‘Pressure is a privilege’: Braxton Sorensen-McGee on being New Zealand’s youngest star
The 18-year-old is one of several prominent young Black Ferns fighting to retain the title and secure New Zealand’s seventh World CupBack in 2022, Braxton Sorensen-McGee was in the Eden Park crowd to watch the heart-stopping semi-final between France and New Zealand.The then 16-year-old, at the ground with her school team, remembers the moment of relief when a last-minute French penalty goal attempt drifted wide, allowing the Black Ferns to scrape through to the final of the Women’s World Cup.In another gripping contest against arch-rivals England, New Zealand went on to win the tournament.Now, Sorensen-McGee hopes to play a decisive role in retaining the title.After a breakout 2025, the 18-year-old is the youngest member of the Black Ferns squad, who take on Spain on Monday morning (NZT) in their opening act of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, hosted by England.
Instead of just watching, as she did that spring evening in 2022, the three-Test full-back hopes to help the Black Ferns secure a record seventh World Cup title – and their third in succession.“Everyone believes that we got it, and we back each other.We just need to be present in the moment and just stay in it … I think we have the team,” she told the Guardian over the phone on her lunch break between training sessions before leaving New Zealand.Sorensen-McGee is one of a number of prominent young players in the Black Ferns’ 33-woman squad from which that team will be selected.Others include the fleet-footed loose-forward Jorja Miller, 21, who has dominated the international sevens game since making her debut three years ago; powerful ball-running prop Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu, 20; and Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu-Atai’i Sylvia Brunt, the bruising centre who, despite being just 21, has already won 25 Test caps for the Black Ferns, including several appearances at the previous World Cup.
At the other end of the spectrum, older heads such as co-captain and first five-eighth Ruahei Demant, winger Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, and mainstays of the forward pack like hooker Georgia Ponsonby and co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu have their hands on the tiller.Another veteran, 30-year-old Theresa Setefano, the second five-eighth who scored a crucial late try in that French semi-final, described the importance of having youthful exuberance to draw on during long, gruelling campaigns like a World Cup.“That’s probably where the young girls’ energy will help us older ones as well.They love to have fun.And I feel like, if you’re under 21, your energy levels are just out of the gate.
”Setefano says young and old in the squad will “be leaning on each other in different aspects”.Players like herself, she says, can help the less experienced “focus on the right things, try and shut out the noise, because there will be a lot of external noise, and it’s a long, long campaign as well”.Sorensen-McGee says she is looking to her elders to help cope with the intensity of World Cup rugby.“They know what pressure is like,” she says.“They know how to be in difficult moments and hard times … [We] look up to them, play off them, and seeing them do it gives us confidence.
”In her case, knowing that a back-three colleague of Woodman-Wickliffe’s experience and calibre “has got my back” is a huge boost; Sorensen-McGee hopes the combination they formed during this year’s Super Rugby Aupiki campaign for the Blues will help power the Black Ferns to the title,Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotionBoth Sorensen-McGee and Setefano acknowledged the afterglow of the 2022 campaign, both from the perspective of a close-fought tournament eventually – and very emotionally – won by the home team in front of their adoring fans, and as a sporting spectacle that raised the profile of women’s game globally,Setefano remembers the tournament as something “like a movie or a fairytale, you could say, everything just fell into place for us”,Sorensen-McGee spoke of the Black Ferns’ history as a legacy she was desperate to help uphold,But both players are trying not to let thoughts of that tournament cloud their thinking about this one.
Setefano: “It is a clean slate this time around.Nothing you did in the past will really matter coming into this World Cup here.So we will take it one game at a time.Just focus on ourselves.”But nor is the squad unrealistic about the pressure they will face – and about how different – and how belligerent – that pressure could be when compared with the army of poi-wielding supporters who urged them on to overcome England during that epic final at a sold-out Eden Park three years ago.
Both teams could meet again at the sharp end of this tournament, at a sold-out Twickenham for the final with a record 82,000 fans in the grandstands, almost all of them in the English corner, baying for revenge.Setefano says the “tighter and more connected” the team can be, the better they will deal with that pressure.“We are aware that it will be a different sort of atmosphere in the UK, and so we are prepared for that.We know we’ll have each other’s backs, and we know that our whole country will be supporting us back at home.”Sorensen-McGee, whose maturity Setefano speaks highly of, welcomes that pressure.
“I think pressure is a privilege.Like, it’s a privilege to have this job, to be able to put on the Black Ferns jersey, to be able to train every day.Yeah, it’s pretty much a privilege for me.I don’t look too much on it as pressure.“Even though it’s my first World Cup, I back my ability to go out there and show the world what I’m like.
And I think we have the team to do it.”
