Sizzling Black Ferns Sevens still have a lot to work on
Believe it or not, the Black Ferns Sevens still have things to work on.
That was the message from strike player Michaela Blyde after she ran in four first-half tries in a 40-7 demolition of England in Hamilton yesterday.
In the first half, the hosts put on about as perfect a stanza of sevens as you’ll see, with Blyde the benefactor of some solid work up the middle.
“I have that number next to my name but it’s all for the team,” Blyde said. “I can’t score those tries without the incredible efforts of what the girls do on the field on the insides to create the space for me to just run over the white line.”
It was a statement win for the side, after England took them to extra time in their knockout clash in Cape Town during the most recent stop of this year’s World Series.
But despite being 33-0 ahead at the break, Blyde said the second half wasn’t about trying new things.
“Believe it or not, we still had workons,” she said. “Definitely tidying up our kickoff receipts to make sure we caught the ball on the full and making sure our defence was on point as well, because every now and then, we can get caught out with high tackles. So believe it or not, there are still things we talk about that we need to improve on.”
The win over England saw the side take a step forward after beating a competitive Chinese outfit by the same score in a scratchier performance from the hosts.
With two wins from as many games, the Black Ferns Sevens all but punched their ticket to today’s semifinals in the first official women’s World Series stop in New Zealand.
With the women’s tournament running alongside the men’s over a two-day window, both competitions will skip quarter-finals.
In the women’s tournament, the top side from each of the three pools makes the semifinals, along with the best second-placed team.
I can’t score those tries without the incredible efforts of what the girls do on the field to create the space for me. Michaela Blyde
With one more pool game this morning against Fiji, Black Ferns captain Sarah Hirini said the message from the coaches was simple after yesterday’s performances.
“It’s pretty much that our bar is set a lot higher now,” Hirini said.
“[Today], it has to keep rising if we want to win the tournament. We put that expectation on ourselves.
“We don’t want to drop from here, we want to show our fans how good we are, and the only way is up from here.”
The match against Fiji this morning will be an interesting contest, after the Island side was upset by China in their second game yesterday.
Fiji will be fighting for their spot in the semifinals as, although they could still finish second in the pool with a loss, their points differential was far worse than the other second-placed teams at the end of yesterday’s play.
“It’s going to be a lot tougher,” Hirini said of the game against Fiji. “It’s pretty much like we’ve got a quarter-final against them.”