Maama Mo’onia Vaipulu insists New Zealand are raring to bounce back from a brutal defeat by England’s Red Roses and finish a challenging WXV 1 campaign on a high.

The Black Ferns head into their final match against France on Saturday off the back of two defeats, the first to Ireland who clinched a thrilling 29-27 victory in the opener and most recently to England who inflicted a crushing 49-31 blow.

While the tournament in Canada has far from gone to plan for the reigning world champions, Vaipulu is adamant that learning the hard way will only serve the side in good stead for their final outing against France. 

“We were gutted after the England game. No one likes the feeling of losing, but it is what it is. That’s rugby,” she said. 

“The main focus we took from that game is setting up early. England were quick to set up and we weren’t urgent enough to get there which caused a domino effect of errors and led to England scoring against us. We need to correct that.” 

In contrast to the Black Ferns’ double defeat, Les Blues enter the head-to-head high off the back of a confident 22-14 victory over the USA. 

While recent clashes between the sides have been close, the Black Ferns will be eager to regain the upper hand after last losing 18-17 to France during their WXV 1 clash last year. 

“France is a team who like to play fast, do quick taps and they love to offload, so we’ve been reviewing their game as a team,” said Vaipulu. 

Originally a volleyball player, the 21-year-old made her breakthrough with the Black Ferns in May this year, coming off the bench to help her side to victory against the USA in the Pacific Four Series. 

The lock has taken stepping into a new sport on one of the biggest sporting stages in the world firmly in her stride, but admits the last 18 months have been a steep learning curve. 

“This year with the Black Ferns has been a lot in terms of being away from family for a long time but I didn’t expect the environment to be so welcoming and such a cool space,” she said. 

“My rugby has progressed quite a bit this year, playing at this level is a huge jump but playing alongside players like Maia [Roos] has helped me make the step into Black Ferns.

“She’s someone I look up to as a player and a person, she works really hard and it really shows when she’s on the field.”

Despite their string of defeats in Canda, New Zealand lost four matches in the run up to the 2022 World Cup before going on to produce a 16-match winning streak and a home World Cup triumph. 

With that in mind, Vaipulu believes the tough lessons taught in South Africa will be crucial to ensuring the squad are in the best position possible heading into next year’s global showpiece. 

“To play in England again for next year’s World Cup is a really exciting thought,” she said. “It will be a chance for us to redeem ourselves and come back stronger.”