Blyde is New Zealand’s pride as they reign again
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T■ wo-time World Player of the Year Michaela Blyde ushered in early birthday celebrations with a fantastic showing that helped New Zealand to a 24-14 triumph against Canada to claim the women’s crown at the Dubai Rugby Sevens yesterday.
Blyde, who will be turning 23 on December 29, has been a consistent performer for the Black Ferns Sevens since her debut as a 17-year-old way back in 2013.
She was the top try scorer of the 2016-17 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series to be named the 2017 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year.
Her consistency showed through the following season as she earned the same accolade for the second time running in 2018. The Black Ferns Sevens created their own bit of history earlier in the quarter-finals in their 31-0 romp over Russia. After a Kelly Brazier brace had given them a 14-0 cushion at half-time, Gayle Broughton celebrated her 50th try in World Series, and then after Sarah Goss had got one herself, it was Blyde entering an elite club while becoming only the fifth woman to score 100 tries with her fourth try of the weekend.
It was Blyde’s hat-trick of tries that helped the Black Ferns to an emphatic 22-0 destruction of the USA in the semi-finals. And then in the final, it was Blyde again as the girl from New Plymouth playing her defensive role to perfection for a 24-14 win and the title.
Blyde’s career milestone makes her only the second New Zealander to score 100 tries, and the fifth in the history of the series.
This was the fourth success for the New Zealanders in Dubai following wins in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Last year, they had failed to achieve even a top-three finish. Overall, coach Allan Bunting’s sevens side has dominated the Women’s Sevens Series since its creation in 2012. The team are the current Sevens World Champions having beaten Canada in the Rugby World Cup final in Moscow in 2013.