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Northern tour vital for 2022 cup quest

Andrew Voerman

There might be more than twice as many players on the field, but the members of the gold medallist Black Ferns Sevens team feel they have plenty to offer as they rejoin the XVs team for their northern tour.

Kelly Brazier, Stacey Fluhler, and Portia Woodman have returned to the fold straight after their success at the Tokyo Olympics and will provide a Black Ferns squad featuring some uncapped players with plenty of experience as they face England and France over the next four weeks.

Brazier, Fluhler, and Woodman were all starters as the Black Ferns won the last Rugby World Cup, in Ireland in 2017, and will have big roles to play as they look to defend their title on home soil next October and November.

Fluhler said there was plenty to take not only from the sevens environment into the XVs environment, but vice versa as well.

‘‘There’s so much more people in XVs than there is in sevens, but the more we can work together and adapt and learn skills and a lot of the off-field stuff too, I feel like that’s only going to make us stronger as a country.

‘‘What I love about it is I love variety, so I love the differences in both, so that makes me more passionate and more hungry about the game because they’re both different. Nowhere’s going to be the same, so that’s an exciting thing for me.

‘‘People always ask, what do you love so much about XVs or what do you love about sevens, and if you had to choose ... I would never be able to choose. If I

had to make a decision . . . at the end of the day you have to make it.

‘‘But I’m just really grateful that the management have really connected. They allow us to play both, and we’re able to grow in both spaces. You take a lot of learnings from so many different people in both teams.’’

England and France are expected to be the Black Ferns’ closest rivals at next year’s Rugby World Cup, which is set to be played in Auckland and Whanga¯ rei.

They beat England in the final of the last event four years ago and won their only meeting since, while they have lost their last two matches against France, after

winning the first following the World Cup.

Speaking on The Breakdown on Sky Sport, Woodman said returning to XVs from sevens had thrown up some interesting challenges.

’’Without a doubt the amount of people on the field, in the team room, in the meetings, there’s just so many people

‘‘Whenever I get the ball I think a little gap isn’t big enough, but all you have to think about is gain line. We’re not trying to run 20, 30, 40 metres down the sideline, it’s just getting to the gain line.

’’For me, it’s just figuring out what kind of gap I’m trying to target then going with that.’’

SPORT

en-nz

2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282007560596252

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