Five Bay of Plenty players have been named in the 2021 Black Ferns squad for their end-of-year Northern Tour to England and France in October and November; Les Elder, Kendra Reynolds, Kelly Brazier, Renee Wickliffe and Kelsie Wills. 

Black Ferns Coach Glenn Moore has named a 34-player squad for the upcoming tour of England and France, the squad is as follows (with age, Provincial Union and Test caps in brackets): 

Hookers 
Grace Houpapa-Barrett (26, Waikato, new cap) 
Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate (29, Counties Manukau, 29) 
Georgia Ponsonby (21, Canterbury, new cap) 

Props 
Tanya Kalounivale (22, Waikato, new cap) 
Aldora Itunu (30, Auckland, 20) 
Phillipa Love (31, Canterbury, 11) 
Krystal Murray (28, Northland, new cap) 
Aleisha Nelson (31, Auckland, 35) 
Amy Rule (21, Canterbury, new cap) 

Locks 
Eloise Blackwell (30, Auckland, 43) - Vice Captain 
Joanah Ngan-Woo (25, Wellington, 3) 
Maiakawanakaulani Roos (20, Auckland, new cap)  
Kelsie Wills (28, Bay of Plenty, 0) 

Loose Forwards 
Alana Bremner (24, Canterbury, new cap) 
Les Elder (34, Bay of Plenty, 18) - Captain 
Dhys Faleafaga (20, Wellington, new cap) 
Liana Mikaele Tu'u (19, Auckland, new cap) 
Kendra Reynolds (28, Bay of Plenty, 0) 
Kennedy Simon (24, Waikato, 4)  

Halfbacks 
Ariana Bayler (24, Waikato, new cap) 
Kendra Cocksedge (33, Canterbury, 53) - Vice Captain 
Iritana Hohaia (21, Taranaki, new cap)  

First five-eighths 
Ruahei Demant (26, Auckland, 11) 
Patricia Maliepo (18, Auckland, new cap) 

Midfield 
Chelsea Alley (28, Waikato, 24) 
Grace Brooker (22, Canterbury, 1) 
Stacey Fluhler (25, Waikato, 16) 
Carla Hohepa (36, Waikato, 25)  

Outside Backs 
Kelly Brazier (31, Bay of Plenty, 40) 
Renee Holmes (21, Waikato, 0)
Ayesha Leti-I'iga (22, Wellington, 9) 
Renee Wickliffe (34, Bay of Plenty, 41) 
Portia Woodman (30, Northland, 16) 
Cheyelle Robins-Reti (22, Waikato, 0) 

Unavailable for selection: Charmaine McMenamin, Pia Tapsell, Lisa Molia, Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu, Langi Veainu, Aroha Savage, Toka Natua, Kilisitina Moata’ane. 

Outside back Renee Wickliffe is back in the black jersey from injury and Kelly Brazier returns after a successful Olympic 7’s campaign, Kendra Reynolds and Kelsie Wills have stood-out in the Farah Palmer Cup to retain their spot in the Balck Ferns squad and Les Elder returns to captain the side after missing the 2020 season. 

“Les is a crucial part of our set up, she’s an outstanding player, leads from the front and has the ability to galvanize people around her. Ella (Blackwell) did a great job last year when we had the domestic hit out, she and Kendra are named as vice captains, and I’m confident this leadership group will do an outstanding job,” said Black Ferns Coach Glenn Moore. 

The tests against England and France will be the Black Ferns’ first since August 2019, when they faced Australia’s Wallaroos on either side of the Tasman. They had been hoping to play the Wallaroos in New Zaland later this year, but those matches were scuppered following the closure of the trans-Tasman travel bubble. 

Selection conversations were thrown a curve ball with the latest Covid 19 outbreak forcing a halt to the Bunnings Warehouse Farah Palmer Cup which Moore said changed how the selectors looked at assembling the squad. “The lockdown probably did mean some players weren’t able to cement their positions in the squad and it meant we had to reflect more on the early rounds of Farah Palmer Cup and some of the situational games we’d played in camps this year. This would be one of the most difficult selection processes I can recall in my time in rugby.” “We’ve had to take a Covid mindset to ensure enough coverage across all positions because calling on a replacement is not as easy as it usually would be.” “With a World Cup just around the corner this programme is critical for us. We’re playing against two the best teams in the world and they’ve come off Six Nations so we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can under these conditions to be prepared,” said Moore. New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia are still investigating the possibility of an O’Reilly Cup fixture after the original series in New Zealand was cancelled. 

Squad breakdown The Black Ferns squad is made up of 19 forwards (three hookers, six props, four locks and six loose forwards) and 15 backs (three halfbacks, two first five–eighths, four midfielders, and six outside backs). 

The squad represents eight of New Zealand’s provincial unions, with nine Waikato players, seven from Auckland, six from Canterbury, five from Bay of Plenty, three from Wellington, two from Northland and one each from Counties Manukau and Taranaki. 

The squad has an average age of 26, a total of 399 caps experience. Halfback Kendra Cocksedge has the potential to become the most capped Black Ferns player of all time on this tour, surpassing Fiao’o Faamausili. 

Fixtures (all NZ time)  
Weekend of October 30/31: v England* 
Weekend of November 6/7: v England* 
Sunday, November 13, 3.00am: v France; Stade du Hameau, Pau  
Sunday, November 20, 3.00am: v France; Stade Pierre-Fabre, Castres 
*Venues, dates and kick off times for England fixtures TBC 

Article added: Monday 06 September 2021