It was a World Cup triumph that overwhelmed Eden Park with a psychedelic, sensory overload, but some memories of the Black Ferns and England will never fade. Suzanne McFadden was there for NZ's night of nights.
* Kendra Cocksedge playing paper, scissors, rock with eager kids in the Eden Park crowd to determine who would get the last pair of sweat-drenched rugby socks she’ll ever wear.
* Portia Woodman posing for selfies with the St John’s ambulance medics who came to her aid after a horrible head knock prematurely ended her Rugby World Cup.
* Joanah Ngan-Woo, the last line-out hero, laden with lolly leis that obscured her world champions gold medal.
* Stacey Fluhler running out onto the field after the final whistle, even though she’d broken her ankle helping to score the match-winning try.
On a night of wonder, which irrevocably changed the course of women’s rugby, there are images of the world champion Black Ferns claiming their sixth Rugby World Cup title which will be forever seared on our memories.
From the world record crowd who knew history was being shaped. To the desolation of an English team whose incredible 30-test victory streak was finally snapped after an 80-minute “slog right to the death” that ended with a brazen line-out steal by a Black Ferns ‘sparkplug’ right on the final hooter.
To the self-belief, calmness and utter joy of a Black Ferns team who this time last year were given little to no hope of holding on to their world title (having lost by more than 40 points to the rampaging Red Roses). But who had the courage to play differently, to take risks, in order to win the ultimate prize in rugby.
* To begin with, who would ever have imagined 42,579 people happily crammed into Eden Park to watch a women’s rugby match? The Black Ferns have grown used to home crowds of 3-4000 on a good day until now.
* Or hear our rugby coaching great, Wayne Smith, say: “I never thought in 100 years I’d be standing out in the middle of Eden Park and hear 40,000 people chanting for the Black Ferns. That was the most phenomenal rugby moment of my life.”
* A poi-twirling crowd, who drowned out the referee with their chanting and cheering, and were led by Ruby Tui singing Tutira Mai Ngā Iwi – a feat no one had been able to convince an All Blacks’ crowd to do during the last Lions tour of New Zealand.
* The sight of England stretched out the width of the field – some boldly standing with arms crossed – to receive the Black Ferns haka. Then within three minutes of the kick-off, showing little respect for the defending world champions, scoring a slick running try with fullback Ellie Kildunne dotting down in the corner.
* Then hooker Amy Cockayne notched up the first of her hat-trick of tries from England’s powerful rolling mauls – which initially looked like the Black Ferns would have no answer to.
* England almost pulling off a World Cup victory with only 14 women on the field for more than three-quarters of the match – losing wing Lydia Thompson with a red card after a late, high and head-blurring tackle on Portia Woodman.
* Woodman, who’d made a string of scything linebreaks at the start of the game, suddenly lying motionless on the sideline for what seemed far too long. Then being driven away in the St John’s Ambulance cart with her worried wife, Black Fern Renee Wickliffe, walking behind. (But later being hoisted up into the crowd by her rugby-mad whānau).
* Amy Rule, away from the field a caregiver at a rest home in Riverton, leaving the field to an applauding crowd with the widest smile on her face - after having scored a Black Ferns rolling maul try just before half-time (yes the home side could score them too).
* The Black Ferns returning from the dressing rooms for the second half and scoring one of the tries of the tournament in the first minute – after Tui took in the English kick-off, and the Ferns swung it wide, the ball passing through the hands of East Coast girls Fluhler and Renee Holmes and then ending with Fluhler.
* Fluhler creating what would be the winning try of the final, gathering in a kick from Demant, and then as she was tackled to the ground, making a breath-taking offload to Woodman’s replacement Ayesha Leti-I’iga, who dived over in the left corner (her second try of the final), putting the Black Ferns ahead, 34-31.
* But in that moment, Fluhler having to leave the field injured for a second successive Rugby World Cup final (she got cramp in the 2017 final after 60 minutes). “I said I’d break a leg out there for this team, and I literally broke my ankle,” the sevens star said afterwards. “I’m absolutely sore, but it’s worth it.”
* As she hobbled off, still wearing her trademark smile, looking up into the stands with absolute wonder. “Everyone is here to support women’s rugby and the Black Ferns, and to have a sell-out here at Eden Park has been a dream of ours for a long time,” Fluhler said.
