New Zealand’s rugby sevens teams will return to the international stage for the first time in more than a year against Australia in an Olympic warm-up tournament in Auckland this month.
The men’s and women’s teams, the All Blacks sevens and the Black Ferns sevens, haven’t played an international fixture since the Covid-19 pandemic halted the World Sevens Series last year.
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) will announce the Auckland event, to be played from May 21-23, after the Australian teams agreed to travel across the Tasman for competitive matches ahead of July’s Tokyo Olympics. The venue is yet to be confirmed but is set to be a club ground.
The tournament is important for both nations as they step up preparations for Tokyo and there will be a rematch of the 2016 Rio Olympics final when Australia’s women’s team broke the hearts of the Black Ferns sevens to win gold.
It will also be the first opportunity for the men’s Super Rugby players, if they decide to chase Olympic gold, to get reacquainted with sevens after months of 15-a-side rugby.
Super Rugby players in contention for Tokyo, such as All Black Caleb Clarke (Blues) and Etene Nanai-Seturo (Chiefs), will have to commit to sevens from next week after Saturday’s Aotearoa final between the Crusaders and the Chiefs in Christchurch.
Salesi Rayasi has turned down a shot at the Olympics, according to his Hurricanes coach, Jason Holland, but an announcement on the others’ decision is expected on Monday.
Rugby Australia (RA) was initially reluctant to send its sevens teams to New Zealand but the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble last month means quarantine-free travel between the countries, removing the headache of various logistic hurdles caused by Covid-19.
NZR had considered shifting its teams from their Mount Maungauni base to Australia but neither can travel overseas until the players, coaches and support staff receive their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccination. Their first round of jabs have started ahead of the Olympics.
The next proposed international tournament for New Zealand’s teams is likely to be in Australia in June, Covid-19 permitting.
From there, they would head to Japan for their final weeks of preparation for Toyko. The respective men’s and women’s tournaments run consecutively from July 26-31.
For months, the Kiwi and Australian sevens programmes have been scrambling to arrange more meaningful matches after being limited to inter-squad and domestic contests.
New Zealand’s teams have played in domestic events in Mount Maunganui and Wellington, but facing international opposition, such as Australia, is far better preparation and could be an excellent precursor before possible showdowns for medals in Tokyo.
The Black Ferns sevens, after claiming silver in the 2016 Rio Games, are huge favourites for gold in Tokyo, having dominated the game since their painful defeat to Australia in Brazil, winning the 2017 World Cup in San Francisco, the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, and three of the four World Series.
The All Blacks sevens, who also won at the last Commonwealth Games and World Cup, are among the favourites for gold in Tokyo after their disappointing fifth-placed finish in Rio.
New Zealand’s men’s last international outing was at the Vancouver Sevens last March. The Kiwi women’s last international fixture was at the Sydney Sevens last February.
They were both declared winners of their respective World Series last July after the season was cancelled because of Covid-19.
International sevens returned in February with the Madrid Sevens. Comprised of Northern Hemisphere teams, it was a not World Series event, doubling up as final qualifiers for the Olympics and preparation for other teams heading to Tokyo.
