New Zealand women's national rugby union team

New Zealand

Union	New Zealand Rugby Union
Nickname(s)	Black Ferns
Coach(es)	Brian Evans
Captain(s)	Melissa Ruscoe
Most caps	Anna Richards
Top scorer	Anna Richards (89)
Team kit Change kit
First international
New Zealand  56 - 0  Netherlands (August 26, 1990)
Largest win
New Zealand  134 - 6 Germany  (May 2, 1998)
Largest defeat
New Zealand  0 - 7  United States (April 12, 1991)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1991)
Best result	Champions 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010

Black Ferns, Waikato Stadium , Hamilton 2005- NZ

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	13	11	0	2	84.62%
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-		58	55	0	3	94.83%

Full internationals

See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering.

[39]
	1990-08-26(RF)	New Zealand	56–0	Netherlands	Christchurch	[1/17/1]

[40]
	1990-08-28(RF)	New Zealand	8–0	Soviet Union	Christchurch	[2/1/1]

[43]
	1990-08-30(RF)	New Zealand	9–3	United States	Christchurch	[3/5/1]

[45]
	1990-09-01(RF)	New Zealand	12–4	World XV	Christchurch	[4/1/1]

[47]
	1991-04-06 (WC)	New Zealand	24-8	Canada	Glamorgan Wanderers	[5/4/1]

[55]
	1991-04-10 (WC)	Wales	6-24	New Zealand	Llanharan	[8/6/1]

[59]
	1991-04-12 (WC)	New Zealand	0-7	United States	Cardiff Arms Park	[7/9/2]

[110]
	1994-09-02	Australia	0-37	New Zealand	Sydney	[1/8/1]

[123]
	1995-07-22	New Zealand	64-0	Australia	Auckland	[9/2/2]

[140]
	1996-08-31	Australia	5-28	New Zealand	Sydney	[3/10/3]

[141]
	1996-09-08 (CC)	Canada	3-88	New Zealand	Edmonton	[15/11/2]

[143]
	1996-09-11 (CC)	New Zealand	88-8	United States	Edmonton	[12/20/3]

[145]
	1996-09-14 (CC)	France	0-109	New Zealand	Edmonton	[38/13/1]

[171]
	1997-08-13	New Zealand	67-0	England	Burnham	[14/36/1]

[172]
	1997-08-16	New Zealand	44-0	Australia	Dunedin	[15/5/4]

[194]
	1998-05-02 (WC)	Germany	6-134	New Zealand	Amsterdam	[19/16/1]

[202]
	1998-05-05 (WC)	New Zealand	76-0	Scotland	Amsterdam	[17/30/1]

[209]
	1998-05-09 (WC)	New Zealand	46-3	Spain	Amsterdam	[18/17/1]

[214]
	1998-05-12 (WC)	England	11-44	New Zealand	Amsterdam	[46/19/2]

[229]
	1998-05-16 (WC)	New Zealand	44-12	United States	Amsterdam	[20/29/4]

[230]
	1998-08-29	Australia	3-27	New Zealand	Sydney	[11/21/5]

[258]
	1999-10-16 (T99)	New Zealand	73-0	Canada	Palmerston North, New Zealand	[22/26/3]

[259]
	1999-10-19 (T99)	New Zealand	65-5	United States	Palmerston North, New Zealand	[23/32/5]

[291]
	2000-09-23 (CC)	Canada	0-41	New Zealand	Winnipeg	[28/24/4]

[292]
	2000-09-27 (CC)	New Zealand	45-0	United States	Winnipeg	[25/35/6]

[294]
	2000-09-30 (CC)	England	13-32	New Zealand	Winnipeg	[65/26/3]

[332]
	2001-06-09	New Zealand	15-10	England	Rotorua	[27/76/4]

[333]
	2001-06-16	New Zealand	17-22	England	North Harbour Stadium, Albany	[28/77/5]

[362]
	2002-05-13 (WC)	Germany	0-117	New Zealand	Barcelona	[35/29/2]

[371]
	2002-05-18 (WC)	Australia	3-36	New Zealand	Barcelona	[15/30/6]

