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Whitney Hansen has shared what she believes will be the “key difference” between the Black Ferns and their top rivals if they are to reclaim their place at the top of world rugby.
Hansen’s New Zealand put France to the sword on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton, scoring 81 points in a relentless game to bounce back from a last-second loss to England last month.
After achieving their first victory Canada in the two years before this season, the Kiwis’ results suggest they are just a shade off the pace set by world champions England.
The six-time world champions have a young group whose execution let them down at Twickenham, scoring just 1.3 points per 22m entry. That number jumped to four points after entering 22 meters in Hamilton.
Speaking to the media after the match, Hansen said the difference between the two performances was purely mental.
“I think a big part of it, at this level, you have players, and they have a skill set, and we’ve shown we have a game plan, so a lot of it comes down to your mental performance. And I think that starts with how you prepare, how you own that execution process.”
“We had a really young group that didn’t have a lot of support in that space before, so we really dug into that: What is it about your week that’s going to give you confidence and allow you to have those moments?
“And then I think when you’re in it, how do you hang on? There are so many different distractions in those spaces, and they’re all different for everyone. So is it a mistake? Is it your last game in front of 60,000? Is it a distraction? You learn from it all the time, so you don’t leave those lessons behind.”
“And then if something goes wrong, how do you reset, how do you get back as quickly as you can? Those defensive swing moments, we’re going to take some lessons out of that today; that’s a great example of who was able to manage their mindset in that space and come back.
“I think that’s probably the key difference we’re talking about now: all the teams have the skills, all the teams in the top four have the players, but who has the mental performance is the point of difference.”
