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Black Fern stars return to sevens with monster victories in Hamilton

Portia Woodman at Black Fern Sevens training. Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)

The Black Fern Sevens are making the absolute most of their final tournament on New Zealand soil, starting the Hamilton Sevens tournament with two emphatic wins where the women in black conceded not a single point.

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In their first match of the day, Papua New Guinea struggled to retain any ounce of possession as Stacey Waaka-Fluhler came flying in to pick off the contestable kickoffs. The recent Rugby World Cup champion had a hat-trick of tries by halftime as her side’s execution kept the game entirely in Papua New guinea’s half.

Sarah Hirini profited from her team’s linebreaks and ran the support lines expertly to get herself two tries while Theresa Fitzpatrick only made a brief appearance off the bench.

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The Kiwi side’s abundance of experienced talent in the like of Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Ruby Tui and the aforementioned Waaka-Fluhler, Fitzpatrick and Hirini look to have their work cut out for them as young stars rise through the ranks with no shortage of X-factor and confidence on their side.

Tysha Ikenasio, Jorja Miller, Manaia Nuku and Kelsey Teneti each debuted in their absence and are proving to be more than just highlight-reel players.

In their second game of the day, the Ferns faced the Flying Fijians and again dominated territory while limiting the Fijian’s attacking threats. The Kiwi opposition’s best scoring chance of the day so far presented itself just before halftime but Michaela Blyde’s pace was too much for the runaway Fijian.

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Blyde is celebrating her tenth year in the Black Ferns Sevens team and looks to be in World Player of the Year form early in the season, she guided a young roster to second place in Dubai and then claimed gold in Cape Town, both times facing the Wallaroo Sevens who they share the top of the series table with.

While the Black Ferns players who left for the 15s World Cup last year have been resting, the new crop of young talent have been learning the ropes of international competition and thriving in it. Blyde says the absence of the likes of Woodman-Wickliffe and Tui has created an environment of real competition for selection.

“We weren’t lacking leadership in Dubai and Cape Town,” Blyde told World Rugby. “But we definitely had a lot of young girls who were debuting and had never felt the pressure of playing in a World Series final, and they played absolutely amazing.

“We had every single girl really step up in Dubai and Cape Town and so, now that the 15s girls have come back in, their spots are definitely not secured.

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“That’s the healthy competition that we want in our environment. We don’t want it to be an easy decision for our coach to select the team.”

The men’s Kiwi side claimed a comfortable win over Tonga before a tight contest with trans-Tasman rivals Australia was won with a magnificent solo effort from 21-year-old Roderick Solo in the twelfth minute.

The All Black Sevens look likely to face Ireland in the quarter-final tomorrow while the Black Fern Sevens could face Brazil in their quarter-final, but matches against Great Britain for both teams later this evening will finalise the draw.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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