Key events
Whoever wins this game, France and England have a hard act to follow at the same venue tomorrow. Here’s some pre-game reading:
“Canada are a lovely team to watch, very fast and always seem to know what they’re doing,” notes Denis O’Brien. That half showed them at their free-flowing best, and the sheer speed proved too much for New Zealand. Aside from that one grinding score from Kalounivale, it’s been almost one-way traffic.
Half time: New Zealand 7-24 Canada
Canada pick up a penalty but Tessier opts to kick it out, and the Maple Leafs head off the field with a deserved lead. New Zealand players stay out there, forming a huddle as they try to break down what went wrong.
39 mins: New Zealand retain the ball from a scrum deep in their own half and Stacey Waaka’s attempted break is halted by fellow No 13, Florence Symonds. Another loose pass presents Canada with the put-in at a final scrum, and a chance to stretch their lead …
38 mins: Canada aren’t concerned with defending this lead until the half-time whistle – Pelletier again dictating the tempo of another flowing attacking move. The defending champions urgently need the break to clear their heads.
TRY! New Zealand 7-24 Canada (De Goede 35′)
Or not, as Canada’s all-round star Sophie de Goede finds a gap 10 metres out and darts under the post like a fleet-footed winger. The lock kicks her own conversion, and New Zealand look shell-shocked.
34 mins: Pelletier puts into the scrum and lets No 8 Forteza dig it out and offload back to her. Forteza gets involved again with a drive forward, but New Zealand’s defence is just about holding …
32 mins: Canada still so dangerous on the break, another sweeping move only stopped as Hogan-Rochester is bustled into touch.
30 mins: New Zealand charge down the left flank, Olsen-Baker carrying again before Sorensen-McGee’s offload slips into touch. Are the champions waking up?
28 mins: A relentless first half continues with Sorensen-McGee kicking over the Canadian defence and almost retrieving it herself. Schell responded with a kick-chase of her own, but is muscled off the ball. No penalty, despite Canadian protests.
TRY! New Zealand 7-17 Canada (Kalounivale 26′)
Or maybe not – the Black Ferns hit back immediately, their forwards rolling ominously upfield with Viliko leading the charge before fellow prop Tanya Kalounivale barges her way over. Renee Holmes adds the conversion, and the gap is cut to 10 points.
25 mins: De Goede’s conversion curls in towards the right-hand post – but clunks against it. Still, New Zealand are in trouble here …
TRY! New Zealand 0-17 Canada (Symonds 24′)
They’ve got a third try! New Zealand withstand heavy pressure from the Canadian pack but they’re outnumbered when play is switched to the right, Tessier finding Florence Symonds to score. Well then!
23 mins: Canada earn another penalty as De Goede protects the ball, and Tessier opts for touch rather than a shot at goal …
22 mins: Canada win the lineout ball and work the ball out to the left, where it just slips from Hogan-Rochester’s grasp. A third Canada try would have the champions very worried indeed …
20 mins: New Zealand concede another penalty – their third of the game – and De Goede can kick to touch. I’m still a bit confused by the kit choices: Canada’s white with black trim and black shorts seems much closer to New Zealand’s than their red home kit.
18 mins: Schell launches a big kick downfield and almost gets underneath her own up and under, before the ball is deflected into touch.
17 mins: New Zealand retain the ball from a scrum deep in their own half and wing Portia Woodman-Wickliffe gets involved – but Canada’s defence holds firm, sapping the forward momentum.
16 mins: New Zealand work through nine phases but are forced to kick downfield, and full-back Julia Schell bursts downfield before running out of support. There’s a break in play now, with Black Ferns prop Chryss Viliko getting her ankle re-taped.
14 mins: New Zealand will have expected a fast start from their opponents, but perhaps not to this extent. There’s an opening here from an Olsen-Baker interception but the Black Ferns run out of bodies out wide.
12 mins: Sophie de Goede, a rare goal-kicking forward, heaves a marker post out of her way for the conversion. Her effort from out wide is decent, but just drifts left of the near post.
TRY! New Zealand 0-12 Canada (Hogan-Rochester 11′)
What a start from Canada! New Zealand’s defence is a little narrow, and the ball is heaved out wide to wing Asia Hogan-Rochester, who gets away from Sorensen-McGee’s tackle and dives into the corner.
10 mins: Canada win another penalty and have the chance to attack again. New Zealand are on the back foot early on …
TRY! New Zealand 0-7 Canada (Pelletier 7′)
It pays off as Corrigan gets beyond a scrambling New Zealand defence before offloading to Pelletier, who beats the last defender with another smart shimmy. De Goede adds the conversion.
