Hamilton Sevens: New Zealand sevens teams perfect through pool play in bid for back-to-back titles at home

Stacey Fluhler scored five tries in the Black Ferns Sevens first three matches of the tournament. Photo / Photosport

The New Zealand sevens teams are looking to send their home tournament off in style.

On the opening day’s play in Hamilton, both the Black Ferns Sevens and All Blacks Sevens went through their pools unbeaten to clinch their places in the quarter-finals.

In 2020, the first time a full women’s tournament featured as part of the New Zealand event, the Kiwi sides both left with titles, and with World Rugby confirming it will not be bringing the event back to New Zealand in the 2023-24 season and beyond, a repeat would be the perfect farewell for the home fans.

“I feel more for the young boys who haven’t had the opportunity to play here much, or at all,” All Blacks Sevens captain Sam Dickson said of the situation.

“I do feel for them because to be playing at home means a lot to us Kiwis, also to the other Kiwis who come and watch, and also to the Pacific nations; this is pretty much their home tournament as well. Hopefully, World Rugby can realise the mistake they’ve made and bring it back at some point.”

A crowd of more than 17,000 showed up for the first day of action, with the sky blue of Fijian supporters taking over much of the stadium; “a bit of a sea of blue”, as Black Ferns Sevens star Stacey Fluhler put it.

But those in attendance were quick to find their voices early and often in support of the Kiwi teams, who put on impressive displays throughout.

For the Black Ferns Sevens, they sent a big statement in their pool matches by holding Papua New Guinea (56-0), Fiji (27-0) and Great Britain (20-0) scoreless.

A side Fluhler admitted are often slow to get off the mark, they needed less than a minute in their opener to get on the scoresheet as Michaela Blyde coasted over to open her side’s account; Fluhler herself going on to score three of the team’s 10 tries in the win over Papua New Guinea, as any concerns around the team’s cohesion with four players in their first tournament for the campaign were thrust aside.

It was their defensive efforts that caught the eye in their match against Fiji, and it was a similar case against Great Britain. They will face Japan in their quarter-final on Sunday, kicking off at 10:36am.

For the All Blacks Sevens, they got a welcome test against Australia in their second match, a much closer affair than their 45-0 opener against Tonga.

The Kiwis twice found themselves trailing against Australia, but fought well to claim a 21-19 win as Akuila Rokolisoa came up clutch with his conversions.

“If you cruise through your pool then all of a sudden you play a top three team in the quarter-final, it can smack you in the face,” Dickson said. “It was good to play another top quality team in Australia; they really pushed us.”

They closed out their day with a 19-12 win over Great Britain to finish at the top of their group.

While it was an ideal opening day in terms of results, Moses Leo was forced from the park late in the first half against Tonga after suffering a head injury. It didn’t look promising for the young athlete when he needed two attempts to get to his feet, and he was later ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

The All Blacks Sevens will meet Ireland in their quarter-final, which is scheduled to kick off just after midday.