Rugby: Versatile Brazier puts team ahead of Black Ferns ambitions

Kelly Brazier is one of the key players in the world champion NZ women’s Sevens. Picture / NZME

Kelly Brazier is happy to put the team first ahead of personal stats and ambition.

The 26-year-old is one of the key players as the New Zealand women's Sevens team heads to Dubai to defend their title in the first of the World Series tournaments. They are the three-time world champions.

The versatile Bay of Plenty back has often operated at first or second receiver in the sevens, acting as the conduit to free up Kayla McAlister and the prolific Portia Woodman.

And yet it is often forgotten that she once scored 64 points in an Otago women's premier game in 2009, and ran the cutter for the Black Ferns, taking the shots at goal, in the 2014 Women's World Cup.

Her 24 tests for the Ferns have gone on hold, until 2017, at least, as she begins the build-up to the Rio Olympics, for which New Zealand have already qualified.

Brazier says she is happy to allow Tyla Nathan-Wong to continue the goalkicking and dropout duties. A hip injury two years ago curtailed her kicking at the time, but she is content to be the second option.

"There'll be no 15s for me this year, just straight Sevens.

"It's been a long pre-season, but it's good to get the body right and do what we have to in the final season leading into Rio," said Brazier, who flew out last night with the squad.

She knows her versatility will be used in the team, and she was even expecting to be "chucked into the forwards" as well.

One issue might be lack of recent meaningful sevens match-play, just a hit-out at the Central Coast Sevens a few weeks ago and also in the regional Super Series event. There will be regional provincial qualifiers and nationals in January before the women's World Series resumes in February.

So there is plenty of gut-busting 150s ahead of her, and she is happier to be closer to the action in the Bay.

"It was tough being based in Dunedin because I was playing 15s and 7s at the time. After the Sevens World Cup (in 2013) I spent the whole day flying home just to fly back up, so it's a whole lot easier now."

She has enjoyed tapping into the knowledge of new technical adviser Tomasi Cama, a brilliant Sevens playmaker who Brazier says brings a different perspective on backline strategy.

Now it is a just a matter of keeping a lid on thinking too much about Rio too early.

Brazier, along with captain Sarah Goss, Nathan-Wong and Woodman, will be the glue for this squad, though on Thursday there was an inordinate amount of media interest directed at Niall Williams, a potentially promising but untried debutant more famous, at this stage, for her older brother.

Coach Sean Horan says Sevens' Olympic status has played a part in the 11 per cent jump in registrations for women's rugby in this country, with close to 20,000 women now playing the game.

"The Olympics is followed worldwide, so the attraction there for young women is huge," said Horan.

Former All Black halfback Augustine Pulu highlights Gordon Tietjens' extended 14-man squad for the Dubai and Cape Town tournaments. Sonny Bill Williams and Liam Messam will be in contention from January's Wellington event.

The Dubai Sevens is the first of 10 legs on a revamped men's World Series calendar that now features Cape Town, Sydney, Singapore and Paris.

Australia have included, for the first time, Wallaby and former Waikato wing Henry Speight.