The Black Ferns face a stern challenge to hold on to the Rugby World Cup trophy with the strongest contenders coming from the Northern Hemisphere.
Claudia MacDonald of England is tackled during the Pool C Rugby World Cup 2021 match between France and England at Northland Events Centre. Photo: Fiona Goodall - World Rugby
Before the start of the tournament the bookmakers had England as favourites and their record 27 consecutive wins is hard to look past.
The Black Ferns crushed Wales in pool play to seal their place in the quarterfinals, while England pipped France to book their playoff berth.
After watching their Six Nations rivals do battle Black Ferns assistant coach Whitney Hansen said the favourites England were "beatable".
"It probably just showed the different style of rugby that they're trying to play than what we are.
"You can either look at that and see that France defence was something pretty special I think we did that. The other side to look at that is England are beatable and I think teams will be looking at that and thinking that now too."
Black Ferns assistant coach Wes Clarke agreed that the world number 1 side were beatable, but he still believed they were the form team of the world cup.
"I'm not fantastic with at maths but I they've won 27 in a row and I think we're on eight or nine," Clarke said.
"They've got a game plan that works for them, they make hardly any errors, they found what they like to do. I think there were 52 kicks in that last game [against France] so it works for them and they're successful with it."
Ruby Tui has featured prominently for the Black Ferns at the Rugby World Cup. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
Black Ferns outside back Ruby Tui said England and France had been impressive and she believed the tournament was more open than many pundits might suggest.
It was rare for the Black Ferns not to be title favourites. But Tui said they had embraced the challenge of defending their crown and keeping New Zealand at the top of the pile.
"We've got a job to do and it's to show the world what we've got."
England back Holly Aitchison did not want to take too much credit for the Red Roses' winning streak as she had only recently transitioned from sevens to fifteens - making her debut against the Black Ferns last year.
She said the unbeaten run is barely mentioned within the squad.
"We don't speak about it a lot to be honest, we spoke about it once before we broke the record but we just said we'll speak about it this once and then we'll put it to the back ofthe minds because it's not about the records or anything like that it's about winning the next game."
Being part of what is being dubbed a "team of a generation" is what drew the 25-year-old Olympian to focus on fifteens.
England Women England's Sarah Beckett and Holly Aitchison celebrate winning the Six Nations. Photo: ©INPHO/Evan Treacy, ©INPHO/Evan Treacy
"Anyone in this team could be a world player of the year nomination, we're just so fortunate with the amount of talent that we have and that was one of the main reasons why I said that I wanted to come when I got the opportunity.
England hooker Amy Cokayne spent time in New Zealand as a teenager captaining the Fielding High School First XV to a 53-game winning streak.
She credited her school coach Rob Jones with helping her and Black Ferns Sarah Hirini and Georgia Ponsonby to get to this point.
Cokayne's at her second world cup and she has noticed the improvements in the women's game in recent years.
"The competition across all the teams has been really different. First week there was probably some shock performances and some tight scorelines but I think it's really good we've now got a really competitive 12 teams at the tournament."
Tui agreed the tournament had already been a huge success for the sport.
"This tournament has shown the world women's rugby is about to pop. Jump on this waka or you're gonna miss it," Tui said.
The Black Ferns round out pool play against Scotland in Whangarei on Saturday afternoon, while England take on South Africa in Waitakere on Sunday.
