The Black Ferns have lost their co-captain for the entire European leg of their tour, with Ruahei Demant ruled out of all three tests after hurting her calf in Johannesburg.
New Zealand Rugby confirmed on Thursday that the first five-eighth would play no part in the away half of the new WXV Global Series, which begins against France in Lyon early on Sunday morning New Zealand time. Demant picked up the injury after coming off the bench in last weekend’s 52 to 20 win over the Springbok Women at FNB Stadium in Soweto, a match in which she played only the closing minutes.
In a statement reported by NZ Sportswire, New Zealand Rugby said “return to play timeframes are yet to be determined and an update on her replacement will be provided in the next coming days”. That leaves the touring party a player short for now, and it leaves 22 year old Hannah King as the only specialist first five-eighth in the squad of 31.
Hooker Georgia Ponsonby takes sole charge of the captaincy for the rest of the tour. Ponsonby led the side onto the field for the first time in Soweto last weekend, with Demant keeping the co-captaincy but dropping to the bench, and she now keeps the job for tests against France, Scotland and England. New Zealand Rugby’s player profile lists her with 43 tests since her 2021 debut, which came on a northern tour that included two matches against the same French side she will face on Sunday.
Losing Demant matters for reasons that go well beyond one jersey. New Zealand Rugby’s own profile credits her with 59 tests and 140 points, and RugbyPass reported that no one else in the group that flew to Europe has played as many. She was the World Rugby women’s 15s player of the year in 2022, she captained the side to the World Cup title at Eden Park that year, and by the opening match of this season she had led the side more times than any New Zealand women’s fifteens captain before her. She was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2023.
Her absence lands at an awkward moment. France sit fourth in the world rankings and New Zealand second, and Saturday in Lyon is the first time the two have met since last year’s World Cup bronze final at Twickenham, which New Zealand won 42 to 26. The French have not played a test since losing the Six Nations final to England 43 to 28 in May, so they arrive fresh and largely unseen, while the Black Ferns have played five tests this year and have scored 242 points while conceding 73.
Backs and skills coach Riki Flutey told RNZ the Lyon test shapes as the hardest assignment of the season so far. “This is going to be an amazing test for us, probably our biggest test match of the year so far,” he said. Flutey said the group was not looking to change much in response. “Our focus really is to keep building our game from being good to great and keep growing what we can within the different parts of our game.”
King has 15 tests and 29 points since debuting in 2024, and she arrived in the national side after moving from Canterbury to Wellington to join Hurricanes Poua for the 2024 Super Rugby Aupiki season. She started at first five-eighth against South Africa, and head coach Whitney Hansen framed that selection last week as a deliberate piece of succession planning rather than a demotion for Demant. Announcing the South African team, Hansen said the changes created “a great opportunity for both Georgia and Hannah to grow their leadership”, and she described Demant as “an exceptional game-driver and important leader for us”. Hansen added that “we need to continue developing more players who can step into these roles”. A calf strain has now turned that plan into a necessity three weeks earlier than anyone intended.
There is one other injury hanging over the tour. Number eight Kaipo Olsen-Baker, one of the standouts of last year’s World Cup campaign, is still working back from the shoulder problem that kept her out of the South African test, and she is expected to be available for Scotland or England or both.
The competition the Black Ferns are playing in is new, and it is the reason their schedule has swollen. The WXV Global Series replaces the three tier WXV format with two tiers covering the 12 highest ranked nations, played home and away across September and October, with 36 matches in all and a clearer run through to qualification for the 2029 World Cup in Australia. For the Black Ferns it means 11 tests in a season, where four or five was once normal, and Flutey said the players had welcomed that. “We’re all excited about the schedule that’s been put in front of us,” he said.
After Lyon, the Black Ferns play Scotland at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on 19 September, kicking off at 4.10am New Zealand time on 20 September, then world champions England at Allianz Stadium in London on 26 September, at 2am New Zealand time on 27 September. The home half of the series brings France back for three more tests, at FMG Stadium in Hamilton on 17 October, Semenoff Stadium in WhangΔrei on 24 October and One NZ Stadium in Christchurch on 31 October. The full list is on the New Zealand Rugby website.
Whether Demant features in any of that is now an open question. A calf injury in a 31 year old playmaker is rarely a one week problem, and the tour ends on 26 September, which gives her three weeks to be fit for the Hamilton test if the medical staff clear her. New Zealand Rugby has not put a timeframe on it.
Sunday’s kick-off at Matmut Stadium de Gerland is 3.45am New Zealand time and the match is live on Sky Sport. A preview published by New Zealand Rugby picks out halfback Maia Joseph, whose “speed around the breakdown can lift the Black Ferns’ tempo”, and fullback Braxton Sorensen-McGee, named World Rugby’s women’s 15s breakthrough player of the year in 2025, as the players most likely to decide it. On the evidence of Soweto, where the Black Ferns put 52 points on a home side in the curtain-raiser to the All Blacks test, they have the attacking game to win in Lyon. Doing it without the most experienced head in the squad is a different test again.
Will the Black Ferns get past France in Lyon without Ruahei Demant, and is an 11 test season good for the women’s game or too much too soon? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job π
Leave a Reply