Campbell Burnes
Rugby Writer
Former Manu Samoa No 10 and freelance rugby scribe Campbell Burnes sees every chance of our sevens teams taking gold despite being behind the eight-ball with rugby under their belts.
People might be quick to write off the chances of the All Blacks Sevens and Black Ferns Sevens again claiming gold at the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup Sevens.
They will see how much sevens they have missed in the last two years and wonder whether Australia, in particular, has made up lost ground with important wins in Vancouver (men) and Langford (women).
Oh ye of little faith. Do not forget that the women won Olympic gold in Tokyo last year off the back of minimal match-play and the men were not far off doing so in their event.
The two 2022 pinnacle events are happening in the space of 5-6 weeks from the end of July to early September. Conditions in Birmingham and Cape Town will likely be quite different but you can bet both teams will be contending at the business ends of both tournaments.
The Black Ferns Sevens are not exactly in rebuilding mode. They have lost Gayle Broughton to retirement and Ruby Tui to 15s but otherwise are largely intact and have injected some fresh young talent like Jazmin Hotham and (one would hope) Jorja Miller into the ranks.
The likes of ‘Captain Fantastic’ Sarah Hirini, Portia Woodman, Stacey Fluhler, Kelly Brazier and Tyla Nathan-Wong have all had their dalliance with 15s in Super Rugby Aupiki. No matter what they do after September 11 (when the RWC Sevens are done) they are committed to
continuing the legacy of the Sevens Sisters.
Any side with Hirini in it and the 200-try Portia Woodman will fight to the bitter end, so have no fears they will be off the pace.
Their All Blacks Sevens cousins have seen slightly more match-play in recent months. Captain Scott Curry, a four-time NZ sevens player of the year, missed much of the build-up as he was in Japan.Tim Mikkelson was injured, but up stepped others such as Sam Dickson, Dylan Collier and Akuila Rokolisoa.
The big plus was the emergence of some raw young talent with searing pace: Moses Leo, Caleb Tangitau and Brady Rush, son of the great Eric Rush.
For several years, the All Blacks Sevens have missed crucial speed on the outside, that top-end pace that allows them to score tries from a long way out. It’s not just about having players who are fast over the first few metres, those with good acceleration. Regan Ware was in the fast category but you need outright speedsters to compete with some of the Fijians or the Carlin Isles and Perry Bakers of this sevens world.
They have strong men at the breakdown – Tone Ng Shiu, among others – and strong men at kickoffs like Dickson and Collier.
Now all the other pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are falling into place. Furthermore, they are all men who want to play sevens, not just 15s players seeking to make a brief shift to win glory.
Who can forget Kelly Brazier’s brilliant match-winner from the 2018 Gold Coast Comm Games or the superb tactical display by the men to shut out Fiji in the final?
Watch them go for gold in the coming weeks.
