When the Black Ferns play France in their other house WXV Global Series Test in Whangarei this Saturday, it will be their 150th Test match.
It took 35 years to reach the milestone. With six women Rugby World Cup titles and 123 Test wins, they are surely one of the most successful women’s sports teams ever.
In the spirit of a quick “eyes up legs”, here are 35 facts to mark the 150-Test milestone:
The Black Ferns played their first official test on April 6, 1991 against Wales at The Dairyfield, Llanharen. Canterbury Constable Helen Mahon-Stroud scored the first try and wing Lesley Brett three tries as the Black Ferns won 24-6. Brett’s son, Stephen, later became a Maori All Black.
The Black Ferns have played 44 Rugby World Cup Tests and won 41 of them. They won 2027 points and conceded 427 points.
Their greatest victory England it was 67-0 at Burnham Army Camp near Christchurch in 1997. Monique Hirovanaa scored three tries and Vanessa Cootes four.
Amiria Rule (née Marsh) made her black debut in the 41-0 win Canada in Winnipeg in 2000, when she was only 17 years and 129 days old.
At the first meeting of the team, most of the players already knew each other. When Rule introduced herself as from Cashmere High School, prop Regina Sheck asked, ‘What do you teach?’ Amiria replied, ‘Year 12, Regina.’
As she was so young, airline rules required a companion on the flight.
Christine Ross scored 13 conversions for the Black Ferns in their 109-0 win over France in Edmonton in 1996 to set a record that still stands. Her husband Jock Ross and son Isaac Ross played for All black people.
Annaleah and Xavier Rush were the first siblings to play Test matches on the same day at the same ground. On 29 August 1998, Annaleah helped the Black Ferns to victory Australia 27-3 at the Sydney Football Stadium, while Xavier played No.8 for the All Blacks in their 14-19 loss to the Wallabies. Annaleah is also cousins with fellow Black Fern Erin Rush and All Black and series seven star Eric Rush.
Kendra Cocksedge played the most Tests for the Black Ferns with 68 appearances. She also had the most wins, 53, and scored the most points, 388.
Anna Richards played 49 of the first 51 Tests between 1991 and 2010. She won 47 of those matches and started in 2010. Women’s Rugby World Cup final victory over England at 45.
The Black Ferns have won all 32 of their Tests against Australia, their most against any team. They have also beaten England 19 times and Canada 18 times.
They have also won all 11 of their Tests at Eden Park. Neither the All Blacks nor the Black Ferns have lost at the famous Auckland Stadium since 2003.
When the Black Ferns beat Canada 52-21 in Ottawa 2023, it was their 100th Test win. They were the fastest Tier 1 country to reach 100 Test wins. England reached this milestone in 119 Tests in 2006.
The Black Ferns’ longest winning streak is 24 matches and ran from 2002 to 2009. Had they played more Tests, they might have equaled England’s longest streaks of 30 (2019-2022) and 41 (2023-2026). They also won 20 Tests in a row from 1994 to 2001 and 16 in a row between 2022 and 2023.
The Black Ferns’ biggest Test win was 134-6 Germany at the 1998 Women’s Rugby World Cup, where they scored 22 tries.
Their biggest Test defeat was 56-15 against England in 2021. In 2024, they conceded nine tries in a 49-31 loss to England in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, their biggest home defeat was 33-12 against England in Auckland in 2023.
The record for most Test tries by a Black Ferns player is nine, set by Vanessa Coutts in a 109-0 win over France in 1996. She scored 43 tries in 16 Tests, including five in a 44-12 win over France. USA in the 1998 Women’s Rugby World Cup final in Amsterdam, the Black Ferns’ first Women’s Rugby World Cup victory.
In 2023, rugby fan Nat Manville found what was thought to be a lost VHS tape of the Black Ferns’ first test against Australia in 1994.
Stephen Berg of the National Rugby Museum gave Manville the tapes to digitize and was amazed when they found “a really special piece of footage”.
The recording was on a tape that appeared to be blank and had no label, so one had to look to discover what was on it. Manville digitized hours of footage for the Rugby Museum and received a framed letter from then World Rugby president Bill Beaumont. He was also featured on One News Good Sorts.