* Then sitting on the bench, with her head in her hands, the Black Ferns centre not watching the final play of the match. “There was no pain running onto the field – so much adrenalin,” she said.
* Ngan-Woo rising up in the final – and ultimately deciding - line-out of the match; getting her hand to the ball, which for all intents and purposes should have been won cleanly by the English side who’d dominated the set piece in every game of this tournament (let’s face it, they’d been doing it for the last 30 tests leading into this one). The 26-year-old Wellington lock – and future diplomat with a masters in international relations – spoiled any kind of good relations with the Red Roses, when she went high and disrupted the English throw 5m out from their line. It would otherwise have been, most likely, another rolling maul try right after the final hooter - which would of course sealed victory for the favourites, England.
“It’s the kind of stuff we just do every day at training… it just happened to be in a World Cup final. It’s just the bread and butter stuff that matters,” said Ngan-Woo, who came off the bench with 16 minutes left as one of the Black Ferns famous ‘sparkplugs’.
“Watching from the bench I got to see it before so I knew what was coming.”
* Ngan-Woo walking around afterwards with the lolly leis from her family, which probably meant as much to her in that moment as the gold medal they competed with around her neck.
* English players sobbing as they walked around the outside of the field, their world record 30-test winning streak over, their dreams of winning a World Cup shattered for the second time in five years by the Black Ferns.
* Their captain Sarah Hunter, after her 140th and final test, facing the media – her eyes glittering with tears, having to hold herself together as she relived the pain of losing a World Cup.
“Sport’s cruel… we are hurting… [but] we can be immensely proud of what we've done for the women's game,” she said bravely. “People have finally woken up to what women's rugby is all about. And again, it's being part of that, once the dust settles and we can look back about, you know, two great teams.
“You can't expect nations now not to go and invest in their teams when you put on a showcase of women's rugby in a final in front of 40-odd thousand people.”
* Kendra Cocksedge - New Zealand’s most capped Black Fern of all time, bowing out of a stellar rugby career - being handed babies and toddlers from the crowd to kiss.
“[I wanted] to soak that last enjoyment with the crowd and sign as many autographs as I could,” she said. “I said to the girls after the final ‘I’m not retiring suckers!’ But no, I’m pretty content with my decision and I just know every player would love to have the send-off I just had.”
With red-rimmed eyes, the halfback speaking of heading into the changing rooms afterwards and bawling her eyes out – as she did following their 25-24 semifinal victory over France seven days before.
* Tui individually congratulating the French players after they received their bronze medals, following a 36-0 victory over a Canadian side who admitted they “no-showed” in their play-off match. But Tui being dragged away by fullback Renee Holmes to perform a final haka with her side.
* The calmness of Ruahei Demant, the Black Ferns co-captain, on and off the field.
"It’s funny, even though we were actually down for most of the game, I didn’t think we were under the pump, like we were going to lose,” she said sitting behind ‘Nancy’, the Black Ferns’ special name for the World Cup. “I don’t say that based on the opposition, but on the calmness that our 15 players out there on the field showed.
"We knew where the space was - we just had to get the ball there. We knew their lineout drive was killing us, so we tried to keep the ball in and not concede any penalties. It took 80 minutes and it took 23 players.”
* Demant, the player of the final, speaking of the absolute trust the team have in each other that breeds calmness.
“One of the great things about our semifinal was we won but we didn’t get to play our game. We knew that, today, we would be able to play our game. We play our best rugby when our minds are free and we play with joy. I guess that’s where the calmness came from.”
We have a team that loves to play fast and loves to play even faster in the second half. I think that’s why we never felt that scoreboard pressure even when we were down."
* And to Wayne Smith, the Professor, delivering some of the most emotional words I’ve witnessed in a press conference in my three decades in the job.
“I said to the team this morning I love them and I’m proud of them. I've never been more proud of a team,” said the former All Black and All Black coach, who took on his head coach role in April.
“I didn’t really care today, win or lose. It’s better to win than lose, but we just wanted to go out and play and be true to our DNA. I'm not going to stay involved, but I'm going to follow these women for the rest of their careers.
“This will go down as one of the great experiences of my life.”
