The Black Ferns are world champions and there’s so much to celebrate.

1. The haka (and England’s response)

The Black Ferns know how to get the stadium going with their haka. Saturday’s was no different, and I appreciated England getting creative within small constraints by spreading out sideline to sideline. A nice touch. / Madeleine Chapman

2. Renee Holmes’s disallowed try

Fullback and kicker Holmes had a stunning and at times frustrating game, making a supremely difficult conversion early on then missing three on the trot in the second half.

But the one of the most electric moments of the match never was registered on the scoreboard. It came from Holmes leaping to intercept a pass on her own 22m line and sprinting the length of the field to score. The try was disallowed as the ref called everyone back for an England advantage, but despite no points coming from it (and England scoring in the next set), the pace and daring play reinvigorated the crowd and reminded everyone why the Black Ferns are so entertaining to watch. / MC

3. The England maul

Yes, lineout drives are boring and playing a narrow game can really kill a crowd but my god, England really knows how to maul. So much so that every time they had a lineout within 40 metres of their try line, I took it as at least a 50/50 chance of them scoring. Horrible to be on the other end, but genuinely quite beautiful to see in action (thankfully with a different style of play from the other side). It was the precision at those set pieces which made the final moments of the game so terrifying, and the Black Ferns impassioned defence all the more impressive. / MC

4. Krystal Murray’s hands

I excitedly watched the game again on Spark Sport when I got home, largely because I needed to see Krystal Murray’s amazing handles again. The reserve prop showed a bit of razzle-dazzle in the semifinal with a beautiful one-handed offload, but her grand final performance was something else.

Unfortunately, the sideline camera angle from the broadcast doesn’t show what we in the end stand saw, facing Murray as the Black Ferns advanced in England’s 22 near the end of the match. What we saw was Ruahei Demant carry the ball into a tackle and offload it to a supporting Murray. Murray didn’t so much catch it as pluck it out of the air one-handed, seemingly without looking, tuck it under her arm without breaking stride, then flick it off behind her back as she was tackled, all within the space of a second. I’m not doing it justice with my description and there’s perhaps no way to see it on film but trust me when I say the fans around me all audibly gasped witnessing that one play. / MC

5. Krystal Murray’s hands again

So it’s only fitting and poetic that Murray’s safe hands be the ones to grab the ball in the final moment of the game, sealing the win for New Zealand. Huge bonus shout out to Joanah Ngan-Woo, a fellow reserve forward who Murray lifted in the final lineout, for her desperate reach to steal the throw and tap it back for safe-hands Muzza. Extreme power play. / MC

6. Ayesha Leti-I’iga not knowing how to tie her laces properly

At this point I am a certified stan of Ayesha Leti-I’iga. The reserve winger (typically subbing in for Portia Woodman) never fails to make an impact immediately and I haven’t seen her ever be tackled by the first defender.

With Woodman scarily knocked out in the first half and off for the rest of the game, Leti-I’iga took the field earlier than usual and, true to form, immediately scored. She clearly knows how to play rugby. What is less clear is whether she knows how to tie her shoelaces. In last week’s semifinal, her shoe came off in a tackle and I thought “haha that’s funny and uncommon”. Tonight, her show came off not once, not twice but three times in tackles. It was amazing to see her go to ground and then a moment later see a boot fly out of the ruck, chucked out by an annoyed player. Having loose boots clearly doesn’t affect her play much but seriously, tie them tighter! / MC

7. The nouveau Black Ferns fans (a very different rugby crowd)

What struck me the most was the wholesomeness of the crowd and the complete and utter lack of stress and general low-lying feeling of fear when navigating Eden Park. At the last All Blacks game I went to, I encountered multiple extremely unpleasant drunk blokes barking the very worst things imaginable with their BACKS to the GAME, but tonight it was all little kids wrapped in homemade flags that said GRL POWER and teenage girlies feverishly painting their faces in their seats when they could tear their eyes off the field. There was a kid who was about four years old with her poi jamming up and down the stairs to Benee and it was just so damn cool to see.

The jovial vibes did not let up, even when things looked like they were going extremely south. For example, our section was hellbent on starting a crowd wave at the absolute worst moments in a way that started out charming and then got a little bit annoying and then was charming again. When Renee Holmes went for that incredible try, we were all screaming and hugging and even though it wasn’t “real” it didn’t matter. One lady was in such a rush to get back to her seat from the loo that her shoe fell off, and that was certified banter (quite a few shoes off on the field too, also banter). / Alex Casey

8. That last try

The game was so ludicrously fun and frenetic that as soon as I got home and my daughters were asleep I fired it up on Spark Sport to live it all again. I wanted to know whether the red card was controversial (it was not), to see those epic field-spanning passes again (worth it) – and just to check that it really actually happened, because if that game happens in a sport movie you know it’s Disney and just too corny to take seriously. 

The game was as I remembered, particularly that relentless counter-punching which made the first 50-odd minutes so ridiculously compelling. But it belatedly became a more conventional final in the last 15, two teams aware that they were playing the perfect game in front of a record crowd and that, quite suddenly, it was that period of the match when one side wins and the other is broken. 

The tension really ramped up in the final 10 minutes, when both teams were playing at 14, making the stadium, field and occasion even bigger. After a period of ferocious attacks on the line at the right side of the field, Cocksedge finally swung the ball left. First five Demant hit Fitzpatrick who stabbed a kick through, somewhat boldly given our success with ball in hand. It was an inspired decision though, as Fluhler found a breathtaking acceleration, blurring past England’s defence – it looks fake on the replay, a totally implausible pace. She seemed certain to score, but was cut down by England’s full-back, only to pop a near-impossible ball to Leti-I’iga, who fell over the line for the try which would ultimately create the final scoreline. It was a triumph of the creative and kinetic energy of the Black Ferns over the brilliantly clinical play of England, a perfect encapsulation of this heart-stopping team’s absolute confidence in its ability to play its way out of any and all scenarios. / Duncan Greive

9. Ruby Tui singalong

Ruby Tui became a household name as a sevens player, and for one particularly entertaining post-match interview at the Tokyo Olympics last year. She’s now a bestselling author and, despite being relatively quiet (for her) on the field for the final, ended up giving an interview after the match and once again has raised the bar. Just listen.

10. Black Ferns secured the headline slot

The whole thing reminded me of another all-timer event that happened in our fair city just a week or so ago. Dua Lipa packed out Spark Arena two nights in a row and delivered a live event experience so transcendent, so perfect and so damn fun that it was baffling to think that the last time she was here she was a mere opening act for Bruno Mars. I felt the same watching the Black Ferns – it is completely impossible to imagine them playing to a piddly afternoon crowd as a mere opening act for the All Blacks ever again. In the world of Dua Lipa herself, it feels like we’ve suddenly got… new rules (Amy Rule for one).

In the second half I watched Stacey Fluhler slowly hobble her way off the field in restrained agony, only to prolong the hobble to reach a bunch of screaming fans who were all dying for a high five. A girl proudly held up a “Ruby Tui for Prime Minister” placard and there was a very strong showing of unofficial Theresa Fitzpatrick merch from where I was sitting. Now that they’ve nabbed that extremely tiny trotie, proven their superstardom and brought in the biggest crowd in the history of women’s rugby, surely we can all do this again sometime soon? And hopefully without having to buy a stinky All Blacks ticket for the privilege? / AC

Read more: NZ Rugby now has two massively popular international teams. Can we stop saying women in sports can’t justify higher salaries?