Black Ferns’ focus is on Gold Coast

The Black Ferns will use this week’s tournament in Sydney to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.

Coach Allan Bunting has named his 12-person squad for the second leg of the 2017-18 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, with Tenika Willison and Stacey Waaka earning selection after impressing at the recent national tournament.

Although the Commonwealth Games does not take place until April 13, this week’s tournament will be New Zealand’s only competitive hit-out until they return to Australia in search of a gold medal.

‘‘Sydney is going to be a tough one, and it’s going to a great tournament with a huge crowd. We’re alongside the men, it’s going to be quite similar to the Commonwealth Games in terms of the heat, so it’s great preparation for the Commonwealth Games. We really want to do well here,’’ Bunting said.

‘‘We didn’t do well in Dubai, so although it was a disappointing time, it brought up a few things that sort of happened this time last year, so hopefully we’ve learned from that again and we’ve grown in a couple of areas that we needed to look at quite closely.’’

Bunting said Willison and Waaka, on the fringes of the squad in the past 12 months, have really shone in the early stages of 2018.

‘‘Tenika pushed her way in. She’s been real consistent right through our national tournament back home and just really grown as a player in that halfback position and first five,’’ he said.

‘‘Stacey, she really put her hand up yesterday ...’’