Haka majestic New Zealanders against Australia

Thomas Seneke, Media 365: Posted on Saturday Oct 8, 2022 at 7:54 pm.

New Zealand, after scaring at the start of the game, included Australia (41-17) to open the World Cup on home soil. All after a Haka that would go down in history, in that specific context necessarily.

Every encounter between New Zealand and Australia has its own flavour, with regional supremacy always on the line. Especially when these two countries face each other in their first World Cup match, let alone New Zealand, as was the case on Saturday at Eden Park in Auckland. So the Haka Black Ferns – the title of the New Zealand women’s team – were eagerly awaited and did not disappoint, from a very strong introduction. The Australians also had to show some resilience and, like the men a few weeks ago, rallied to a V formation to win (imitating the famous initiative of the French in the 2011 World Cup final) and finishing from midfield. In contrast, the New Zealanders also advanced.

Australia led 17-0

Enough to plant sacred decency around this match. But like the men on the final day of the Rugby Championship, September 24 (40-14), there was ultimately no game and it was still New Zealand who prevailed at home (41-17). But the Australians were in perfect shape, taking a 17-0 lead from the half-hour mark thanks to three tries.

They still led 17-12 at half-time but were knocked down with six tries, twice before the break and four after, including a hat-trick from Portia Woodman who scored three times in 25 minutes (36, 47, 61) – Robbie Toye closed the mark Double in six minutes (68, 74) making it 27-0 in the second half alone. Finally a logic respected for the second world (australia is seventh) and Champions, holders of five crowns, including four in a row from 1998 to 2010.