Hong Kong Sevens: All Blacks captain Collier backs defending champions to handle pressure, confident despite slump in form
- New Zealand begin their Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens title defence against Great Britain on Friday
- Kiwi women on high after successive tournament triumphs, aiming for repeat Hong Kong success
New Zealand captain Dylan Collier said his team would manage the pressure of wearing the storied All Blacks jersey, when they bid to defend their Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens title this week.
Collier, who replaced Scott Curry as skipper last year, is fit again after missing the past two tournaments, in Los Angeles and Vancouver, because of injury.
By their own high standards, the Kiwis have endured a rotten few months. They found themselves scrapping with Samoa for 10th spot in world series legs in Perth and Los Angeles, with mixed success, either side of losing the Vancouver final to series leaders Argentina.
“There is pressure every time you wear the All Blacks’ jersey, the jersey demands we win,” Collier, who will make his sixth Hong Kong appearance, said.
“We are pretty confident, although we have not been playing as well as we want. We did well in Hong Kong last year, and are happy with how we have been training and preparing.
“If you trust your processes, you enjoy the game. We get to do this for a living, so we embrace the pressure, and back what we do.”
Former captain Curry, playing in Hong Kong for the fifth time, and, like Collier, a silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, said bidding farewell to the sevens’ long-standing home would be a “bittersweet” occasion.
Hong Kong Stadium has staged the event since 1982, but it is scheduled to move to Kai Tak Sports Park from next year.
“It is special to be here for the last tournament,” Curry said. “The stadium has massive history, and if we can be the last team to win on that soil, it would be pretty cool.
“There is something different about playing in Hong Kong: the vibe around the city, the South Stand is always pumping. This is where sevens started, and it is a special tournament.”
Moses Leo is poised for only his second Hong Kong experience, and the 26-year-old insisted New Zealand were “looking forward to putting on a show”.
If Leo was trying to pump up the tyres of a team searching for form and belief, the Kiwi women have no need for any kind of similar pep talk.
The Black Ferns won in Los Angeles and Vancouver to move onto the shoulders of Australia at the world series summit.
New Zealand won in Hong Kong last year, on the way to claiming the inaugural women’s world series title.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, who scored a hat-trick of tries in the Vancouver final victory over France, echoed Collier’s views over the responsibility that comes with wearing all black.
“If you have that black jersey on your back, you are expected to win,” the Tokyo Olympics gold medallist said. “We take it as privileged pressure.
“On the field, we just try to do what we do best, and perform our core roles. But we also throw the ball around, and have fun with our mates.”
Michaela Blyde, another Tokyo Olympic champion, and world player of the year in 2017 and 2018, said her appetite for glory remained undiminished by a stream of past successes.
A hat-trick scorer when New Zealand beat Australia to win in LA last month, Blyde said: “We love having targets on our back, we epitomise the [top] standard of rugby, with it being our nation’s sport.
“[We enjoy] the feeling of being chased, and you can never top the feeling of winning. We try to win as many tournaments as possible, and set our standards too high for other teams to reach.”
