New Zealand women's national rugby union team
The Black Ferns is New Zealand's national women's rugby union team.
The name
The name comes from the use of the colour black and the silver fern as New Zealand sporting symbols. For example, the All Blacks is New Zealand's famous men's rugby team, The Black Caps are the men's cricket team and the White Ferns are the women's cricket team, while the Silver Ferns is the national women's netball team.
History
The Black Ferns are the current Women's Rugby World Cup champions. They have won four consecutive World Cups, winning the first International Rugby Board (IRB)-sponsored Cup in 1998, the 2002 World Cup in Barcelona, the 2006 World Cup in Edmonton, Canada, and the 2010 World Cup in London, England. The Black Ferns have participated in most WRWC events since its inauguration in 1991, only missing the 1994 championship in Scotland. They also won the Canada Cup in 1996, 2000, and 2005.
Farah Palmer, who had been captain since 1997, lost her captaincy in 2005 due to a shoulder injury. However, she was honoured as International Women's (Rugby) Personality of the Year at the IRB Awards. During that year, Rochelle Martin and Anna Richards led the team in the 2005 test series against England, which the Black Ferns won 2-0. For the 5th Women's Rugby World Cup in Canada, Farah Palmer fought her way back into the Black Ferns team. After again leading the team to World Cup victory, Palmer announced her retirement from the Black Ferns in September 2006.[1]
While rugby is the most popular spectator game in New Zealand, the Black Ferns have suffered in the past from similar problems to any women's sport—under-funding, lack of support and lack of publicity. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and IRB have been criticised for not doing more to promote women's rugby, although support is beginning to build in those organisations. The NZRU started funding the Black Ferns in 1995, thus giving a great boost to their game. Accordingly the Black Ferns have benefitted from being included in NZRU High Performance initiatives. Along with professional coaches the team has had access to professional development resources such as analysis. The Black Ferns have used Verusco Technologies TryMaker video analysis system, as used by the All Blacks. In more recent times, the team's profile has risen greatly at a grassroots level, due in great part to their string of successes, and it is increasingly seen to be a national team on the same basis as any other.
In January 2010 NZRU announced that the National Provincial Competition (NPC) will have to go due to budget cuts. This has been a shock for many women players especially since it is a World Cup year. Former captain Farah Palmer was one of the women who commented on that.[2] NZRU said women's domestic rugby is one of many victims of the tight financial times. They have faced a barrage of criticism for their decision. General manager of provincial rugby Neil Sorenson said NZRU is going to replace the competition with camps and trials for the Black Ferns.
Results
The first four games listed below - played at RugbyFest 1990 - are not generally accepted as being internationals by New Zealand authorities. However, in men's rugby it is general practice to award full international status to any games where ONE side considers a game to be an international. As a result all games in that tournament have been treated as full internationals in this article.
Summary
(Full internationals only)
Rugby: New Zealand internationals 1990-
Opponent |
First game |
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Percentage |
Australia |
1994 |
11 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
Canada |
1991 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
England |
1997 |
16 |
11 |
1 |
4 |
71.88% |
Spain |
1998 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
France |
1996 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
Germany |
1998 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
Netherlands |
1990 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
Samoa |
2006 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
Scotland |
1998 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
South Africa |
2010 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
Soviet Union |
1990 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
United States |
1990 |
7 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
85.71% |
Wales |
1991 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
World XV |
1990 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
100.00% |
Summary 1990- |
|
61 |
55 |
1 |
5 |
90.98% |
Full internationals
See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering.
[425] |
2003-10-11 |
New Zealand |
38-18 |
World XV |
Whangarei |
[34/3/3] |
Other internationals
Current Squad
Player |
Position |
Date of Birth/Age |
Province |
Casey Robertson |
Prop |
February 24, 1981 (1981-02-24) (age 31) |
Canterbury |
Doris Taufateau |
Prop |
July 29, 1987 (1987-07-29) (age 24) |
Auckland |
Melodie Bosman |
Prop |
June 25, 1976 (1976-06-25) (age 35) |
Canterbury |
Ruth McKay |
Prop |
August 2, 1986 (1986-08-02) (age 25) |
Manawatu |
Fiao’o Fa’amausili |
Hooker |
September 30, 1980 (1980-09-30) (age 31) |
Auckland |
Karina Penetito |
Hooker |
February 2, 1986 (1986-02-02) (age 26) |
Auckland |
Stephanie Te Ohaere-Fox |
Hooker |
April 6, 1985 (1985-04-06) (age 26) |
Canterbury |
Monalisa Codling |
Lock |
February 20, 1977 (1977-02-20) (age 35) |
Auckland |
Victoria Heighway |
Lock |
November 28, 1980 (1980-11-28) (age 31) |
Auckland |
Vita Robinson |
Lock |
December 20, 1982 (1982-12-20) (age 29) |
Auckland |
Aroha Savage |
Loose Forward |
November 3, 1990 (1990-11-03) (age 21) |
Auckland |
Joan Sione |
Loose Forward |
January 30, 1986 (1986-01-30) (age 26) |
Auckland |
Justine Lavea |
Loose Forward |
July 10, 1984 (1984-07-10) (age 27) |
Auckland |
Linda Itunu |
Loose Forward |
November 21, 1984 (1984-11-21) (age 27) |
Auckland |
Melissa Ruscoe |
Loose Forward |
December 15, 1976 (1976-12-15) (age 35) |
Canterbury |
Emma Jensen |
Halfback |
November 25, 1977 (1977-11-25) (age 34) |
Auckland |
Kendra Cocksedge |
Halfback |
July 1, 1988 (1988-07-01) (age 23) |
Canterbury |
Kelly Brazier |
Flyhalf |
October 28, 1989 (1989-10-28) (age 22) |
Otago |
Anna Richards |
Flyhalf |
December 3, 1964 (1964-12-03) (age 47) |
Auckland |
Huriana Manuel |
Centre |
August 8, 1986 (1986-08-08) (age 25) |
Auckland |
Carla Hohepa |
Wing |
July 27, 1985 (1985-07-27) (age 26) |
Otago |
Renee Wickcliffe |
Wing |
May 30, 1987 (1987-05-30) (age 24) |
Auckland |
Victoria Grant |
Wing |
August 26, 1982 (1982-08-26) (age 29) |
Auckland |
Halie Hurring |
Utility Back |
February 27, 1986 (1986-02-27) (age 25) |
Canterbury |
Rebecca Hull |
Utility Back |
August 25, 1983 (1983-08-25) (age 28) |
Wellington |
Trish Hina |
Utility Back |
May 3, 1977 (1977-05-03) (age 34) |
Auckland |
See also
Women's international rugby - the most complete listing of all women's international results since 1982.
References
External links
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Governing body |
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National teams |
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Competitions |
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Related articles |
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Women's national rugby union teams
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Teams with Women's Rugby World Cup appearances |
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Teams with no Women's Rugby World Cup appearances |
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National sports teams of New Zealand
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