Black Ferns to meet England in decider

Club Rugby | 16 June 2017 | Club Rugby

The Black Ferns team to play England in the series decider of the International Women’s Rugby Series has been named by Coach Glenn Moore today.

The team is (number of caps in brackets):

1. Toka Natua (10)
2. Fiao’o Faamausili - captain (46)
3. Aldora Itunu (10)
4. Eloise Blackwell (26)
5. Charmaine Smith (10)
6. Rawinia Everitt (20)
7. Sarah Goss (4)
8. Linda Itunu (32)
9. Kendra Cocksedge (36)
10. Kelly Brazier (31)
11. Renee Wickliffe (25)
12. Chelsea Alley (13)
13. Stacey Waaka (5)
14. Portia Woodman (10)
15. Selica Winiata (26)

Reserves

16. Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate (14)
17. Sosoli Talawadua (2)
18. Aleisha Nelson (22)
19. Becky Wood (1)
20. Charmaine McMenamin (8)
21. Kristina Sue (8)
22. Victoria Subritsky-Nafatali (13)
23. Honey Hireme (17)

Both sides go into Saturday’s Test match with two wins each, the Black Ferns having beaten Australia 44-17 on Tuesday at Rugby Park in Christchurch and Canada 28-16 last Friday at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

England kicked off their campaign with a 53-10 win against Australia last Friday before going on to beat Canada 27-20 in Christchurch on Tuesday.

Moore said he was expecting a physical clash as both teams wanted to finish the series unbeaten.

“We’re looking forward to Saturday. The English are a good side – they are World Champions and have won their last two matches here in New Zealand.

“They had to fight pretty hard against the Canadians but we know they will bring physicality and they have some pace out on the edges. We will need to put in our best performance.

“For us it’s about improving week on week and we made a good step forward in our second game and I expect we will advance again on Saturday."

Rawinia Everitt and Linda Itunu return to the starting XV having fully recovered from injury and Chelsea Alley will have her first start for the year after sustaining an ankle injury in May’s trial.

“We wanted to try some different combinations as we look ahead to August’s World Cup and it’s important we do that now,” Moore said.

The Black Ferns’ match kicks off at 4.15pm, at Rotorua International Stadium ahead of the Maori All Blacks match against the British and Irish Lions.

Moore said the predicted large and vocal crowd would elevate the match for his team and their fans.

“We’re expecting a big crowd to come early and support both teams and it will be a fantastic night of rugby and a very special one for all four teams.”