The Black Ferns will probably have to beat northern powerhouses England and France if they’re to retain the Rugby World Cup.
The pool stages finished on Sunday at Auckland’s Waitākere Stadium with England’s 75-0 win over South Africa that confirmed the quarterfinal seedings and the draw for the last eight.
The Black Ferns finished as the top seed after winning Pool A with three wins and will face Wales in their quarterfinal in Whangārei on Saturday.
Andrew Cornaga/PHOTOSPORT
The Black Ferns know their road to the final at Eden Park.
That puts them on course for an Eden Park semifinal with fourth seed France, who take on Italy in the last eight, with world No 1 England on the other side of the draw.
England play Australia in the quarterfinal while Canada are drawn with the United States. If the results go as expected, England would face second seed Canada in the other semifinal and should be too strong for the Canadians.
Two of the big three of England, France and New Zealand are expected to make the final because they’re much stronger than the other sides on the back of greater professional women’s rugby programmes.
The final is held at Eden Park on November 12.
The Black Ferns beat England 41-32 in the 2017 decider in Belfast for their fifth world title.
They lost heavily in four successive defeats to England (43-12 and 56-15) and France (38-13 and 29-7) on last year’s northern tour.
Details and timings for the quarterfinals have not been confirmed yet but the Black Ferns were scheduled to host their quarterfinal in Whangārei on Saturday.
The Black Ferns will host pool A opponents Wales, who they beat 56-12 last Sunday.
Canada and the United States is another quarterfinal between two teams from the same pool who will clash again only a week after the Canadians won the North American fixture 29-14 on Sunday.
MORE TO COME
Rugby World Cup quarterfinal draw
New Zealand (1st) v Wales (8th)
Canada (2nd) v United States (7th)
England (3rd) v Australia (6th)
France (4th) v Italy (5th)
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