New Zealand National 7s side managed to win all their matches during the first day of the Mini International Women’s 7s tournament.
The Black Ferns beat France 24-12, Australia 24-14 and the Fijiana 22-5. Head coach Cory Sweeney said despite the rainy weather at Albert Park yesterday, his side’s performance was up to expectations.
“I’m happy with the way the girls played today, despite the weather which made the ground slippery, they were able to win all their games and we are looking forward to tomorrow,” he said.
New Zealand has been in the country with the other three participating teams over the past two weeks, where they have been training at Albert Park ahead of the mini-tournament.
“Everyone’s happy to be here, they girls always love coming down to Fiji, and to take part in this tournament is a huge blessing for us because it allows us to test and gauge our players.”
Meanwhile, Sweeney pointed out that there were a few areas his side needed to work on before heading into the second day of the tournament which is being held today.
“We need to work on our ball handling, I think the rain was an issue but this is no excuse for us.
“We will also need to be quick and fierce at the breakdown, run, and our scrums.”
He also mentioned that he was impressed with the performance of the Fijiana side, coming in with a very young bunch of players to the tournament.
“They had a lot of young players but they played so well, and it was an exciting match against them today.”
Match results; Fijiana 5-22 New Zealand, France 28-12 Australia, Fijiana 29-7 France, NewZealand 24-14 Australia, Fijiana 34-12 Australia, New Zealand 24-12 France. Today’s fixtures; Fiji – France 9am, Australia – New Zealand 9.50 am, break 10.10 am, Fiji – Australia 1pm , New Zealand – France 1.20pm, 1.40pm break, Fiji – New Zealand 4pm, Australia – France 4.20pm.
