Black Ferns halfback Kendra Cocksedge believes her team can bounce back from a rough 2021 season to make a dent in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
The Black Ferns, who have been obliterated in recent matches which included a history-making four losses in a row, will be looking to improve before next year’s World Cup on home soil, with halfback Cocksedge confident the team can do just that.
“I’m pretty confident with the group we’ve got, we’ve got all the off-field stuff right and connected really well as a group,” Cocksedge told Mornings with Ian Smith.
“I know there’s going to be some hard work put in over the next nine months and I’m confident we can bridge that gap.
“I’m confident, we’ve got some girls that we’ve got to return as well, and I know with Super Rugby over the year that’s going to help.”
Cocksedge, a Black Ferns veteran, described the demise the group felt after this year’s heavy defeats in the Northern Tour, which included a 56-15 drubbing from England, and how she plans to uses that as motivation for next year.
“I was absolutely gutted … I haven’t been a part of a team that has lost four in a row quite like that,” she added.
“I felt gutted for the young ones, I felt gutted for the new ones that had come into the team and (have) only lost in the black jersey and it’s not something that were kind of used to.
“We connected really well … we’ve got a lot of confidence going into next year.”
The Rugby World Cup, which was originally scheduled for early 2021, will begin in October 2022 in New Zealand, with the final to be played in mid-November at Eden Park.