‘‘Wayne Smith has opened up our minds’’

Behind the Black Ferns rapid rise to success

Ruahei Demant had two goals on her mind when the Black Ferns World Cup squad was named in mid-September.

She wanted her side to win a sixth world title. And she wanted them ‘‘to do it in a way that’s never been done before’’.

As coach Wayne Smith put it the same day: ‘‘We want to reinvent the game a wee bit and see how it goes’’.

Just over eight weeks later, on November 12, Demant joined cocaptain Kennedy Simon in lifting the World Cup trophy aloft after the Black Ferns’ thrilling 34-31 win over England at Eden Park.

Their desire to be brave and play with attacking intent from everywhere on the pitch was on full display that evening as they scored six tries to five in front of a record crowd for a women’s rugby match.

It was a style of play Smith installed once he took charge in April, tasked with turning around a team all at sea in losing twice to England and twice to France on their end-of-year tour in 2021.

He went back to basics – New Zealand’s ‘‘genetics in rugby’’. Ahead of the World Cup final, Smith explained that those tenets were an ability to reinvent, and an attacking mindset.

For inspiration, he looked to his favourite team – the All Blacks of the late 1960s, led by Sir Brian Lochore and featuring his favourite player, Ian Kirkpatrick.

‘‘I used to watch them and their forwards could catch and pass like backs and I’ve always had that in my mind.

‘‘If you talk about 15-man rugby – that was 15-man rugby. That’s what I love about the game, and once I got put into this role, that was my aim – to try to be true to that with the women.’’

Smith knew he would need an on-field lieutenant to make that happen.

As the team gathered with fans in downtown Auckland the day after their triumph in the final, set up by some breathtaking attacking play, but sealed with a lineout steal, he explained why he chose the player he did.

‘‘We were playing a boys team in Lincoln and we’d played two quarters and this first-five came out.

‘‘I didn’t know who she was, but she was coming on for the next quarter and she spoke to the team and said: ‘Smithy’s showing us how to do this, so let’s have some bloody courage to do it’.

‘‘That was Ruahei Demant. ‘‘I said to someone, does she play much? Who does she play for? And they said she’s played a wee bit, and I said she’s going to be our captain.’’

Demant had three knee constructions on the way to making her Black Ferns debut in 2018, but she has started at first fiveeighth in 22 of their 27 tests since then, as well as at second fiveeighth in another three.

During the World Cup, she led all players with 18 offloads, including one in the passage of play that resulted in the Black Ferns’ go-ahead try against England in the final.

She walked the walk when it came to making Smith’s vision of keeping the ball alive and trying to attack from anywhere a reality, and she was duly honoured as the women’s 15s player-of-the-year at World Rugby’s annual award ceremony in Monaco last weekend.

After receiving her award, she told World Rugby’s YouTube channel that to play the way the Black Ferns had this year, ‘‘you need a lot of courage and you need a lot of guts’’.

‘‘It took quite a special group of players to be able to play that game consistently week-in and week-out.

‘‘A lot is mentioned about our attack, but there’s no attack without defence.

‘‘We always wanted to turn defence into five points and a lot of us in the team had never thought about footy like that and it was challenging.

‘‘Sometimes it looked like backyard footy and we were playing with a lot of flair, but it was just everyone working hard to get into position and be an option for our ball carrier.’’

After the final, Demant sat alongside Smith in the postmatch press conference and said his greatest influence on the Black Ferns had been the fact that ‘‘he definitely doesn’t do things by the book’’.

But where does the team go now that Smith has retired? And what influence will the Black Ferns’ brave approach have on Super Rugby Aupiki and the Farah Palmer Cup?

Ahead of the final, Smith said the team were ‘‘doing very well’’ in realising his vision for them and that he ‘‘wouldn’t like to be the coach that tried to turn them back – they’ll want to keep going forward, I think, and develop this game even further’’.

Simon was personally asked by Demant to join her in cocaptaining the Black Ferns, once she returned to the fold in August after suffering a knee injury in training earlier in the year.

That step up to a leadership role has led to her being named captain of Chiefs Manawa for the Aupiki season that starts at the end of February and she said there was ‘‘a high probability’’ the influence of the Black Ferns’ attacking instincts would be felt across its five rounds.

‘‘I spoke about it all year, that Wayne Smith has opened up our minds to what we were really capable of.

‘‘We’re not in a box any more, and he’s just brought out a different sort of belief and passion in women’s rugby as a whole.

‘‘If anybody was watching the Black Ferns last year, and then the Black Ferns this year, it’s just a whole different game.

‘‘I do hope we see that at Super Rugby Aupiki, and I have confidence we will.

‘‘[Chiefs coach] Crystal Kaua’s been mentored by Wayne Smith, Whitney Hansen with Matatu¯ , she’s outstanding, then we’ve got Victoria Grant and Willie Walker [coaching Hurricanes Poua and the Blues], they’ve all followed Wayne Smith pretty closely.

‘‘You’re silly if you don’t.’’