NZL 46-17 RSA: New Zealand reaction (Player of the Match Olsen-Baker, co-captain Demant, head coach Bunting, Woodman-Wickliffe, Waaka)

Reaction from Player of the Match Taipo Olsen-Baker, co-captain Ruahei Demant, head coach Allan Bunting, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Stacey Waaka after New Zealand beat South Africa 46-17 in the quarter-finals at Sandy Park on Saturday.

Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Mastercard Player of the Match

On playing her first match since the opener against Spain:
"It's definitely not the World Cup I hoped for, but I'm super grateful for the med[ical] team, the girls and all my family back home. Without their support I wouldn't have been able to come back [from injury against Spain].

On being named PotM:
"I wouldn't have been able to score those two tries today without the girls. We're such a tight-knit group and knows how everyone plays.

On what was said at half-time:
"Just AFD, which means all effing day. Haha. We know South Africa is such a tough team and we knew we had to come out in the second half and just go hard."

On her first RWC start:
“Getting injured in the Spain game sucked for me, so I thought that was my last time. To be able to hug everyone that helped me come back, I was really grateful and I could feel the love from everyone, which probably made me a little emotional.

“I feel like I played like that because I had my family back home supporting me, and I just wanted to make them proud.

“It feels like I’m in the best shape, the best Kaipo I have been for four years.”

On South Africa’s 15-man lineout:
“I knew South Africa were going to bring out something different, but I didn’t think they were going to bring out that, which was insane.”

On South Africa’s growth:
“It’s beautiful, any women’s rugby is beautiful and I think with the talent of all the young girls coming through, it’s amazing to see. We’ve got so much talent across the whole world.

“South Africa is such a beautiful team and it’s cool to experience that with them, because I feel like we never get the opportunity to play them.”

Ruahei Demant, captain

On this being their toughest match so far:
"We got a bit of a ruck-up in the sheds, particularly us backs. Our accuracy wasn't good enough and it wasn't the standards that this jersey demands. We knew that we were going into the wind [in the second half] allowed us to play a high-possession game, which a lot of us love, was the message that was given to us from our coaches and I'm really proud that we took that message and enforced it in the second half."

On how much better New Zealand can play:
"I think that's a hard question because we're still searching for a complete performance, we're still searching for an 8-minute performance. There's times there where the accuracy, the execution is really high, then it tapers off. For us, it's about stacking those moments and stringing them together to create a more complete performance."

On how good they would need to be to beat Canada in the semi-final:
"They're a really good side, they're number two [in the world] for a reason. We played them this year at home in Christchurch and the game ended in a draw, so we know that we will have not a lot of room for ever. We won't have a lot of room for error; our performance will need to be bang-on."

On her first name being 'Devon' and how special Exeter had been for New Zealand:
"All the venues have been really cool. Unlike other tournaments, we have moved around so there's been a lot more opportunity for the fans to meet, celebrate and support all the teams. We've felt that, it's been so exciting, and the slogan of the tournament is 'the energy never stops' and you can feel that everyone we go, not just on the field but off the field as well."

Allan Bunting, head coach

On being second-half team:
"For me, just massive respect to Swys [De Bruin] and South Africa. They've done an incredible job in such a short space of time and what they're doing for rugby and for women in South Africa is massive.

"When you give away seven penalties [in the first half] that's what happens. They threw in some awesome innovation and put us under some pressure but that's a good thing for us at this point in the tournament."

On what was said at half-time:
"We just needed to hold on to the ball for a bit, build some phases, get our game going. We didn't get our game going at all in the first half. 

On Kaipo Olsen-Baker:
"It's been massive from our medical team to get her back. She thought her dream was over so an amazing moment for her and her family to get back out there."

On potentially playing Canada in the semi-final:
"We need to be better across the board, they're an awesome team too. But we're going to enjoy this one, eh? Semi-final, we'll get back to work on Monday and look at it then.

"It doesn't frustrate me at all that we're not being talked about at all. We're focusing on ourselves and all that's important is your last game."

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe

On the different tactical approach from South Africa from lineouts:
“Adaptability! You just have to roll with it.

“We are lucky enough to have Ren[nee Holmes] and Brax[ton Sorensen-McGee], they have got the best boot in town. So if I can be in the front yard and the front line and they can be in the backfield, cool. I've played centre, I've defended at centre, and I like that a lot. I don’t like tackling so much, but defence I'm happy with.”

On the physicality of the opponents:
“We're just more frustrated. We don't get to play the game we wanted to play. We wanted to play an expensive game, but they starved us off that ball. Physically, I think we're really happy. We've still got a lot left in the tank. Obviously, we left a lot of penalties out there. That's going to work against tough teams. So we've got a lot to work on.” 

Stacey Waaka

On the different tactical approach from South Africa from line-outs:
”You have to be versatile because you never know where you're going to end up. We do have these one-off moments, which we do have to prepare for and deal with.”

On the South African physicality:
“My nose is just about intact. I don't look the greatest, but it's all good. It's part of rugby, isn't it? It is what it is. I haven't tackled that many forwards in my life.”

On making her 30th Black Ferns appearance:
“It was special. It's been the best 10 years of my life. Wearing this jersey, not everyone gets to do it, so I'm just grateful I'm still here. Only 29 years old. I hope there's some more tests to come.”