Overjoyed fans hail Black Ferns amid calls for more Northern Hemisphere matches

Huge numbers have turned out in Auckland to acknowledge the Black Ferns epic Rugby World Cup win.
Photo: RNZ / Veronica Schmidt

The Black Ferns have been greeted by hundreds of excited fans in downtown Auckland this afternoon after winning last night’s Rugby World Cup final.

People gathered outside Commercial Bay to wave banners, hold poi and scream and clap for the team who narrowly beat England 34-31 at Eden Park.

England led for much of the match and many of their players were in tears after they blew a chance to win in the final seconds.

England coach Simon Middleton says the Red Roses left everything out on the park at Eden Park last night.

He said the Black Ferns were worthy champions – a sentiment many were keen to ensure the Black Ferns understood in central Auckland today.

Photo: RNZ / Veronica Schmidt

Since winning the crown, co-captain Ruahei Demant has praised the backing her Black Ferns team received on their way to winning the title but called for more support to help further grow the sport.

“The level of support we’ve received from our country has been really overwhelming,” Demant said.

“As players none of us really expected this. It’s still quite surreal to turn up to Eden Park … to walk out of the tunnel and you can’t even think because it’s so loud.

“In the past when we’ve had the opportunity to travel abroad and play teams like England or France in their countries, their fans are next level.

“I was quite worried when they announced we had a home World Cup. But the way the country’s turned out, you couldn’t have scripted it. It’s been unreal.”

New Zealand have now won the title at six of the nine World Cup tournaments played and prevailed despite the significant advances made by teams from the northern hemisphere.

The scene in Auckland today.
Photo: RNZ / Veronica Schmidt

England, who had gone 30 games unbeaten ahead of Saturday’s final, and France had both handed the Black Ferns heavy defeats last year during their tour of Europe and Demant called for more exposure for her team against other leading nations.

“It would be awesome to get more fixtures against northern hemisphere teams – as we’ve seen the style of game they play is very different to ours,” she said.

“More resources, I guess, thrown into women’s rugby, so that we can be taken a bit more seriously and put more time and effort into our footy.”

– RNZ / Reuters