Nā Piripi Taylor nō Pūkāea.
Black Ferns winger Mererangi Paul celebrated her 20th Test by scoring her 19th international try as New Zealand opened its WXV Global Series campaign with a 28–14 victory over France in Lyon.
Paul (Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa) crossed early in the second half at Matmut Stadium, extending the Black Ferns’ lead to 21–7 after they had gone into halftime seven points ahead.
“The forwards started a maul and they actually got really good momentum. I was out on the wing, and I thought they were going to go over the line with the momentum that they had.
“France managed to stop us right before the line, and then the ball came out. I think it was just me and [Braxton Sorensen-McGee], and then Brax gave me a bounce-out pass and I managed to dot over on the line,” Paul said.
“It was a pretty special moment. I don’t really count my tries or anything like that. Just running out for the 20th time in the black jersey was pretty special to me.”
Head coach Whitney Hansen praised Paul’s consistent contribution and growing development.
“Mererangi is incredibly humble, but a very, very talented athlete,” Hansen said.
“She’s got footwork like not too many others in our space, maybe outside of Justine McGregor. There’s the chip-and-chase, the ability to beat a defender on the outside. She’s got huge versatility for us, and we know she could cover fullback as well if we needed her to, or maybe even midfield.
“Her continued development of her technical and tactical ability in the game, mixed with her talent and athleticism, just makes her a really special athlete.
“You saw that off-field leadership starting to blossom as well. She leads our legacy space, albeit at the beginning it was pretty reluctantly. She’s very much stepped into that role and into that light now, and to see her lead the haka on the weekend was pretty special too.”
The Black Ferns scored four tries in front of a vocal Lyon crowd to extend their winning run to seven Tests and improve their overall record against France to nine wins from 14 games.
McGregor and Mia Anderson scored New Zealand’s first-half tries, while Pauline Bourdon Sansus crossed for France before the break. Paul extended the Black Ferns’ lead early in the second half before Lina Queyroi responded for the hosts, with Liana Mikaele-Tu’u scoring late to secure the victory.
France had won 14 of its previous 18 home Tests, but the hosts were restricted by a Black Ferns defensive performance captain Georgia Ponsonby described as the team’s best of 2026. Hansen said there was a real sense of belief in the game plan.
“We’re starting to get to the point now where there isn’t anything new. It’s about executing what we’re already doing and doing that better every week - going from good to great.
“What it looked like from a rugby perspective was connected line speed, two in the tackle, taking time, and the ability to drive back a really solid French team that likes to play in behind the line. We didn’t give them anywhere to go, forcing them to kick and then getting the net gain on that.”
France still found opportunities when its offloading game gathered momentum, while its loose forwards caused problems at the breakdown. However, the Black Ferns’ work without the ball largely prevented the hosts from establishing sustained attacking pressure.
“There are still places in there where we saw them get real momentum, and we saw how dangerous they can be when they do get their offload game going,” Hansen said.
“But the fact that we managed to stop that for a large majority of the game and keep a quality French team to only 14 points is pretty significant.”
The performance also represented an improvement in discipline after the Black Ferns lost the penalty count 17–7 against South Africa in Johannesburg the previous weekend.
“No more yellow cards was obviously a good start, but it wasn’t hard to beat that when you get four the week before,” Hansen said.
“There are still avoidable penalties that we need to take control of, and against teams in that top four, you saw it only takes indecision at the breakdown, being too high in a tackle, or an issue at set piece, and that gets significantly punished through the kicking game. We’ll continue to keep that at the fore. It’s about having the inhibition not to do things, but also being smart about where we are and the choices and decisions we make around that.”
Paul said the team had focused on its approach to contact throughout the week in Lyon.
“We put a lot of work into our body height when cleaning and our body height in tackles, and I think we did pretty well. We managed to keep that penalty score lower than it was in South Africa, so I think we’re improving in that sense.
“Going forward into Scotland, it will be the same sort of thing. We’re still going to work on body height, footwork into contact and things like that. We’re still looking to grow our game in that area.”
The French kicking game had been a key focus for Paul and the Black Ferns’ back three during their preparations. France found space behind New Zealand’s defensive line on several occasions in the opening half before the visitors adjusted during the interval.
“There were a couple of times we got caught out, but I think it was in the first half. We had a conversation with everyone at halftime in the sheds, and then we managed to get those connections back again,” Paul said. “Overall, I think we did pretty well.”
Hansen said the combination of Paul, Sorensen-McGee and McGregor remained a developing one.
“We got caught out a couple of times and turned around on kicks, but the other side of that is they showcased themselves as a real threat on counterattack and showed what it can look like when you do kick to us. There’ll be some learnings that come out of that space around the kick chase and our positioning.”
Co-captain Ruahei Demant (Mataatua) remains with the touring squad despite a calf injury ruling her out of the WXV Global Series. Hansen said Demant’s continued support has been amazing.
“As soon as she knew what her injury was and what she needed to do to get it right, her mind turned pretty quickly to, ‘What do I do to help the team?’
“She’s pretty selfless. She leads with mana always. Everyone looks to follow her, regardless of whether she’s got the jersey on or not. To be able to have her stay here and be in this space with us is a massive privilege and a huge advantage for us.”
Demant’s injury has seen Hannah King assume the starting first five-eighth role, while potential Test debutant Arene Landon-Lane, of the Hurricanes Poua, has joined the squad in Scotland as additional backline cover. Hansen said the team had spoken with Landon-Lane about her role during the remainder of the campaign.
“It won’t be so much about game time for Arene this weekend and across this tour.
“We have Maia Joseph who can cover 10 as well and understands our game plan, and has been with us for the majority of this year. [King and Joseph] will be the two 10s who play over the next couple of weeks,” Hansen said.
Hansen indicated the Scotland Test could provide opportunities for players who have had limited minutes during the campaign, while others may be rested before the final match against England in London.
“Regardless of who we’re playing, the performance of the Black Ferns needs to be clinical, and that means finishing those big moments and taking them where we can,” Hansen said.
“There were definitely some things we left out there against France where we want to be better. A couple of those probably should have been finished as tries, and hopefully we see that come against Scotland when those moments arise.”
The Black Ferns face Scotland at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh in the second Test of the WXV Global Series. It will be Scotland’s first home Test against New Zealand. The match kicks off at 4.10am on Sunday NZT.
