New Zealand Women

Two World Cup finals between the sides, most recently the 2021 tournament played out in 2022, have made the fixture the one the Black Ferns measure themselves against, and the 2025 defeat of the Red Roses in the World Cup semi-final line remains the standard by which the team judges a tournament. Against Australia the contest carries a trophy of its own, the Laurie O'Reilly Cup, which New Zealand has held onto in every edition since it returned in 2007.

New Zealand played its first test on 6 April 1991, beating Canada 24–8 in Cardiff, and built from there into the most decorated side in the women's game: six World Cup titles, spanning 1998 to 2021, including an unmatched run of four in a row from 1998 to 2010. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has scored more tries for the team than anyone else, 50 of them, while Kendra Cocksedge holds the appearance and points records after 68 caps and 404 points.

Wayne Smith took the team through the delayed 2022 World Cup win on home soil; Whitney Hansen took over in December 2025, only the second woman to hold the head coach's job. The 2025 World Cup ended in bronze, a semi-final loss to Canada followed by victory over France — a finish that, for a team used to winning the whole thing, still gets measured against what England or Canada do next.