Ferns in Colorado

Portia Woodman features in the squad named by Black Ferns Sevens coach Allan Bunting last week for the 2018/19 HSBC Sevens Series, which kicks off with the Glendale Sevens in Colorado this weekend. Bunting said Glendale — a new event on the circuit (raising the number of women’s tournaments to six) — meant an earlier start than usual. “We’ve had four weeks of pre-season [preparation] instead what would normally be around eight . . . Our philosophy has always been to keep consistency with our core group of players and then we can bring other players in and give them the chance to learn in a tournament environment.” The side faces China, England and home team USA in pool play this Sunday (NZT). Other legs are Dubai (November 29-30), Hamilton (January 26-27), Sydney (February 1-3), Kitakyushu (April 20-21), Langford (May 11-12) and Paris (June 31 — July 2.