Kiwi sevens teams turn attention to World Cup
At a time the All Blacks aren’t providing Kiwi rugby fans much joy, there was a sense the Kiwi sevens teams would provide some light in the form of gold medals.
It wasn’t to be. With underfire New Zealand Rugby boss Mark Robinson in the stands, both settled for Commonwealth Games bronze after copping agonising semifinal defeats. That’s the bad news.
The good news is they’ve both got a chance to bury the disappointment of failing to meet expectations at the sevens World Cup in Cape Town next month.
‘‘Jeez, we’re close, and when we put it together, watch out, because we’ll go all the way.’’
They were the steely words from All Blacks Sevens captain Sam Dickson shortly after his side beat Australia 26-12 in the bronze medal match in Coventry yesterday. ‘‘As we’ve seen, a couple of unforced errors in that Fiji game that we were disappointed about. But, far out, it could have gone any
way in the end, and we could be celebrating gold right now.’’
They’re the ultra-tight margins of sevens, the ones that make it both good and s..., as Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini put it
after her team’s 17-12 semifinal loss to Australia.
Both teams had golden chances to win their semifinals, only to fail in the heat of the moment.
It robbed both skippers of sleep in the aftermath of their defeats, but will serve as valuable lessons as they prepare to defend their world titles between September 9-11.
Whether the All Blacks Sevens will have Scott Curry in Cape Town isn’t yet clear, after he injured his hamstring attempting to chase down Fijian Filipe Sauturaga on his way to the line.
‘‘He’s got through a power of work. Hopefully, it’s just a little strain, and we get him back for the World Cup,’’ coach Clark Laidlaw said.
The Black Ferns Sevens don’t have any injuries to sweat on, although wing Portia Woodman planned to temper bronze medal celebrations due to the ankle she sprained during their tournamentopening win still being a tad ginger.
Woodman wasted little time looking ahead to Cape Town after the team had won bronze, admitting they had ample of work to do in certain areas.
‘‘It’s heartbreaking, and we don’t hold it against anyone else, we know we’ve got a lot of work to do within the next six weeks leading up to the World Cup,’’ she said.
‘‘I think just getting our connections. We’ve got a few girls who are still learning to play in a pinnacle event. Getting the old girls with the new girls and getting those connections [is important].’’
With an eye on lifting the lesser experienced players in the squad, Woodman referred to her rollercoaster ride at the Rio Olympics, when the Black Ferns Sevens were tipped over by Australia in the final. Lessons were learnt, and they went on to be crowned world champions in San Francisco in 2018, and Olympic champions in Tokyo last year.