By Toby Davis
BRISTOL, England (Reuters) – Canada lost their first 17 matches against New Zealand, but a psychological switch had flicked by the time they faced each other in the World Cup semi-final on Friday and they were mentally ready to do the business.
Kevin Rouet’s Canada side produced a stunning performance to clinch a 34-19 win over the Black Ferns and reach next Saturday’s final, running in five tries in a dominant display at Ashton Gate.
New Zealand were the double defending champions and had not lost a World Cup match in over a decade but Canada’s performance had all the hallmarks of a team who were far from awed by their opponents’ record.
The Black Ferns had failed to beat Rouet’s side in their last two meetings, losing in 2024 and drawing their last meeting in Christchurch in May and the Canadians were mentally ready to dethrone the holders and six-times champions.
“We arrived to this game like not being stressed about the event and not being stressed about like playing the Black Ferns. So that’s a big game changer for us,” said Rouet.
“Especially the way we want to play the game if we don’t have the confidence it is going to be hard for us. So I like to see that in this team now and just like I’m pretty confident they’re going to have the same behaviour arriving to the final.”
There was certainly no shortage of belief as they tore into New Zealand in a devastating first half.
Tries from Justine Pelletier, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Florence Symonds, Sophie de Goede gave them a healthy halftime lead and when Alex Tessier crossed early in the second half they had a cushion that enabled them to easily resist the Black Ferns’ fightback.
Runners-up in 2014, Canada will head into the final against either top-ranked England or France brimming with confidence that they can secure a first World Cup title.
“I think we trust our processes,” said captain Alex Tessier. “We trust our preparation like Kevin said and it was confidence from minute one to minute 80 and I think that was a similar feeling that we had the two last matches that we had against them.
“I don’t think there’s any doubts in our head. We just really focus on what’s next and what’s the task at hand.”
After their dominant World Cup run was ended, New Zealand found crumbs of comfort in what the future could hold for the team.
“I think we just make sure that we capitalise on the tournament,” captain Kennedy Tukuafu told reporters.
“This is the biggest Rugby World Cup that’s ever been. We’ve got more eyes on the game. With that, we just need to make sure that we’re tournament prepared… and make sure we’re making a positive impact on the future Black Ferns or future All Blacks even.”
(Reporting by Toby Davis, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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