6 mins: Canada win their first lineout and a nice feint from Justine Pelletier breaks the line. They earn a penalty advantage and go for a kick in behind …
“Cheering for Canada. We have enough fourth-place finishes, we need to win this semifinal, and then … who knows,” writes Doug Simms. Meanwhile, in Queenstown, NZ, here’s Geoff Hughes.
“Just woken up to watch the game. A fine clear day and so we will be off skiing when the game finishes. The ski season has just a week or so before it ends.” Sounds like a decent Saturday, Geoff.
4 mins: After a couple of resets, Canada retain the ball and sweep upfield – but another knock-on halts their charge. It’ll be another scrum, deeper into New Zealand territory but with the Black Ferns putting in.
2 mins: It pays off as Sophie de Goede lets the ball out of her grasp. An early turnover but Canada stand up to the onslaught, and win a scrum close to the halfway line.
First half
Here we go! New Zealand kick off, and immediately look to put pressure on their opponents.
Time for the haka, with New Zealand’s entire 23 fanning out and staring down their opponents. Absolutely spine-tingling stuff, as always – and there’s a mighty roar from the crowd afterwards.
“Really looking forward to the semi finals, the general level has been very high in this tournament, and here we go for the four best teams,” writes Jeremy Boyce.
“The Black Ferns, as reigning champs, have a target on their backs, but they have consistently shown their ability to rise to the big occasion, as I’m sure they will again tonight even without Jorja Miller. They have strength in depth, but the Maple Leafs have a point to prove after their near miss last time out. Should be a great match.”
The players are running out past the trophy, New Zealand in all black (of course) and Canada in their white away shirts. If you’re reading this in a far-flung corner of either country, I’d love to hear from you: niall.mcveigh@theguardian.com.
Here’s Emma John on the story of the World Cup so far: a festival of rugby, fun and much-needed good vibes.
Here’s the Canada head coach, Kevin Rouet: “No change for us, keep doing what we do, and try to be more confident.” Did South Africa’s quarter-final display given them extra belief? “I’m not concerned for New Zealand, but we’ve grown in confidence, we know physicality will be the key.” Is he happy with their underdog status. “We’re Canada, nobody knows about us, and we’re happy with that!”
Some pre-game thoughts from the New Zealand head coach, Allan Bunting: “We know what this game means, it’s a step up and we’ve got to be accurate and across the board. The squad we’ve got now, we’ve been building for a while – set-pieces and the breakdown are going to be key. We believe in our game, and we’re really looking forward to the challenge today.”
A reminder, as if one were needed, that the winners of this match will meet England or France in the final at Twickenham. As Ugo Monye writes, the last four may have panned out as expected but now there’s no margin for error.
Team news
New Zealand: Holmes, Sorensen-McGee, Waaka, Brunt, Woodman-Wickliffe, Demant (co-captain), Pouri-Lane; Viliko, Ponsonby, Kalounivale, Roos, A Bremner, Mikaele-Tu’u, Tukuafu (co-captain), Olsen-Baker.
Replacements: Lolohea, Henwood, Rule, C Bremner, Sae, Joseph, Setefano, Leti-Iiga.
Canada: Schell, Corrigan, Symonds, Tessier (captain), Hogan-Rochester, Perry, Pelletier; Hunt, Tuttosi, Menin, De Goede, O’Donnell, Crossley, Paquin, Forteza.
Replacements: Boag, Kassil, DeMerchant, Beukeboom, Royer, Senft, Apps, Seumanutafa.
Preamble
As the defending champions, New Zealand have not so much picked their path through the World Cup draw as steamrollered straight to the semi-finals. The Black Ferns won all three of their pool games by at least 40 points, and then cranked through the gears to overcome brief resistance from South Africa in the last eight.
The script suggests that tonight is their last rehearsal before an inevitable rematch with England in next Saturday’s final – but Canada will have other ideas. Kevin Rouet’s side have stayed under the radar despite sitting above New Zealand in the world rankings, and will believe a first final appearance since 2014 is in reach.
Canada have also powered to the final four, dominating their pool before cruising through a potentially tricky quarter-final tie against Australia. With Jorja Miller missing for New Zealand, the Maple Leafs have an opportunity to go one better than the dramatic 27-27 draw they earned in Christchurch back in May.
Whatever the outcome, fans at a balmy Ashton Gate can look forward to a free-flowing contest featuring the tournament’s top four points scorers: New Zealand’s Braxton Sorensen-McGee and Renee Holmes, up against Sophie de Goede and Julia Schell for Canada. Kick-off is at 7pm (BST); 2pm in Ottawa, 6am in Auckland.
