Black Ferns adamant they're not a fading force
Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
The Black Ferns insist they're evolving and have a game plan capable of winning next year's World Cup.
Following this week's shock loss to Ireland in their opening XWV match and defeats earlier this year to Canada and England, the Black Ferns have slipped to third in the world rankings (behind No.1 England and No.2 Canada) ahead of Monday's clash with the English, who are defending WXV champions.
Amy Rule, 25 test prop, said the Black Ferns have tried to find the right balance as they look to bounce back.
Amy Rule on the burst for the Black Ferns against Ireland in Vancouver. 2024. Photo: Paul Yates / www.photosport.nz
"You have to sit with that pain and take that time to reflect and look back at the why as individuals and then come together as a team and have those tough conversations and be open and honest. Where in a space where we can have those conversations and it's because we all want to be great which is really fortunate," Rule said.
"Then you flip it. Because if you dwell too much then you take away from what's next and we've got a big job coming up against England.
"I think it's a bit of sitting in with your emotions and feeling that hurt because that hurt will help your drive, but you've also got to move forward and find the areas that we need to work on and train for the next one."
Despite coming off the back of two losses, one of which to much lower ranked opponents, Rule said any talk of a Black Ferns decline is premature.
She understands the external criticism, but said the players don't believe the World Champions are trending downwards and said doing their best to ignore any outside "noise".
"We've already kind of been through that through the last World Cup cycle. Building into it we had so much support but when we had that bad end of year tour the season before the World Cup, I probably let the noise in a little too much. But I back all these players in our squad, we've got some incredible athletes and we're almost there and there's a lot of work that these girls are doing and we're just getting better and better."
Rule said the Black Ferns confidence remains high.
"Not to take credit away from Ireland, I think they played amazing, they put so much pressure on and it was a really good win from them, but we've been letting ourselves down with penalties and not playing in the right areas of the field and the stats show that. The biggest learning for us is that we've got to be playing smarter rugby and putting ourselves in the right area of the field to attack from."
Amy Rule of New Zealand. New Zealand Black Ferns v Ireland Women, 2024 WXV1 women’s rugby union match at BC Place, Vancouver, Canada on Sunday 29 September 2024. Photo: Paul Yates / www.photosport.nz Photo: Paul Yates / www.photosport.nz
Rule feels like the Black Ferns are close to producing the kinds of performances that helped them win the last World Cup in New Zealand at the end of 2022.
"There was a lot of good stuff in our game and if the score (29-27 against Ireland) was reversed, we wouldn't be so hard on ourselves or talking about it so much. There are issues to address and work on, but there's so much great in our game, it's just putting the final pieces together and putting points on the board."
Questions have been asked about the Black Ferns game plan and whether or not it has evolved enough to compete with the likes of World No.1 England, who host next year's World Cup.
Rule believes they have the correct ingredients, they're just not getting the recipe quite right.
"Our game at Twickenham last month (24-12 win to England) showed that. We put them under a lot of pressure, we're just hurting ourselves with a few penalties or not playing in the right areas or nailing our exits from our 22 and just getting over the try line as well. Rugby is such a hectic game, there's so much going on, but we just need to be a bit more clinical at getting over the line.
"Our game is evolving and we've got to go with it. It does take time when you are training new things or evolve our game to another level. We talk the learning pit and when your in the learning pit it's tough, it's hard, you can't get it right, but once you get out of the learning pit, you're hissing."
Front rower Rule is warning England to prepare for a Black Ferns backlash on Monday morning (9am NZT) in Canada.
"I feel sorry for them because we're still hurting and we've got a comeback coming. There's been a good energy shift in the team and it will be exciting to see what we put out against England," Rule said.