September 5, 2026 • 7 mins
The Black Ferns have pumped South Africa 52-20 in the first test of the historic double-header in Soweto.
New Zealand survived conceding four yellow cards to score eight tries to four, after leading 24-10 at halftime.
Head coach Whitney Hansen joined Piney to recap the action.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Pine
from Newstalk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Their historic doubleheader in Soweto. That'll be full-time.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
New Zealand win the historic first-ever test between New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And South Africa on Springboks soil. 52 points to 20. Yeah, 52-20.
New Zealand, though, survived conceding four yellow cards. They scored
eight tries to four. They led 24-10 at the break.
Blake Fern's head coach is Whitney Hanson, who joins us now.
Congratulations on this win on such an historic occasion. Whitney,
how satisfying was the performance from your team?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Yeah, thank you. It was really exciting to just be
a part of. I think, you know, when you're a
part of moments like that and you get to create history,
it's always pretty special to kind of acknowledge that and
acknowledge the privilege that that was. And, you know, really
happy with the rugby that we played too. There's definitely
some areas in there where we'll take away some learnings
(01:04):
and put into our week leading into France next week.
But really proud of the girls in this today.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
When you bring up 50 points in a test match,
eight tries, obviously the attack becomes a focus. What pleased
you the most about the way your team attacked today?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Yeah, look, we've worked really hard on having an attack
that's been built around being really unpredictable, whether that's in
or out of system. And I think, you know, you
see that. I thought it was going to be a
wee try for Amarante Satiti at the end there. It
was just going to put the icy on the cake,
didn't quite get there, but... You know, moments like that,
I think, just showcase where our attack's going. There's some
(01:41):
things in there too around our ball carrier we need
to be better at. And we're in key position to
be able to do that a little bit longer for
sort of 80 minutes, a bit more clinical around it.
But you can see in the patches where we are now,
it's a pretty exciting game to watch.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Whenever you play South Africa, they bring physicality, obviously. How
happy were you with the way you matched South Africa physically?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Yeah, I think we talked at halftime around our ball carrying,
our clean. We probably lacked a little bit of urgency
there and came out and did that a bit better
in the second half. We knew they were going to
bring that. So I think there's a piece here around
our mental fortitude and how we sort of turn up
to that. You know, big games and can't afford to
wait for halftime to turn that on. So, you know,
(02:23):
some people did that really well. Matt Anderson was a
superstar for us in that space. And a couple of
others did that really well. So, yeah. proud of those
efforts and but again you know spaces where we can
keep being better.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah it's interesting to talk to you and in every
answer you've talked about the improvements that you're looking for
is that kind of a bit of a mantra internally
that you know there's there's no satisfaction even with big
wins like this and and that there is always you
know a lesson to take?
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah we've talked you know right from the beginning of
this year that about performance over outcome and is a
game that we're wanting to play and we wanted to
show the world.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
And we did that in patches today and we've done
it in patches across the year so far. And I
think that's, that's a, you know, that's not surprising. It's
a group that's growing super proud of what we did
put out there today. But we want to go from
good to great.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
People who didn't watch the game will wake up this
morning and see the headline that there were four yellow cards.
Can you just talk us through your, your thinking when,
when that was all going on across the 80 minutes?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I think some of those ones just sort of
ride off a bit to some other bits of our
game that we need to be better at. I know
Ponce's yellow card around the mall stuff probably really came
from pressure versus poor decision making. But there's some things
in there that should be non-negotiables for us. We can't
afford to have yellow cards for head-high tackles and we
(03:47):
can't afford to have them for offside. So lots of
work to do in that space. And we're lucky we'll
probably get punished further for that, to be honest. So yeah,
disappointed in that, frustrated by it, but I know we
can do better in that.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
What was it like at FNB Stadium? It looks like
a marvellous arena. What was it like to experience a
Black Ferns South Africa game at that venue?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah, I think like 94 or something, you know, people,
I think by the time our sort of game had
kicked off, it was sort of around the 30,000s and
it was pretty noisy, like it's a pretty cool culture
over here and You know, pretty excited about watching sport
and I think win, lose, draw. And regardless of what
(04:30):
team it is, they're just passionate supporters of rugby. So, again,
I know it's just such a privilege to be part
of a pretty cool experience that we'll all take away from.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
And so, I mean, for you, obviously, Whitney, this is
newish as well. This is your first year, of course,
as head coach. I mean, how happy are you with
the way everything's going and how much are you enjoying
the role and developing our best players?
