Jorja Miller: The ‘competitive edge’ driving Black Ferns Sevens

Black Ferns Sevens vice-captain Jorja Miller was all smiles after last weekend’s 19-14 win over Australia at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, with the regular season champions off to a flyer in the new-look World Championship Series.

But there’s no hint of complacency from the New Zealanders, with captain Risi Pouri-Lane speaking after the final in New York last month, saying the “job’s not done yet.” Miller has echoed the sentiment of those comments, insisting this team wants to keep getting better.

New Zealand won five of six regular season events, and they’re able to repeat those title-winning heroics at Kai Tak Sports Park on Sunday. The Black Ferns Sevens secured a four-peat at the fan favourite event, defeating their arch-rivals in another Cup Final.

Australia qualified for every decider during the regular season but emerged victorious in one of those occasions, taking out SVNS Cape Town last December. The New Zealanders bounced back at SVNS Singapore in January and haven’t looked back.

The Black Ferns Sevens powered home to claim their first-ever title in Perth, before rounding out the regular season with titles in Vancouver and New York. But the ladder effectively reset for the new-look World Championship, with more silverware still to be won.

“It’s amazing. To come out here to battle against Australia, we love these finals and these are the moments that we play for,” Miller said after the five point win, which you can watch for free on RugbyPass TV HERE.

“That’s the goal right? We want to keep improving. We talk about our competitive edge and we want that every single day.

“The girls that are here, but also the girls that haven’t made the squad, they push us day in, day out to get us this medal, to get us these awards.”

After a tense start to the Cup Final in Hong Kong, Mahina Paul broke the deadlock with an early runaway effort. Miller added to New Zealand’s lead soon after, before Australia hit back through co-captain Isabella Nasser.

Kelsey Teneti’s standout season continued, with Pouri-Lane and Miller setting up the try-scorer for a decisive five-pointer in the ninth minute. New Zealand’s defence was then the key, holding the Aussies out until the final minute.

That five-point triumph has seen the New Zealanders take one step towards World Championship glory, but there’s still plenty of sevens to be played this season. Valladolid in the northwest of Spain will host the second leg of the finals series on May 29 to 31.

The circuit then heads to Bordeaux for the season finale in early June. Whoever sits in first place on the standings by the end of that event will be crowned World Championship winners, with the Blitzboks emerging as the team to beat in the men’s competition.

But there’s plenty on the line for all teams, regardless of where they stand on the ladder, with core status for next season up for grabs. Teams are chasing a top eight finish to earn their place in the first division for 2026/26.

“We want to continue that,” Miller insisted.

“We know we’ve got tweaks to make and we know we can better our performance, string together a few more pieces and hopefully tie a nice bow at the end of it.”