Livestream: Black Ferns celebrate triumphant Rugby World Cup campaign with fans at downtown Auckland

Wow, New Zealand is still coming down from the incredible performance by our Black Ferns to defend their Rugby World Cup crown at Eden Park last night.

After losing to England by record margins on their northern tour last year, the NZ women turned those results around to end their rivals' 30-game winning streak and win a sixth World Cup title - their fifth against these same opponents.

One of the underlying themes of this tournament - and other World Cups scheduled for New Zealand over recent years - has been the emergence of women's sport as a legitimate spectacle on par with their male counterparts.

More than 40,000 fans crammed into rugby's national stadium - a world record for the women's game - to witness this thrilling spectacle, which many are now describing as the best contest they've seen for a long, long time, perhaps ever.

Hopefully, this will be the catalyst for women's rugby to go fully professional in New Zealand, but it has certainly made household names of players few Kiwis knew two months ago.

The Black Ferns had planned to celebrate their campaign even before they played last night's final - victory has given them all the more reason to thank fans - old and new - for their support.

Join them - and us - at the Celebrate #LikeaBlackFern function, streamed live from Auckland's Te Komititanga Square from 12:30pm Sunday, with the team due to arrive about 1pm.