They may have lost the Pacific Four Series, but the Black Ferns bounced back in style from their loss to Canada, continuing their dominance of the O’Reilly Cup with a thrashing of the Wallaroos at North Harbour Stadium.
The 67-19 victory equals the highest number of points the Black Ferns have ever inflicted on their Trans-Tasman rivals, equaling their 67-3 loss in 2016 – and stretches out their winning streak to 22 matches.
The result sees Jo Yapp’s side finish bottom of the Pacific Four ladder in 2024, meaning they will fail to qualify for the WXV1 series later this year in Canada.
Instead, they will drop down to WXV2, which will take place in September later this year in South Africa and will see them take on the already-qualified Springboks Women, Italy and Scotland – and they will be joined by a European play-in winner (Wales or Spain), and the winner of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, which concludes in June.
The loss also means their qualification pathway for the 2025 World Cup change significantly.
More to come.
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