Greatest moments in Otago sport - Number 106

The Otago Daily Times counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.

Number 128: Farah and co rule the world (1998)

Black Ferns captain Farah Palmer kisses the world cup after beating the United States in the 1998...
Black Ferns captain Farah Palmer kisses the world cup after beating the United States in the 1998 final. Photo from ODT Files.
Reject it as fallacy if you wish, but there was a time before the Black Ferns got their moniker when other nations ruled the women's rugby world.

Those times - 1991 and 1994 - it was the women of the US and England that drove lower and ran hardest when it mattered most.

New Zealand captain Farah Palmer was joined by fellow Otago players Annaleah Rush, Fiona King, Maree Edwards, Jacinta Neilson and Monalisa Codling in the 26-strong squad that travelled to the 1998 world tournament in the Netherlands with a point to prove.

An early 134-6 hiding of Germany, a 76-0 defeat of Scotland and the 46-3 dismissal of Spain lent great weight to their case.

Defending champion England was dispatched 44-11 in the semifinal, before the imposing figure of Vanessa Cootes scorched the US for four tries in a final won 44-12 by New Zealand.

All the Otago players bar Neilson started the final, which Palmer had a hard time remembering afterwards as she chatted by phone with the Otago Daily Times as the team bus rolled towards the airport.

"Every now and then I had the to pinch myself to remember that I was in a World Cup final.

"I still can't believe it. I had to make speeches and go to press conferences after the game and this made me realise it was real. We had won the world cup final."

Palmer captained the Black Ferns in 30 of her 35 tests over a decade.

Years later, after Palmer had led the Black Ferns to their third consecutive world cup triumph, she testified to the importance of that first victory to the women's game in New Zealand.

"Secondary schoolgirls rugby went through the roof and there were teams popping up all over the country wanting to play the game because we were world champions."

Otago woman Helen Littleworth travelled with the side as a physiotherapist.

 

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