"With 40 minutes to play, the scores tied 10-10, and a spot in the semi-finals on the line, the Black Ferns' captain Ruahei Demant pulled her team into a huddle, while the Springboks trotted past them and in to the changing rooms at Sandy Park. The team talk, according to player-of-the-match Kaipo Olsen-Baker, was only three letters long: AFD which, Olsen-Baker just stopped herself from blurting out during a live TV interview afterwards, means all fucking day."
"They may be in the thick of one of the greatest winning streaks in history, with back-to-back runs of 30 consecutive victories either side of one solitary loss in six years, but, as the Black Ferns players will tell you, there are other ways to measure success than by the number of matches you have won in between the ones that matter most, or the world ranking points you totted up while doing it."
With the score tied 10-10 and a semi-final place at stake, Black Ferns captain Ruahei Demant led a decisive huddle while opponents left for the changing rooms; the short rallying cry AFD ('all fucking day') preceded three tries in seven minutes. England's Red Roses have amassed an extraordinary run of victories, including back-to-back 30-match winning streaks separated by a single defeat. New Zealand has claimed six of nine World Cups, has beaten England in every World Cup knockout encounter, and has not lost a World Cup knockout game since 1991. Many New Zealand players prefer to play Rugby Sevens between tournaments.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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