New Zealand want to keep their foot on the throat of the Australia women’s rugby sevens team when the two powerhouses line up for the World Cup in San Francisco.
Since being toppled for gold in the Rio Olympics decider, the Black Ferns Sevens have won 10 of the 11 trans-Tasman clashes which inevitably dictate tournament silverware.
Coach Allan Bunting has named an experienced Black Ferns squad for this weekend’s World Cup, which runs in conjunction with the men’s World Cup.
The defending champions are comprised of the playing core who snaffled gold at the Commonwealth Games in April, memorably beating Australia 17-12 when Kelly Brazier scorched 80 metres in extra time.
Speedsters like Portia Woodman, Michaela Blyde and Stacey Waaka are named alongside workhorses such as captain Sarah Goss and Niall Williams – the sister of All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams.
Since their triumph on the Gold Coast, it’s been one-way traffic against Australia at three world series tournaments.
The last two finals, in Canada and France, were won 46-0 and 33-7.
However, those results weren’t enough to stop the Australians clinching the world series title.
New Zealand were unable to recover from a shock loss to the United States in the quarter-finals of the opening tournament, followed by a 31-0 thumping from Australia in the round two final in Sydney.
Waaka says Kiwi confidence is soaring after restoring their dominance over Australia, who are on the opposite side of the knockout draw this week.
“We’ve won the last four tournaments so we don’t need to change much, I don’t think,” she told journalists.
“We know that other teams are going to come out with things unexpected so we’ve kind of prepared for that but whatever happens on the day, we’ll be ready.”
The most stressful time for the players, who are now all on full-time contracts, was trials last month before Bunting whittled a 20-strong group down to 12.
“I felt sorry for the coaches picking the team – but really, really stoked I’m in,” Waaka said.