‘Can I try’: Injured Sarah Hirini refusing to give up on Paris Olympics dream

Injured Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini is down but not out. With the Paris Olympics just over five months away, Hirini is in a race against time to be fit and ready for the Games.

Hirini, who was the flagbearer for New Zealand at the Tokyo Games three years ago, was helped from the field at the SVNS Dubai in December after suffering a serious knee injury.

The Olympic gold medallist was later ruled out of the next SVNS Series leg in Cape Town with an ACL injury – a tough blow that put the skipper in doubt for the rest of the season.

But after returning home to New Zealand and undergoing a successful ACL operation, Hirini embraced the challenge with a telling Instagram post in December.

“Ready for the tough road ahead,” Hirini wrote, with the caption accompanying a picture of the sevens star post-surgery.

But it still seemed like long odds that Hirini would even be a chance for the Games – but don’t tell her that. It won’t be easy, but Hirini is tackling the challenge head-on.

Hirini believes she can be on the plane with the New Zealand Olympic team to Paris, which the 31-year-old made clear in another social media post earlier this week.

“I get that this is the normal timeframe but because there is an Olympic Games, can I try and make it back?” Hirini said in a video released on her Instagram.

“If they are going to tell me no, then I knew that that was a complete no.

 

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“They’ve said, ‘Yeah, there’s time. We’re pushing it but realistically there’s a time that you could try.’ And so I said, ‘Sweet, that’s all I need.'”

In the absence of Hirini, the Black Ferns Sevens have struggled this season. After losing the final in Dubai, they were pipped by France in the Cape Town semi-finals a week later.

New Zealand appeared to be tracking well at the series’ most recent tournament in Perth, but a tough match-up against arch-rivals Australia in the quarters was always going to be tough.

It was a clash filled with thrilling tries and controversy, and in the end, hosts Australia emerged victorious at HBF Park.

“If anyone watched that game yesterday, it was worthy of a final,” New Zealand’s Tyla King told RugbyPass after New Zealand’s final match in Perth

“It was pretty ridiculous, I’m not gonna lie. Two red cards in the space of a few minutes of each other. It was just all over the show.

“Pretty entertaining for everyone out there watching but pretty gruelling out there for us. Not how we wanted to finish this tournament.”

Next up on the SVNS Series is an event in Vancouver from February 23 to 25. Those interested in watching some of the world’s best rugby while enjoying the best party in town can get tickets HERE.