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After an unfortunate start, Michaela Blyde responded strongly in the Black Ferns Sevens’ quarterfinal win over Great Britain in Dubai. (File photo)
Michaela Blyde’s heart would have sunk midway through the first half of the Black Ferns Sevens’ World Series quarterfinal win over Great Britain in Dubai.
But come midway through the second spell, the flying finisher had gone from zero to hero, leading New Zealand into the semifinals of the opening tournament of the season, with a 22-5 victory.
The women in black hadn’t lost a quarterfinal since 2019, but this understrength side missing the quintet of Sarah Hirini, Stacey Fluhler, Portia Woodman, Ruby Tui and Theresa Fitzpatrick – all resting up after the 15s World Cup win – had to work hard for this one.
Having edged the same opponents 19-12 in their opening match of the tournament, before going on to beat Brazil 35-5 and France 31-12, the Ferns again had the game taken to them by Great Britain on Saturday evening (NZ time).
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Megan Jones’ kickoff didn’t go the 10 metres, but it was still the Brits who made the better start, when from a scrum on their own 22m, they had Jones give an inside ball for Abbie Brown to race away to open the scoring.
And then just as it looked like New Zealand would hit back thanks to a runaway effort from Blyde, Jasmine Joyce tracked her down to produce a gutsy tackle, which saw Blyde bomb the try by spilling the ball over the line.
There was no mistake a minute later when Tyla Nathan-Wong gave inside for Mahina Paul to streak away, and somehow Great Britain went to halftime behind, after first Jorja Miller came from nowhere to force a simultaneous grounding with Brown, then some sloppy attack execution coupled with determined Ferns defence kept things at 7-5.
Then it was Blyde who stole the show midway through the second stanza.
With an injured Brown hobbling to the wing and a sitting duck, the Ferns exploited the co-captain’s ailment and Blyde seared past Celia Quansah down the left flank to extend the lead.
And just for good measure, less than two minutes later she then popped up to score on the right, fending off Heather Cowell for her double, before Shiray Kaka put the icing on the cake when ambling onto a Kelly Brazier cross-kick.
The Black Ferns Sevens will face the United States in the semifinals at 1.10am Sunday (NZT), after the Americans edged Ireland 5-0 in their quarterfinal.
The other quarterfinals see France face Spain, and Fiji take on defending series champions Australia.
Meanwhile, the All Blacks Sevens play France in the quarterfinals of the men’s event at 8.12pm on Saturday (NZT).
The Kiwis scraped through to the cup playoffs on points differential, having lost 31-28 to Argentina but then beaten Fiji 24-7 and Uruguay 35-5.
In the other quarters, Argentina face Ireland, South Africa play Samoa, and the United States take on defending series champions Australia, who also won the opening round in Hong Kong last month.
