Last year’s Farah Palmer Cup finalists kicked off their campaigns with wins on Saturday as the top players in provincial rugby began their auditions to impress Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith for the Rugby World Cup.
Canterbury, the runner-up in 2021, was impressive in beating the Wellington Pride 43-5 at the capital’s Jerry Collins Stadium, with number 10 Rosie Kelly and Chelsea Bremner lock grabbing two tries each.
Bremner, who made her Black Ferns debut last month alongside sister Alana, has taken a year of unpaid leave from her regular teaching job to try to crack the Rugby World Cup squad.
Her strong start at the FPC showed that that decision paid off early.
READ MORE:
* Farah Palmer Cup preview: Rugby World Cup shadow adds spice as Black Ferns return
* Cricket has closed the gender pay gap, so what about the rest?
* Honey Hireme-Smiler ready to make a fist in Fight for Life
* Golden Chance for the Black Ferns Sevens at the Commonwealth Games
Defending champion Waikato also won a bonus point, but had to work harder for their 33-24 win over the Manawatū Cyclones at FMG Stadium Waikato.
Two attempts by loosehead prop AwhinaTangen-Wainohu – the second in the 70th minute to seal the win – brought Waikato across the line.
Waikato were crowned champion of the women’s national provincial championship for the first time, an end to Canterbury’s four-year reign after winning a tight final 22-20 in Christchurch last October.
Auckland also showed they could be contenders for the Premiership this year with a 39-20 win against Counties Manukau at Western Springs Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
Canterbury prop Amy Rule is tackled by Wellington fullback Harmony Ioane in Porirua on Saturday.
Auckland was deadly off the turnover ball, punishing a feisty Counties Manukau side with relentless efficiency in the first half.
Young No 12 Patricia Maliepo was the star of the show for Auckland, taking three tries while raising her hand for the Black Ferns with a standout display.
The three Auckland-based teams – Auckland, Counties Manukau and North Harbor – were all absent for the final last year due to the city’s extended Covid-19 lockdown.
Auckland captain Eloise Blackwell said after Saturday’s win that the game was long overdue after last year’s disrupted season.
“We are just happy to be back on the pitch,” she told Sky Sport. “Our last game against these guys was almost twelve months ago.
”So we are happy that we can finally go out on the grass and play football with the blue and white girls.
“I think once we got that ruck and got a lightning fast ball, we were able to let go of our backs, which you saw early in the game. We made a lot of profit.
”[But] I think I’ll probably stay in it the full 80 [can be an improvement]. It sounds kind of cliche, but we lost a bit of weight in patches. ”
The Bay of Plenty Volcanix bids farewell to the Premiership teams this weekend, while the Championship teams begin their campaigns next weekend.