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Yeah, it's always special when you get to work with
the best. And I think there's such amazing talent in
New Zealand. And alongside being great rugby players, they're also
really amazing people. And that's the same for our management group.
So it's a privilege to lead them, to be honest.
And I'm just working really hard to try and be
as good as I can, to be worthy of being
(05:19):
in front of them and enjoying all the moments that
we do spend together. And, yeah, it'll just be, like
you say, it's a bit of a mantra at the moment,
that good to great. Now we keep searching for ways
to keep improving and keep showcasing to the world what
it means to be a Blackman.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And in that regard, it must be really quite a
cool prospect to know that over the next three weekends,
it's France, it's Scotland, it's England. You know, with games
coming regularly like that, how important is that consistency to
be able to work on the things that you want
to work on? You know, you've got the team together regularly.
for a decent length of time.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, I think we've talked a lot around it's not
a new thing around the women's game, the growth and
the need for games like this. It's been a pretty
popular headline, so I think the reality of that now
is that it's here and we have that, and that's
so exciting because being able to go week to week
and have the chance to keep improving your game like that,
(06:16):
I think it also gives us opportunity to grow continuously
with certain combinations of players and for people to get
game time. And then it also allows you to lead
in young talent and give opportunities to new leaders. So
we're really excited about the rest of this tour and
really grateful that that's sort of ahead of us for
(06:36):
this year and the games that we are getting. It's
going to be great.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Well, congratulations on this win, Whitney. What a wonderful occasion
for you all and a great result as well. Travel safe.
Look forward to seeing how you're going, Leon, a week
or so from now. Thanks for your time. Thanks, mate.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
No worries.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Thank you, Whitney. Whitney Hanson there. After the Black Ferns
did a job on South Africa, 52 points to 20.
It was the early game at First National Bank Stadium, Johannesburg,
Soccer City, as it's colloquially known. Great to see Ruahei
de Montt as part of the pre-game ceremony as well.
(07:11):
She was selected to carry the flag out. The South
African captain carried out the South African flag that played
the early game and then Out they went to hold
the flags. It was a cool moment.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live
to Newstalk ZB Weekends from Midday or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Pine
from Newstalk ZB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Their historic doubleheader in Soweto. That'll be full-time.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
New Zealand win the historic first-ever test between New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And South Africa on Springboks soil. 52 points to 20. Yeah, 52-20.
New Zealand, though, survived conceding four yellow cards. They scored
eight tries to four. They led 24-10 at the break.
Blake Fern's head coach is Whitney Hanson, who joins us now.
Congratulations on this win on such an historic occasion. Whitney,
how satisfying was the performance from your team?
Speaker 4 (00:43):
Yeah, thank you. It was really exciting to just be
a part of. I think, you know, when you're a
part of moments like that and you get to create history,
it's always pretty special to kind of acknowledge that and
acknowledge the privilege that that was. And, you know, really
happy with the rugby that we played too. There's definitely
some areas in there where we'll take away some learnings
(01:04):
and put into our week leading into France next week.
But really proud of the girls in this today.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
When you bring up 50 points in a test match,
eight tries, obviously the attack becomes a focus. What pleased
you the most about the way your team attacked today?
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Yeah, look, we've worked really hard on having an attack
that's been built around being really unpredictable, whether that's in
or out of system. And I think, you know, you
see that. I thought it was going to be a
wee try for Amarante Satiti at the end there. It
was just going to put the icy on the cake,
didn't quite get there, but... You know, moments like that,
I think, just showcase where our attack's going. There's some
(01:41):
things in there too around our ball carrier we need
to be better at. And we're in key position to
be able to do that a little bit longer for
sort of 80 minutes, a bit more clinical around it.
But you can see in the patches where we are now,
it's a pretty exciting game to watch.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Whenever you play South Africa, they bring physicality, obviously. How
happy were you with the way you matched South Africa physically?
