsor seats...just walk around town giving them away FFS
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@Machpants said in Womens RWC 2021 -NZ to host:
And Ayesha passed the ball, yay!
That was a lovely draw and pass. Some ABs could learn a thing or two...
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@Machpants yep, and probably the biggest since that game in 2006 I think when we played BOP when nzr were looking to drop us and Ta$man, that was last time we had >15k there
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@Machpants @KiwiMurph I've just noticed there's a match thread...
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@KiwiMurph better distribution
