As expected the New Zealand Black Ferns defeated the USA in the opening round of the 2026 Pacific Four Series, which is being held in Sacramento.
However, with the score 19-15 nearing halftime and the final score being 48-15, it wasn't all bad news. This was an Eagles did that did what new Head Coach Jack Hanratty said he wanted—to compete.
"We are here to win this tournament but to do that we need to compete with these teams and beat these teams," he said.
Following the match, the coach added: “The best part about it is we're all pretty disappointed. It was a strange game - the first half was excellent, it was really good. I thought, tactically, we got it right, but there were moments in transition that we could have gotten better. Every time we got into their end, we seemed to get points, which was one of our targets, and in the second half, we probably made more line breaks, but, unfortunately, didn't get points on the board.”
New Zealand received some cards but the Eagles couldn't capitalize. Hanratty said his team wanted to play quickly and take advantage of the player advantage, but they rushed it.
"We're targeting going up the rankings and we’re already showing our rugby IQ is improving," he said.
Hope Rogers, making her 60th international appearance, powered over the tryline in a hallmark of her career. This was her 26th try for the Eagles.
The Black Ferns responded with two tries, which was in turn answered with a penalty from debutante flyhalf Bella Vogel.
One more from the Black Ferns and it was 19-10.
But the USA kept playing and a kick forward from scrumhalf Cass Bargell was chased down by Erica Coulibaly, using her world-class pace to get there first for the try.
Not it was 19-15 and that's how the first half ended.
