New Zealand's Black Ferns claimed a 52-20 victory over the Springbok Women at FNB Stadium on Saturday, winning the first Test between the two sides played on South African soil.
The Black Ferns ran in eight tries to four, with Elinor Plum King and Braxton Sorensen-McGee each crossing twice for the visitors. Vaniah Ubisi scored a brace for the Springbok Women, with Lindelwa Gwala and Aphiwe Ngwevu also touching down.
New Zealand struck early, with Plum King powering over inside two minutes after Libby Janse van Rensburg's kick directly into touch gifted the Black Ferns a lineout in the Boks' 22. Sorensen-McGee then found a gap to make it 12-0 before the Springbok Women began to find their footing.
The Bok pack showed genuine muscle at the scrum and driving maul, with Gwala breaking off a maul to score in the 14th minute. Back-to-back scrum victories followed, and another powerful driving maul created the platform for Ngwevu to score the hosts' second try and bring the gap back to 12-10.
New Zealand were reduced to 14 players when Mererangi Paul was yellow-carded for a deliberate knockdown, and the Black Ferns also conceded six penalties to one in the first 29 minutes. Despite the numerical advantage, South Africa could not sustain the pressure. New Zealand spread the ball wide for Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu to crash over, before Sorensen-McGee added her second on the stroke of half-time to give the Black Ferns a 24-10 lead at the break.
Three early second-half replacements — Anushka Groenewald, Yonela Ngxingolo and Logan Welman — failed to shift the momentum decisively South Africa's way. Georgia Ponsonby's yellow card for repeated maul infringements gave the Boks another opportunity, and Ubisi powered over from the driving maul to revive hopes briefly.
The revival was short-lived. A missed pass from Janse van Rensburg handed possession back to New Zealand, and Maia Joseph's footwork cut through the defence to push the score beyond reach. Even with the Black Ferns reduced to 13 players at one stage in the second half, their defensive structure held firm.
Among the notable moments from the New Zealand bench, replacement Amarante Sititi — whose brother features in the All Blacks squad facing the Springboks on the same day — became part of only the second set of siblings to represent New Zealand simultaneously across both national teams.
Despite the heavy scoreline, the Bok Women's set-piece — particularly the scrum and driving maul — provided genuine competition against the world's second-ranked side throughout the afternoon.