Tough learning curve for best mate rookie Ferns

COACHES in elite sport don’t often single out players for praise after a third successive heavy defeat on tour.

However, Black Ferns coach Glenn Moore did, unprompted, following their 38-13 defeat to France in Pau last weekend.

Auckland forwards Maia Roos, 20, and Liana MikaeleTu’u, 19, were ‘‘exceptional’’ in their first test against the French, Moore said, and both start again in the second in Castres today (NZ time).

Roos was named the Black Ferns’ player-of-the-match.

The rookies happen to be best mates and are among the 13 test debutants the Black Ferns have blooded against England and France this month.

They’re as thick as thieves. In a northern tour in which the Black Ferns have suffered their three heaviest defeats and lost their long-standing status as the world’s best in the women’s game, the emergence of Roos and Mikaele-Tu’u has been one of their highlights in Europe.

Each presented the other their first test cap – Mikaele-Tu’u and Roos debuted off the bench in the first and second tests against England respectively – and have been on the same path towards the Black Ferns since first meeting at the College Rifles club two years ago and working as community angels with kids at Tamaki College.

‘‘It was really special because I didn’t know it was going to happen. I didn’t know what to say but [presented it] and was like, hey,’’ Roos said.

They also played together for the Blues in May’s landmark first women’s Super Rugby match when Mikaele-Tu’u made history, as one half of the first sister-brother duo to play for a Super Rugby team, with Highlanders loose forward Marino Mikaele-Tu’u.

‘‘I cried in both [cap presentations] because words mean a lot to me,’’ Mikaele-Tu’u said.

‘‘I often find it hard to express how I’m really feeling, especially in front of a big group, and when it’s with your best mate, it is really special to share this journey together. ‘‘That’s why it means a lot to us.’’

When the Black Ferns take on France in their tour finale Roos, a lock, will win her third cap and Mikaele-Tu’u her fourth at blindside flanker. If they wanted a taste of how brutal test rugby is, few Black Ferns would have faced such quality opposition in their first tests.

England and France have improved out of sight while the world champion Black Ferns have been absent from the test arena for more than two years because of Covid-19’s impact.

For young guns, such as Roos and Mikaele-Tu’u, learning the ropes against the world’s best has been an ideal test ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

‘‘We both like a challenge and when Liana came on in the first