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Yeah, I think we talked at halftime around our ball carrying,
our clean. We probably lacked a little bit of urgency
there and came out and did that a bit better
in the second half. We knew they were going to
bring that. So I think there's a piece here around
our mental fortitude and how we sort of turn up
to that. You know, big games and can't afford to
wait for halftime to turn that on. So, you know,
(02:23):
some people did that really well. Matt Anderson was a
superstar for us in that space. And a couple of
others did that really well. So, yeah. proud of those
efforts and but again you know spaces where we can
keep being better.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah it's interesting to talk to you and in every
answer you've talked about the improvements that you're looking for
is that kind of a bit of a mantra internally
that you know there's there's no satisfaction even with big
wins like this and and that there is always you
know a lesson to take?
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Yeah we've talked you know right from the beginning of
this year that about performance over outcome and is a
game that we're wanting to play and we wanted to
show the world.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
And we did that in patches today and we've done
it in patches across the year so far. And I
think that's, that's a, you know, that's not surprising. It's
a group that's growing super proud of what we did
put out there today. But we want to go from
good to great.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
People who didn't watch the game will wake up this
morning and see the headline that there were four yellow cards.
Can you just talk us through your, your thinking when,
when that was all going on across the 80 minutes?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yeah, I think some of those ones just sort of
ride off a bit to some other bits of our
game that we need to be better at. I know
Ponce's yellow card around the mall stuff probably really came
from pressure versus poor decision making. But there's some things
in there that should be non-negotiables for us. We can't
afford to have yellow cards for head-high tackles and we
(03:47):
can't afford to have them for offside. So lots of
work to do in that space. And we're lucky we'll
probably get punished further for that, to be honest. So yeah,
disappointed in that, frustrated by it, but I know we
can do better in that.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
What was it like at FNB Stadium? It looks like
a marvellous arena. What was it like to experience a
Black Ferns South Africa game at that venue?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah, I think like 94 or something, you know, people,
I think by the time our sort of game had
kicked off, it was sort of around the 30,000s and
it was pretty noisy, like it's a pretty cool culture
over here and You know, pretty excited about watching sport
and I think win, lose, draw. And regardless of what
(04:30):
team it is, they're just passionate supporters of rugby. So, again,
I know it's just such a privilege to be part
of a pretty cool experience that we'll all take away from.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
And so, I mean, for you, obviously, Whitney, this is
newish as well. This is your first year, of course,
as head coach. I mean, how happy are you with
the way everything's going and how much are you enjoying
the role and developing our best players?
Speaker 4 (04:58):
Yeah, it's always special when you get to work with
the best. And I think there's such amazing talent in
New Zealand. And alongside being great rugby players, they're also
really amazing people. And that's the same for our management group.
So it's a privilege to lead them, to be honest.
And I'm just working really hard to try and be
as good as I can, to be worthy of being
(05:19):
in front of them and enjoying all the moments that
we do spend together. And, yeah, it'll just be, like
you say, it's a bit of a mantra at the moment,
that good to great. Now we keep searching for ways
to keep improving and keep showcasing to the world what
it means to be a Blackman.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And in that regard, it must be really quite a
cool prospect to know that over the next three weekends,
it's France, it's Scotland, it's England. You know, with games
coming regularly like that, how important is that consistency to
be able to work on the things that you want
to work on? You know, you've got the team together regularly.
for a decent length of time.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, I think we've talked a lot around it's not
a new thing around the women's game, the growth and
the need for games like this. It's been a pretty
popular headline, so I think the reality of that now
is that it's here and we have that, and that's
so exciting because being able to go week to week
and have the chance to keep improving your game like that,
(06:16):
I think it also gives us opportunity to grow continuously
with certain combinations of players and for people to get
game time. And then it also allows you to lead
in young talent and give opportunities to new leaders. So
we're really excited about the rest of this tour and
really grateful that that's sort of ahead of us for
(06:36):
this year and the games that we are getting. It's
going to be great.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Well, congratulations on this win, Whitney. What a wonderful occasion
for you all and a great result as well. Travel safe.
Look forward to seeing how you're going, Leon, a week
or so from now. Thanks for your time. Thanks, mate.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
No worries.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Thank you, Whitney. Whitney Hanson there. After the Black Ferns
did a job on South Africa, 52 points to 20.
It was the early game at First National Bank Stadium, Johannesburg,
Soccer City, as it's colloquially known. Great to see Ruahei
de Montt as part of the pre-game ceremony as well.
(07:11):
She was selected to carry the flag out. The South
African captain carried out the South African flag that played
the early game and then Out they went to hold
the flags. It was a cool moment.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live
to Newstalk ZB Weekends from Midday or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.