World champions New Zealand have been brought back to earth, with archrivals England delivering a resounding 33-12 defeat to capture the inaugural WXV 1 crown at Go Media Stadium, Mt Smart.
The two teams last met in last year's World Cup final, with the Black Ferns claiming a dramatic victory at a soldout Eden Park.
With both sides ringing changes, including coaching staff, over the subsequent 12 months, the Red Roses have simply resumed the dominance interrupted by that championship blip.
From the opening kickoff, England went on the attack, with their forwards building phases on the NZ goal-line. Their initial thrust was thwarted, but from the resulting five-metre scrum, No.8 Alex Matthews would not be denied.
Moments later, absolute confusion in a defensive lineout gifted the Roses another prime opportunity inside the New Zealand 22, but after 15 phases, Matthews was held up over the line.
Instead, they kicked a penalty to the corner, where their patented lineout maul propelled hooker Lark Atkin-Davies over for the try.
The Ferns botched their first attacking forays, when captain Ruahei Demant knocked on and fullback Renee Holmes nudged a penalty touchfinder dead in goal. Back-to-back penalties put the NZ women on their heels and the English forwards were soon bombarding the tryline again, with prop Sarah Bern barging over.
Down 19-0, New Zealand were finally able to string some passes together and built some pressure in the opposition half, but hands again let them down.
Next time down the field, England first-five Holly Aitchison put a delightful kick behind the defence, but fullback Ellie Kildunne touched the sideline with her foot and the try was disallowed.
Just before halftime, the home side finally broke the shackles, as Holmes sent Ruby Tui sprinting down the right touchline and when the ball shifted left, flanker Kennedy Simon found plenty of space to score their opening try.
New Zealand carried that momentum into the second half and an attacking lineout provided the platform for Tui to send winger Katelyn Vahaakolo over in the left corner, as the margin closed within a converted try and a comeback seemed possible.
That was as close as they came.
A costly handling error from lock Chelsea Bremner provided another chance for England, with flanker Morwena Telling plunging across to score. Another from halfback Iritana Hohaia resulted in more sustained pressure that saw lock Zoe Aldcroft across, but Kildunne was again denied a try, after a teammate was ruled offside in the build-up.
"We learned from the first half and we knew we had to narrow them up to create more space for us on the edges," reflected Demant. "Our inability to execute that and retain possession really killed us, and we gave them more possession.
"This is a great learning opportunity for us, not just as a team, but individually. A lot of our players haven't played teams as good as England and that's exactly what this tournament is about."
Before last year's World Cup, the Ferns had visited the northern hemisphere, suffering a record 56-15 defeat to England that forced the NZ women's programme to drastically overhaul its coaching staff and playing roster.
The Red Roses took a 30-game winning streak into the World Cup final and have since reeled off 10 straight to reclaim their superiority.
After her 99th test, captain Marle Packer was named World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year, with Vahaakolo taking breakout player honours.
England 33 (Matthews, Atkin-Davies, Bern, Telling &, Aldcroft tries; Aitchison 4 conversions) New Zealand 12 (Simon & Vahaakolo tries; Holmes conversion)