[384]
	2002-05-21 (WC)	New Zealand	30-0	France	Barcelona	[31/78/2]

[393]
	2002-05-25 (WC)	England	9-19	New Zealand	Barcelona	[85/32/6]

[424]
	2003-10-04	New Zealand	37-0	World XV	Eden Park, Auckland	[33/2/2]

[425]
	2003-10-11	New Zealand	38-18	World XV	Whangarei	[34/3/3]

[464]
	2004-06-08 (CC)	Canada	5-32	New Zealand	Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver	[43/35/5]

[465]
	2004-06-13 (CC)	New Zealand	35-0	United States	Calgary Rugby Park	[36/48/7]

[468]
	2004-06-19 (CC)	England	0-38	New Zealand	Edmonton	[104/37/7]

[508]
	2005-06-29 (CC)	New Zealand	30-9	Scotland	Ottawa	[39/88/2]

[510]
	2005-07-05 (CC)	Canada	3-43	New Zealand	Ottawa	[49/39/6]

[511]
	2005-07-08 (CC)	Canada	5-32	New Zealand	Ottawa	[50/40/7]

[513]
	2005-10-22	New Zealand	24-15	England	Eden Park, Auckland	[41/114/8]

[515]
	2005-10-26	New Zealand	33-8	England	Waikato Stadium, Hamilton	[42/115/9]

[559]
	2006-08-31 (WC)	New Zealand	66-7	Canada	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[56/43/8]

[565]
	2006-09-04 (WC)	New Zealand	50-0	Samoa	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[44/10/1]

[571]
	2006-09-08 (WC)	New Zealand	21-0	Scotland	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[45/98/3]

[577]
	2006-09-12 (WC)	New Zealand	40-10	France	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[46/110/3]

[588]
	2006-09-17 (WC)	England	17-25	New Zealand	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	[124/47/10]

[645]
	2007-10-16	New Zealand	21-10	Australia	Cooks Gardens, Wanganui	[48/23/7]

[646]
	2007-10-20	New Zealand	29-12	Australia	Wellington	[49/24/8]

[717]
	2008-07-22	Australia	3-37	New Zealand	Canberra	[25/50/9]

[718]
	2008-07-26	Australia	16-22	New Zealand	Sydney	[26/51/10]

[777]
	2009-11-14	England	3-16	New Zealand	Esher	[151/52/11]

[780]
	2009-11-21	England	10-3	New Zealand	Twickenham	[152/53/12]

[837]
	2010-08-20 (WC)	New Zealand	55-3	South Africa	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[54/20/1]

[844]
	2010-08-24 (WC)	Australia	5-32	New Zealand	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[29/55/11]

[848]
	2010-08-28 (WC)	New Zealand	41 – 8	Wales	Surrey Sports Park, Guildford	[56/134/2]

[857]
	2010-09-01 (WC)	New Zealand	45 – 7	France	Twickenham Stoop	[149/57/4]

[858]
	2010-09-05 (WC)	England	10 - 13	New Zealand	Twickenham Stoop	[168/58/13]

Other internationals

[-]
	2009-11-17	England A	3-48	New Zealand	Esher	[-/-/-]

Current Squad

Player	Position	Date of Birth/Age	Province
Casey Robertson	Prop	February 24, 1981 (1981-02-24) (age 30)	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 25)	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 34)	Auckland
Victoria Heighway	Lock	November 28, 1980 (1980-11-28) (age 30)	Auckland
Vita Robinson	Lock	December 20, 1982 (1982-12-20) (age 28)	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 25)	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 34)	Canterbury
Emma Jensen	Halfback	November 25, 1977 (1977-11-25) (age 33)	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 46)	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

1. ^ Farah Palmer announces retirement
2. ^ Cleaver, Dylan (23 January 2010). "Rugby: NZRU plan 'will kill women's rugby'". The New Zealand Herald. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10621806. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 

External links

• Black Ferns team page at AllBlacks.com
• 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup
• a fan site about New Zealand Women's Rugby
• Verusco, the Black Ferns video analysis system provider