Rugby-Wallaroos’ Tregonning eyes first win over New Zealand at Women’s World Cup

Australia coach Jay Tregonning has set his sights on a first-ever Wallaroos win against New Zealand when the teams meet in their Women’s World Cup opener in October after an improved performance against the Black Ferns in Adelaide on Saturday. New Zealand ran out 22-14 winners against the Australians, but Tregonning’s side impressed at the Adelaide Oval a week after being on the receiving end of a 52-5 thrashing in Christchurch.

Debutant Bienne Terita scored a pair of tries for the home side and Tregonning is now targeting an elusive victory over the Black Ferns for his improving outfit when the teams clash again at Eden Park on Oct. 8. “It’s definitely a goal of ours,” Tregonning told Stan Sports.

“But we’re really looking at making sure that the quarter-finals is our goal for the World Cup. “This was the response we were after and the effort from the players was outstanding. The physicality was great and the response was good.”

Terita gave the Wallaroos a 10th minute lead when she dived over for the opening try having earlier missed a golden opportunity to score when the ball slipped out of her grasp close to the line. But Ruahei Demant’s penalty reduced the deficit and Luka Connor scored from close range to ensure the Black Ferns took a 10-7 advantage into the interval.

Joanah Ngan-woo crept over the line six minutes after the restart to increase New Zealand’s lead and Kendra Reynolds enhanced the gap with 16 minutes remaining when she powered her way through the Australian defence to score. With seconds remaining, Terita burst through from the edge of the Black Ferns’ 22 metre line to score the game’s standout try as the Australians reduced the deficit to eight points.

“That was a really good game to finish our campaign on, leading into the World Cup,” said Terita. “A lot of the girls will be really happy with that performance.”

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