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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.