Manville started playing rugby at the age of five, but at 18 he suffered a severe head and spinal injury. After six months in Christchurch’s Burwood Spine Hospital and 18 months in a Palmerston North motel, he was able to come home and watch rugby instead of playing it.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe holds the Black Ferns record for most tries, with 50 in 34 Tests. She scored eight tries in one test against Hong Kong at the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup and seven against Japan 2022 and USA 2025. Her 20 tries at the Women’s Rugby World Cup is a record for any player, male or female.
Lock Monalisa Codling has won all 30 Test matches she has played for the Black Ferns. She also won all 56 games she played for Auckland. Melissa Ruscoe had a perfect test score of 22-0.
The Black Ferns have had five Women’s Rugby World Cup winning head coaches. Darryl Suasua won twice in 1998 and 2002 and coached 23 Tests to 22 wins.
Other World Series winning coaches include Jed Rowlands (2006, 15-0), Brian Evans (2010, 18-5), Glenn Moore (2017, 26-7) and Wayne Smith (2021, 12-0).
On 15 February 2023, the Black Ferns won Team of the Year at the Halberg Awards in Auckland. They joined the 2018 world champions Black Ferns Sevens as the only women’s rugby teams to win New Zealand’s top sporting prize. They were the tenth women’s team to win Halberg Team of the Year since 1987.
The Black Ferns’ first Test in white was at the 1998 Women’s Rugby World Cup when they won Scotland 76-0.
Usually a young child hands over the match ball before a Test, but when the Black Ferns beat the Wallaroos 67-19 at North Harbor Stadium on May 25, 2024, 98-year-old Mary Cutler had the honor.
She got her chance after a video of her 143cm dancing with 185kg weightlifter David Litty went viral. Liti was appointed to New Zealand Olympic team at Ryman Village in Greenlane, Auckland, where Cutler lives.
Impressed by her energy, Ryman Healthcare, the sponsor of the Black Ferns, invited her to deliver the ball.
Stacey Lena’s heartfelt gesture after her seventh and final Test, a 43-3 win over Canada in 2005, best exemplifies the true spirit of the Black Ferns.
Lene recalled: “I was supposed to fly home from Canada the next day and a week early because my 11-month-old nephew had passed away.
“I went on the pitch in the second half determined to try for him. I wrote his name on my boots.
“During a blindside move, I received a pass from the back of the scrum, ran it by the flank, outstepped the full-back, turned it inside out and scored under the posts.
“I raised my head to the heavens, offering a prayer for my nephew and my family.”
World Rugby Hall of Famer Dame Farah Palmer has the best captaincy record, with 29 wins in 30 Tests. Fellow Aucklander Fiao’o Fa’amausili had 28 wins in 35 Tests. Ruahei Demant has 32 wins in 40 Tests.
Halfback Iritan Hohai became the first Black Fern to be sent off in a Test match, during a 39-17 win over the USA in July 2023.
The Black Ferns’ only Test draw was 8-8 against England in 2011.
England first beat the New Zealanders in a home Test, winning 22-17 at the North Harbor Stadium in Albany in 2001.
They have also gone scoreless only twice in Tests, against USA (0-7) in 1991 and England (0-10) in 2011.
In 2022, the Black Ferns won a record 12 Test matches in one year. However, the Red Roses hold the record for most Test wins in a year with 15 in 2017, but lost to the Black Ferns 41-32 in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final.
In New Zealand’s women’s team’s 64-0 win over Australia on the muddy Waitemata pitch in 1995, Davida White humorously touched the ball as if she had scored a try five meters short of the line. The pitch was so muddy she couldn’t tell where the try line was.
Rebecca Mahoney is the only Black Ferns player to score a drop goal in the test. She later became an international judge, as did Nicky Inwood.
Tammi Wilson kicked six tries and six conversions in a 65-0 win over the USA in Palmerston North in 1999.
Laurie O’Reilly coached the Black Ferns to 14 wins in their first 15 games during the early years. His daughter, Lauren O’Reilly, also played for the Black Ferns as a test hooker.
And finally, the Black Ferns have won 40, lost five and drawn one of their 46 home Tests. They have 83 wins in 103 away Tests.
So what will be the result of their 150th Test match? The Black Ferns take on France at Semenoff Stadium in Whangarei in the WXV Global Series this Saturday.