Sat, Nov 21, 2020 6:02 PM

Black Ferns triumph in Trafalgar debut

news-card
avatar-news-card

Jonty Dine

The Black Ferns survived a significant scare as the world champions played its first ever match in Nelson this afternoon.

New Zealand was made to work during every minute of its fierce encounter with the Barbarians, eventually prevailing 19-17.

The Barbarians managed to outscore the heavily favoured ferns 3-0 in the second half and almost stole it at the death.

The Black Ferns needed less than two minutes to put points on the board, Phillipa Love powering her way over to score with a heard of Barbarians swarming her.

Skipper Eloise Blackwell rumbled over on the back of a rolling maul minutes later, as it was all Black Ferns early on.

The Baabaa’s would eventually mount some offence and struck back just before the twenty-minute mark with Alana Bremner latching onto an offload to score.

The underdogs then managed to steal the lead, denied moments earlier after a piece of individual brilliance by Patricia Maliepo, Amy Rule going in from short range to make it 14-12.

The swing in momentum saw the Black Ferns concede a number of penalties, Barbarians lock Joanah Ngan-Woo and skipper Alana Bremner causing plenty of headaches for the world champions.

The Barbarians defended bravely late in the half but the Black Ferns eventually cracked them right on the hooter as Love scored her second to send her side to the sheds with a very hard fought 16-12 lead.

It was an enterprising albeit sloppy start to the second, both sides committing plenty of errors as players were introduced from the pine.

It took 22 minutes for points with Baabaa first five Maliepo slotted the game’s first penalty to put her side within two.

Though ahead on the scoreboard, the Black Ferns were under the pump as they desperately tried to keep the brave Barbarians at bay.

The Black Ferns would feed a scrum with time up on the clock, but the Barbarians pulled off a stunning tight head scrum to give them a shot at a thrilling upset.

The Baabaa’s fought its way into the 22 but would eventually spill the ball with the Black Ferns escaping from Trafalgar with a 19-17 victory.

Scorers

Black Ferns 19 (Love 2, Blackwell, tries, Cocksedge 2 cons)

Barbarians 17 (Bremner, Rule, tries, Maliepo 2 cons, 1 pen)

Marlborough App Logo
Marlborough App
About
Contact
Marlborough App is owned by Top South Media. a locally owned media company.