Just like Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, the Paris Olympic games will be King’s swansong. After 12 years at the top, it is not surprising that our most capped sevens star is moving on.
What should raise eyebrows is the lack of domestic opportunities to find her replacement. For a team that has arguably become New Zealand’s benchmark of success, we have a very real problem with succession.
Five of the original Go for Golders will be chasing another at this year’s Olympic Games. Woodman-Wickliffe, Michaela Blyde and Sarah Hirini made it through the open auditions to the first squad. A teenage Stacey Waaka pulled out before being pulled in again a couple of years later. King was initially told she was too small but then made a big impression at Nationals in the Auckland Sevens team. The same provincial side that gave Theresa Setefano her start.
However, a National Sevens Tournament hasn’t been played now since 2019. It was cancelled due to Covid and has never returned. This is perhaps in alignment with the trend of our Black Ferns Sevens selection. We sign players young.
Since the first wave, virtually all new talent has been signed as teenagers. With multiple players signing their first contracts while still in high school. Is this because young players are best for this fast-paced game? Or is it simply that their tournament is?
Since New Zealand Rugby recommitted itself to women’s sevens, Condor Sevens has emerged as the most reliable competition for our players. Where nationals and its feeder regional tournaments have disappeared, this high school competition has only grown over the past decade. What was once offered just to school boys, now also hosts an under fifteen tournament alongside an open grade for girls.
This is the perfect platform for exceptional talent. So long as they are lucky enough to be an early bloomer, to have rugby at their high school and be surrounded by enough talent in their age group. Without this, even those brimming with potential may remain invisible to our selectors.
Risi Pouri-Lane is from Motueka, Jorja Miller is from Timaru and Alena Saili is from Invercargill. What this should tell you is that gold dust is everywhere, so long as we are willing to mine it.
But current domestic programming isn’t digging deep enough. The National Sevens Series isn’t the only good idea on the scrap heap. In 2018, Go for Gold was reworked and rebranded as Ignite and provided the next step beyond teenage ambition. Players up to age 23 could register for this talent identification tournament and a chance at a national contract.
This tournament lasted just three years before it too disappeared.
Sevens needs a place for those who want to play it beyond high school. Following the first appearance of the Black Ferns Sevens at the 2016 Olympics, New Zealand Rugby experienced a bump in player registrations. Those inspired to sign up after watching our team perform in Paris this year may well find they have already aged out of any opportunity to play.
Two legends of the Black Ferns Sevens have announced retirement in the last two weeks. Both talents unearthed through domestic opportunities offered to women.
Had high school been our only chance to recruit them, we would have all missed out on them pulling on the black jersey. Let’s not miss any chances and build a domestic seven series worthy of their legacy.
