The Black Ferns Sevens speak about their Olympic experience and being able to give Tyler King and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe their final win. Video / Cheree Kinnear
“I just said I’m really proud of you because not many people can do what you have done,” explained Sweeney.
“It’s hard to sum up to be honest. She has been on an amazing journey and people have used the term, ‘if anyone can do it she can do it’. But she’s a person that drives performance habits like I have never seen.”
Hirini wasn’t meant to be in Paris, let alone playing a starring role in the 19-12 win over Canada, for a second successive gold medal. When she tore her ACL last December, her chances of a third Olympics campaign appeared to be over.
Sarah Hirini scores against China in the Rugby Sevens quarter-finals. Photo / Photosport
Behind the scenes, New Zealand Rugby medical staff kept an open mind but everyone was prepared for the most likely outcome, simply because there wasn’t enough time.
But no one told the 31-year-old. Her dedication to a rehabilitation regime even surprised her teammates, who thought they had seen it all.
She was back running in the first few months of the year and spent hours every day searching for incremental gains. Hirini also travelled to the Middle East to consult an ACL expert and was visited by another knee specialist from Europe.
Progress was good – much quicker than expected – but there were no guarantees in Paris, her first competitive action since the injury.
“You never quite know,” said Sweeney. “She hadn’t played rugby in seven months. But over the tournament she just built. The one thing that you know about Gossy (Hirini) is that determination, that mindset and the attitude that in pressure, she will give everything that she has got.”
When the Ferns were pinned on their own line and holding a narrow 14-12 lead with just over two minutes to play, the veteran made the critical bust.
She sprinted into open territory, found support, then calmly provided the assist to send Stacey Waaka away for the try that sealed a second successive gold medal.
“My first thought was, ‘I need to get with her’,” said co-captain Risi Pouri-Lane. “Gossy is an inspirational leader and she leads with her actions and her words. So when she goes we all go.”
That moment also illustrated Hirini’s mental resilience, in an unforgiving contest. She had been bumped off in the Canadian move that led to their first try, then had a pass intercepted just before halftime, as the North Americans took a surprise lead.
That would have been tough – especially after so long away – but Hirini wasn’t going into her shell. Her defence was typically forceful, while she worked tirelessly at the ruck and linked play. She also copped a nasty knock, flush on the head when making a tackle but never relented.
“That’s Sarah,” said teammate Michaela Blyde. “She is someone who will absolutely put her life on the line for this team. There is no human being like her.
“For her to come back after an ACL tear in December and absolutely kill it in this tournament, I’m not surprised. She was always going to do that for us. And to literally break her face for this team and stay on the field – if it was any other player they would have gone off in pain.”
Hirini hasn’t always received the individual recognition she probably deserves, as fans and media tend to focus on the jet-heeled try-machines in the squad. But talk to current and former teammates and there is no one like her, reflected in her myriad achievements across the sport.
Her legacy now has another chapter, part of a special group to have successfully defended a title, winning a third Olympic medal in the process.
But there were heroes everywhere, from the youngsters tasting their first Olympic campaign, to the three retiring veterans.
Canada were prohibitive outsiders before the match – rated 10/1 outsiders – but showed strong belief. After conceding a try in the first 90 minutes, the North Americans fought their way back for a 12-7 advantage, helped by Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s yellow card for dangerous contact.
No one really expected that, which made for a tense second period. New Zealand edged in front from Blyde’s try, before Hirini’s incursion and Waaka’s finish made the game safe.
“It shows we are willing to go to the death for each other, to the very end and we knew it would take that,“ said Pouri-Lane.
But Hirini didn’t get to celebrate in the changing rooms – or do any media – as she was whisked off for random drug testing after the final whistle.
The rest of the team used that time to mix with family and friends, as almost every member of the squad had relatives come to France, after the barren experience of Tokyo, before more celebrations together into the Paris night.
”It’s a gold medal,” said rookie Olympian Jazmin Felix-Hotham. “It doesn’t get bigger than that.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics’, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.
