Ferns say ‘non’ to Paris
Sevens team will bypass tournaments to avoid lengthy stay in quarantine on return
The Black Ferns Sevens team won’t attend the two World Series tournaments in Paris next month. The tournaments are the only World Series events before the Tokyo Olympics.
That means the Black Ferns will not play the likes of England, France and the United States before the Games and it will affect their chances of defending their World Series title.
Star player Michaela Blyde said the Black Ferns Sevens could not afford to waste two weeks in quarantine on return to New Zealand, putting the Paris tournaments out of reach.
“We obviously can’t afford to just have two weeks in a hotel on our own, so we’ve got to be smart around that.
“We’ve just got to make sure we’re focused on ourselves, we’re ready, fit and prepared to play no matter what comes our way, no matter what adversity, or uncertainty, we’re prepared for anything.”
Two Black Ferns Sevens teams have been playing playing a tournament in Wellington against a Black Ferns XVS selection and the Moana Pasifika women and Blyde says they are planning to play Australia across the Tasman next month, with hopes a Pacific Island travel bubble could open up games against Fiji.
“It’s highly unlikely we’ll go to France. We’re contemplating going to Aussie now that the transtasman bubble has opened. Definitely contemplating doing that next month.
“If not, then we’ll have something similar to this setup (tournament in Wellington) again in May and we’ll go in June to Aussie to prepare then.
“We’ll stay here (NZ), the safest place is here and the next safest is Australia so those are the two places we’ll go.”
Blyde said a Pacific Island travel bubble, either for Australia or New Zealand, would mean Fiji might be able to meet the Black Ferns either in Australia or here.
It’s understood Rugby Australia does not want to send its women’s Sevens team to New Zealand, despite the quarantine-free travel.
Blyde said the lack of international games would be unusual, but she believed the Black Ferns were in a good position to prepare for Tokyo.
“We have the best players in the world to play and train against. We’re grateful for that and it’s a massive advantage for us compared to other countries.
“So, we’re just going to keep training hard and whenever we can play, we’ll play the best.”
Blyde conceded it had been a strange couple of years, and missing Paris was a shame, but said it had been easy to find perspective among the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’re definitely happy to still be playing. We’re not even thinking about overseas at the moment. The fact that we’re here being able to play some quality rugby, that’s more important for us.”
Blyde has her fingers and toes crossed the delayed Tokyo Olympics go ahead however, desperate for a chance to wrest the gold medal off Australia after the Black Ferns took silver at the 2016 Rio Games.
The shape of the Olympics and how the Black Ferns Sevens will approach the Games remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: Blyde considers it the pinnacle event in her career.
“Yeah, definitely. We’ve had some good talks about how the Games will look. What the concept is, how the plan works when it comes to hotels, quarantine, isolation, our bubbles. We’ve had those conversations and we’re prepared. So, whatever happens, we’re ready for it.”
While the Black Ferns Sevens do not want to spend two weeks in quarantine in New Zealand before the Olympics, Blyde said going into isolation after the Games with a medal wrapped around her neck would not be so bad.
“No, we won’t be mad, I can tell you that! We’ll be happy to quarantine anywhere. The Olympics is our biggest goal.” — RNZ