Smith: ‘We know what we’re trying to do, let’s just get better’

Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith borrowed a line from his good mate and former All Blacks coaching colleague Steve Hansen after the team’s emphatic win over Japan.

‘‘What did Steve Hansen say? ‘Flush it down the dunny’, I think we’ll do a bit of that,’’ Smith said. ‘‘We’ve played the game now, we know what we’re trying to do, let’s just get better at it.’’

Smith said he was surprised with the score and accuracy – ‘‘You could go through a training run and drop all of those balls’’ – but he had great words for try-scoring machine Portia Woodman.

‘‘Some of those balls that she got were phenomenal. She’s a fantastic athlete, I played with her old man (Kawhena Woodman) actually on one All Black tour and he was a great athlete. She’s something else, but there’s a lot of them out there and if we can provide front foot ball and improve our body movement a bit at the breakdown, we’ll give it a good crack.’’

Smith says he’s happy just a fortnight out from the World Cup as they put the final touches to their campaign.

‘‘This is a fun team, they love what they’re doing, they’re hard to suppress sometimes, but we’ll have a good week and then we’re into the World Cup.’’