Miller’s star turn lights up final
Jorja Miller was just six months old when Sarah Ulmer, the Evers-Swindell twins and Hamish Carter all stood atop the Olympic dais in Athens to strains of God Defend New Zealand.
After her mind-boggling performance in the Black Ferns Sevens’ Singapore final victory over Australia, the 20-year-old from Timaru could rival Lisa Carrington for star power and gold medal magnetism in Paris in late July.
Miller was named player of the final as New Zealand beat their great rivals Australia 31-21 for their fourth straight title and another league triumph, ahead of the World Series finals in Madrid at the end of the month.
It was a monumentally dominant and cool-headed performance by the youngster in a big final, as Michaela Blyde’s hattrick dominated highlights reels.
One passage of play early in the second half summed up Miller’s influence.
Australia’s Isabella Nasser broke through with her side leading a knife-edge final 14-12. Miller turned and chased Nasser down and dislodged the ball from her grasp, then pounced on it just as Australia’s captain Madison Ashby loomed. Miller got there first, and accidentally landed on Ashby’s left leg in the process of securing possession.
As Ashby writhed in pain on the ground (later to leave the field), Miller offloaded and made a quick check on her opponent’s welfare before rejoining the play and sending Tysha Ikenasio into the clear. Miller was first there to form the ruck as Ikenasio was dragged down, before the ball was sent wide for Blyde to stroll over.
Then, minutes later, Miller made another line break to send Portia Woodman-Wickliffe away for yet another try. Game over.
A beaming Miller gave a composed TV interview soon after fulltime and looked like she could trot back onto the field and go around in another match.
“We knew what the game meant, we knew who we took with us in our Manawa, in our hearts. We carried our injured girls, the girls at home, and we knew we had to come out and do a job,” Miller said.
“It’s been a rollercoaster [the current series] and we talk about it a lot. We’ve trusted our journey and we know what we need to do to peak at the right time.” With regular skipper Sarah Hirini at home nursing a serious knee injury suffered in the Dubai tournament in December, New Zealand lost two other key players and were down to 11 for the final. Tyla King (ankle) and Shiray Kaka (knee) suffered tournament-ending injuries but were smiling at the presentation with winner’s medals around their necks.
Coach Corey Sweeney told RugbyPass of the duo: “We’ve got two special people that our ladies witnessed go down yesterday and that’s always hard to watch. There’s always an emotional connection to that straight away.”
Stand-in skipper Risi Pouri-Lane was another huge presence, particularly on defence. At just 23 and handed the captaincy in Hirini’s absence, Pouri-Lane flew up and snuffed out several Australian raids as their tryscoring machine Maddison Levi looked to match Blyde’s feats.
It’s clear why the sporting public warm to this team so easily. Blyde spoke of them treating every game like it was their last, and priding themselves on overcoming setbacks and moments of inconsistency to peak when it mattered in the final.
Those qualities will serve them well in Paris from July 28-30 when back-to-back Olympic gold medals beckon.
Global data company Gracenote predicts New Zealand will win four Olympic golds: the women’s and men’s sevens (coach Tomasi Cama’s team also won in Singapore, beating Ireland 17-14 in the final), Carrington in the K1 500 and Ellesse Andrews in the cycling keirin.
Miller at her first Olympics holds the key to the sevens’ on-field success - and promises to be one of the most sought after by fans, cameras and microphones off it.