Black Ferns, be warned – Canada are coming and, on this evidence, will be hard to stop. If the pre-tournament suggestion of being World Cup dark horses had rather belied the fact that Kevin Rouet’s were the third likeliest side to win this event, here was a statement showing to properly display why they are contenders. If it had always felt like they and New Zealand were on an inexorable collision course at the semi-final stage, it feels like Canada are gathering a head of steam as the near unstoppable force that will be required to knock out the Women’s Rugby World Cup’s perennial immovable object.
Where New Zealand had earlier been given a real fright by a fighting South Africa in Exeter, Australia could not make this much of a contest in Bristol. It was not that the Wallaroos were that bad, either, just blown away in a way that even they might not have expected. There was little surprise, though, of the identity of their tormentor in chief: Sophie de Goede, perhaps the world’s best player, who was exceptional even by her standards here.
