Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith sings the praises of sisters Alana and Chelsea Bremner, but laments his team's lack of discipline, after they storm into the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup in Auckland. Suzanne McFadden reports.
They’re best mates, who’ve bought a house together, and who lift each other’s performances when they’re on the rugby field alongside each other. And together, Alana and Chelsea Bremner – the sisters from Little River - played crucial roles in the Black Ferns’ win over Wales yesterday.
Lock Chelsea Bremner scored the opening try of New Zealand’s 10-try, 56-12 hammering of the Welsh on a fresh spring day at Auckland’s Waitākere Stadium, which comfortably delivered them into the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.
The victory also marked Alana’s successful return to the Black Ferns, having made a remarkably quick recovery from a torn knee ligament five weeks ago to start strongly at blindside flanker.
It wasn’t only their proud parents – shearer Phil and accountant Sharon – who were thrilled with the performance of their daughters, who they brought up in the small town of Little River on the Banks Peninsula.
While Black Ferns head coach Wayne Smith wasn’t happy with some of his players – and the “stupid, avoidable penalties” they gave away in the match – he thought the Bremner sisters, playing at No.5 and No.6, were outstanding.
“Chelsea Bremner is getting better and better. She only started playing when she was 21,” Smith said of the former premier netball player. “I used to think she was a tall gangly thing, but she’s got a lot about her – and so has Maia Roos, the other lock.
“Alana… she’s a bit of a beast, isn’t she? She’s a great carrier; she’s tough.” (She made some impressive breaks, advancing the ball 48m during her 40 minutes on the field).
“We’re lucky to have them.”
Alana, the younger sibling, suffered a tear high in her right MCL at the end of the Farah Palmer Cup season, and has undergone intense rehab with the Black Ferns medical team since they've been together in Auckland. After missing the Black Ferns’ opening victory over Australia last weekend, her family weren’t sure when they’d see her take the field at this World Cup.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to bits for Alana getting over her injury. We thought she may not get to play so soon,” Sharon Bremner said.
“It just feels right they’re out there playing together,” Phil Bremner added. “They’re so used to playing together for Canterbury, Matatū and club, so when one’s not out there it just feels like something’s missing. I think they get strength from each other.”
The sisters embraced after Chelsea powered over the line from a pick and go to post the Black Ferns’ first points on Sunday, 17 minutes into another slow start for the home side.
“To see her succeed makes me so happy and vice versa,” Alana said afterwards. “It’s not often you get to play alongside your sister in a home World Cup in front of your friends and family. So to do that puts a big smile on my face, sitting next to her in the changing rooms and to have the support of her there.”
But the Canterbury loosie wasn’t so happy with a crucial part of the Black Ferns forwards' performance in the first half, even though they were led 22-7 at the break. The Welsh, ranked eighth in the world, threw everything they had at the Black Ferns, rattling them in lineouts, scrums and driving mauls.
Throughout the game, played in front of a sell-out 4500 crowd, Wales won 23 set pieces to New Zealand’s 11; the Welsh crossing the tryline twice from powerful lineout drives.
It’s an area the defending champion Black Ferns are very aware they must improve on should they come up against the powerhouses of Northern Hemisphere rugby, England and France, in the knock-out phase of this tournament.
In Saturday’s version of ‘Le Crunch’ – the great rivalry between the two nations – the English held on for a 13-7 victory, but it was the excellent defence of the French that has everyone talking. Both sides reminded us just why the Black Ferns need to be concerned.
“We were doing some awesome things around the field as a pack, but our set piece wasn’t good enough,” Alana Bremner said of the first half against Wales. “It was cool to see the improvement of that in the second half - we started contesting their lineouts and held it in there a bit more in the scrums. That will be something we’ll look to [improve on] next week, because things like that won’t be good enough later in the tournament.”
Knowing for a year this was a Black Ferns' weakness, they’ve been regularly practising defending mauls, with scrum expert Mike Cron, even up against men’s teams.
“It’s really disappointing, it’s something we’ve been working really hard on,” Bremner said. “We need to stay in the fight which we weren’t doing. It’s a mentality thing; at least we know it’s a thing we can fix, we can change during the week.”
The Black Ferns head to Whangārei today to prepare for their last pool match against Scotland, who lost to an ill-disciplined Australia, 14-12, up north on Saturday. Australian front-rowers Ashley Marsters and Adiana Talakai will attend disciplinary hearings today after receiving red cards.
And Smith will be drilling his team on a too-frequent shortage of discipline against Wales.
The Black Ferns were reduced to 13 players late in the second half when both Sarah Hirini (collapsing a maul) and Charmaine McMenamin (intentionally knocking-on) were yellow carded. And New Zealand gave away 17 penalties to Wales’ eight.
There were things Smith was happy about - he loved the Ferns’ attacking intent, and thought they defended better and quicker than in their opener against Australia, impressed by their tackle intensity and counterattack from that.
“But the high penalty count was really disappointing and a lot of them are avoidable. It really annoys me when I see it. You do so much work during the week on staying up, hitting low, and we go out and do that," he said.
“At least we were more physical, but we just give away too many dumb penalties, which loses too much possession then we’re always battling to get it back.
“We’re not going to win this thing unless we get better in a lot of areas.”
Since ‘The Professor’ Smith took on the job of guiding the Black Ferns through this World Cup campaign, he’s maintained they won’t win by trying to play like England or France: “It’s not in our DNA.”
So it was pleasing for him to see them get closer to a perfect attacking game against Wales – especially captain Ruahei Demant leading by example at first five, with one of her best performances of the year.
“She’s proving herself week after week,” Smith said of the match’s MVP. “Leadership suits her, I think. She’s a very clever woman and physical as well, so we have the best of both worlds.”
Also earning praise was 18-year-old starting centre Sylvia Brunt, who scored two tries – including what was arguably the try of the tournament so far; a move that started inside the Black Ferns’ defensive 22, set up by an offload from Theresa Fitzpatrick, and passing through the hands of Demant, Renee Wickliffe and Ruby Tui, before Brunt finished it off beautifully.
“She’s going to be very special,” Smith said of Brunt. “She’s one New Zealand Rugby is going to have to treasure and look after.”
Tui, putting in a truckload of work at fullback, scored the 10th try moments after the final hooter - deftly set up by double try-scorer Portia Woodman, who gathered in a crosskick from Hazel Tubic then sidestepped two Welsh defenders.
So the Black Ferns now join England and Canada in the quarterfinals; the Canadians notching up a 22-12 victory over Italy, who squandered so much hard-won ball.
World Cup debutants Fiji still have a chance of sneaking into the top eight, after making history last night with their last-gasp 21-17 victory over South Africa. Fijiana No.8 Karalaini Naisewa crashed over between the posts in the final moments of the game to snatch the win, but it was their prop, Siteri Rasolea, who was the outstanding player of the match.
Fiji would truly earn the title of giantkillers if they could topple France in their final pool match; otherwise they’ll be hoping to stay in this tournament as one of the two best third-placed teams.
