Black Ferns go for continuity in Japan stopover

More of the same will be the call for the Black Ferns Sevens as they seek victory in the Japanese city of Kitakyushu this weekend.

Last month in Las Vegas, New Zealand crushed their Australian rivals, the Rio Olympic gold medallists, 28- 5 in the final to take a six- point lead in the 2016- 17 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series with three tournaments left to play.

They have made just one change from that squad, with Rebekah Cordero- Tufuga replacing Terina Te Tamaki. Lyric Faleafaga of St Mary’s College in Wellington comes into the squad for the first time as a travelling reserve, but the 17- year- old will not miss school as it is school holidays.

“This is about Lyric’s development plan: she’s young, has special talent and, at 1.8m tall, has real height,” says coach Allan Bunting. “We’re really excited about her future, so it’s all about giving her experience.”

He says that keeping the core of the series- leading squad together was important. “We’re still focused on consistency and continuity, so we’ve kept most of the squad from Las Vegas.

“We’ve brought in a couple of new players and Rebekah comes back after missing out the last couple of tournaments. She’s had a couple of work- ons this series and has worked really hard at her game and is making good progress, so has been rewarded with selection.”

All the players should be fully healed from the cuts and abrasions from the coarse Las Vegas surface, which caused an outcry. Michaela Blyde, in particular, scored seven tries in that event but was heavily strapped throughout.

New Zealand have based themselves in Japan for a week, so should be well acclimatised.

In today’s pool play, New Zealand face hosts Japan, who are not a core series team, seventh- placed France and fifth- placed Russia. Winning Pool A would put them in a quarter- final against possibly Canada or US.

“We always get a tough pool. Russia and France are tough teams that show a lot of passion, so it should be a great first day,” said Black Ferns Sevens skipper Sarah Goss.

This i s the first time Japan has hosted an event on the series.