New Zealand’s women go into next weekend’s sevens World Series stop in Singapore on top of the standings, and veteran Tyla King warned the team had still not reached its full potential.
Victory in Hong Kong earlier this month was the Black Ferns’ third in a row, after wins in Vancouver and Los Angeles, and put them just ahead of Australia on points difference.
There was a bump in the road in the form of a 26-21 loss at the hands of France in the pool stages, and King said that had tempered the excitement of the win.
“We learned a lot from that game and have been working on that, here at home and just around different conditions cause it was a bit wet when we did play them,” she said.
“But it was awesome to see how, as a team, we bounced back from that loss and then obviously came away with a tournament win. So, still excited and ready for this next tournament, but also knowing that we haven’t quite hit the full potential that we know this team can.”
With 18 points separating New Zealand and Australia, who are tied on 106, from France, who are third on 88, the league crown is likely to come down to a straight fight between the trans-Tasman rivals.
New Zealand begin their tournament in Pool A alongside Canada, Ireland and Spain, while Australia are in Pool C with Fiji, Great Britain and Brazil.
Beaten Hong Kong finalists USA take on France, Japan and South Africa in Pool B.
While Singapore is the last event of the regular season, the World Series title will not be decided until the grand final event in Madrid, and even that isn’t the most pressing concern for the likes of New Zealand, Australia and France, with the Paris Olympics less than 100 days away.
King has won almost everything available in a career that started when she was an 18-year-old in 2012, including Olympic gold and silver, and said the next two tournaments were “stepping stones” to success in Paris.
“Momentum does play a big part in how you go into a tournament,” the 29-year-old said. “We’re not taking the next two tournaments lightly at all, just because there is an Olympic Games at the end of this.
“We see those two as very important stepping stones for us to make sure we are fine-tuning, getting the right combinations out on the field, and making sure our game plans are forever adapting as we go along.”