Black Ferns' triumph underlines sport's capricious edge

Nothing sums up the unpredictability of sport better than the final seconds of the Women's Rugby World Cup final when huge favourites England, after a 30-game winning streak, looked set for glory against New Zealand but ended up distraught.

England, much further along the road of professionalism than all of their rivals, arrived in New Zealand surfing a wave of confidence and duly reached the expected final against the hosts.

They were cruising at 14-0 up until a high-tackle red card for Lydia Thompson after 17 minutes swung things the Black Ferns' way but even though New Zealand led 34-31 going into the final minute, England were offered a lifeline.

They kicked a penalty to the corner and prepared for a catch and drive routine that every rival had found almost impossible to stop for the previous three years and which had already yielded four tries in the final.

However, home lock Joanah Ngan-Woo had other ideas and soared to steal the lineout and the trophy as the Black Ferns triumphed for the sixth time in seven tournaments – with the last five wins being against England.

A record 42,579 Eden Park crowd roared in delight in a boost for the women's game but, other than one semi-final where France missed a simple last-second penalty that would have beaten the hosts, it was largely a series of highly predictable mismatches with too few teams even marginally competitive.

New Zealand's triumph, though, was a timely fillip for the hosts after their men’s team endured a first home defeat by Argentina and a home series loss to Ireland as they slid to an unprecedentedly low fifth place in the world rankings.

To nobody's surprise, the All Blacks came roaring back to win the Rugby Championship for the eighth time in 10 years and then