Amy Cokayne calls for England to be ‘more clinical’ despite USA thrashing
England want to be “more clinical” at the Women’s Rugby World Cup, their hooker Amy Cokayne said after the 69-7 thrashing of the USA in Friday’s opening game.While the Red Roses were dominant on the scoreboard, the performance was not the most efficient, with many try chances going begging because of errors. Cokayne, who is playing in her third World Cup, said England would be frustrated with the points they left out there and also a failure to deal cleanly with the USA’s kicks at restarts.“There are a few things that didn’t quite go right, so lots for us to work on,” the 29-year-old said. “We’ll look at it, but it is competition rugby
Australia run riot with 11 tries in Rugby World Cup win over Samoa
Australia made light work of Samoa with a flawless performance in Salford, registering their record margin of victory in a Women’s World Cup game to move top of Group A after the opening round of fixtures.With the competition expanding from 12 teams to 16, it was perhaps expected there would be some one-sided results. This was categorically one of those as the Wallaroos began their campaign with a dominant victory to tee up what will almost certainly be a winner-takes-all clash with USA next Saturday in York to qualify with England.They scored 11 tries, including seven in a blistering first-half performance to not only surpass their record 62-0 victory over South Africa, in the 2010 tournament, but move ahead of England on points difference. Samoa showed plenty of spirit, but they were well beaten on their first World Cup appearance since 2014
Australia 73-0 Samoa: Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 – as it happened
That’s it from Salford, comrades. Stay tuned for a match report from the Guardian team and tune in tomorrow for more of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup!Massive confidence boost for the Australians to not only sciore 73-points but also hold Samoa to zip. Great performances from all the Wallaroos but Cecelia Smith has been awarded Player of the Match, a great honour for the star from the Leeton Dianas.Samoa didn’t challenge as we thought they might but we are now seeing them arm-in-arm in a ring with the Australians post-match and there are smiles all round. Beautiful scenes as Emily Chancellor speaks to the assembly and brings tears to the eyes of many
Swiatek the one to beat in New York while Alcaraz and Sinner dominate men’s draw
Iga Swiatek has finally had a brief moment to catch her breath. Her life has been on fast-forward for the last few hectic yet rewarding weeks, emerging from the heat and humidity of the Cincinnati Open with another significant title. Fourteen hours later she was on court in New York, throwing herself into two long days of competition alongside her new partner, Casper Ruud. The stakes were low for singles players in the mixed doubles this week but every point she played meant more mental energy expended.There is still little time for Swiatek to reflect on how the summer has developed, but with the final grand slam tournament of the year starting on Sunday it is clear the past few months have become a defining moment in her career
‘Pressure is a privilege’: Braxton Sorensen-McGee on being New Zealand’s youngest star
The 18-year-old is one of several prominent young Black Ferns fighting to retain the title and secure New Zealand’s seventh World CupBack in 2022, Braxton Sorensen-McGee was in the Eden Park crowd to watch the heart-stopping semi-final between France and New Zealand. The then 16-year-old, at the ground with her school team, remembers the moment of relief when a last-minute French penalty goal attempt drifted wide, allowing the Black Ferns to scrape through to the final of the Women’s World Cup. In another gripping contest against arch-rivals England, New Zealand went on to win the tournament.Now, Sorensen-McGee hopes to play a decisive role in retaining the title. After a breakout 2025, the 18-year-old is the youngest member of the Black Ferns squad, who take on Spain on Monday morning (NZT) in their opening act of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, hosted by England
England to ring changes and ‘get everyone started’, says John Mitchell
England should “get everyone started” across their 32-player Rugby World Cup squad in their opening two games, says the head coach, John Mitchell, who all but confirmed there will be a raft of changes to the Red Roses matchday XV to face Samoa next Saturday.The news came after the Red Roses’ thumping win against the USA with Emma Sing and Sarah Bern among the players not to start a match and former captain Marlie Packer among those not yet involved in a matchday squad.Those stars are now more than likely to start the game with Mitchell saying: “We have planned our teams for the early part of the tournament.“Obviously the unpredicted niggles, we have to account for that but we will get everyone started by the end of next week which has been our plan. Hopefully we are able to execute that
Royal Mail still missing delivery targets after sale to Czech tycoon Křetínský
Fed chair Jerome Powell signals interest rate cuts amid Trump attacks
Wes Streeting’s row with pharma firms grows as they reject NHS drug pricing offer
‘Hopelessly insolvent’: how ‘saviour of steel’ Sanjeev Gupta’s global empire unravelled
Government to cover pay and pensions at collapsed South Yorkshire steelworks
OnlyFans owner paid $701m in dividends as platform readies for potential sale