New coach, fresh ideas for Black Ferns ahead of Pacific Four

Black Ferns co-captain Ruahei Demant says the side has a fresh level of excitement under new head coach Whitney Hansen as they prepare for the Pacific Four tournament in America.

Hansen was appointed to the position after predecessor Allan Bunting stood down after the Black Ferns finished third in last year's Rugby World Cup.

The tournament begins this weekend, with defending champions New Zealand playing the United States in Sacramento (11am start Sunday NZT). The other teams are Canada and Australia, who clash on Sunday afternoon.

Demant, who is fresh from a stint with the Bristol Bears in the United Kingdom's Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) competition, described the mood in the Black Ferns camp as "very positive and very happy".

"We have got a mixture of players that have stayed on from last year's World Cup as well as an injection of youth," she told RNZ's First Up.

"We have a new head coach, which has brought in a new level of excitement, refreshing ideas while staying true to a lot of the values that this team has held dearly since its inception."

Demant said it helped that Hansen knew the Black Ferns environment and players - and also had a teaching background.

"Whitney is no stranger to this team. She worked alongside us as an intern coach during the 2022 World Cup in Aotearoa, so she is very familiar to a lot of us,'' she said.

"She has a really good teaching styles, she understands that not one teaching style suits all and she is really dedicated to obviously leading this team forward, enhancing our performances while still staying true to who we are and what has underpinned this team throughout time."

While it's a new reign, there is a bit of unfinished business at this tournament for Demant and those team-mates who played in the World Cup in England.

New Zealand were defending champions after their Cup victory in 2022, but failed to make the final last year after being outplayed by Canada in their semi-final.

England comfortably beat the Canadians in the final.

The Black Ferns will play Canada during the second weekend of Pacific Four.

"For many of us who were there it definitely acts as motivation. Sometimes in sport, you may play a game and lose to the opposition and you don't really know when they are going to play them again.

"We get that opportunity next weekend to play Canada and so for a lot of us who were there it does act as motivation and another opportunity to enhance the jersey."

Demant gained plenty of insight into the strength of English rugby during her time in Bristol. She and NZ team-mates Maia Roos, Tanya Kalounivale, Liana Mikaele-Tu'uwho and Georgia Ponsonby have travelled from the British competition to the US for the Pacific Four. They are among eight Kiwis playing in the PWR for the first time.

Demant said she found different playing and coaching styles in the UK interesting.

"There is a lot more variety because there are a lot more teams, something we don't get at home yet."

But she said Super Rugby Aupiki also had strengths and she wouldn't say one competition was better than the other.

However, she found the level of fan support in the UK "crazy".

"It probably helps also that the stadiums that a lot of the women's teams play in are a lot smaller so you don't have to fill out massive stadiums like Eden Park or the Cake Tin [Wellington stadium] every week and it feels a lot more intimate.

"I think they market women's rugby really well in the UK, that is probably also due to the fact there are just more people who watch because of the bigger population to draw from."

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.