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Tyla Nathan-Wong's full circle journey back to 15s was bittersweet
The Black Ferns wouldn’t have won the World Cup without their five sevens “superstars”.
Sarah Hirini, Ruby Tui, Portia Woodman, Theresa Fitzpatrick, and Stacey Fluhler scored 21 of the Black Ferns 44 tries at the tournament with Fluhler, Tui, and Fitzpatrick the only three try scorers in the 25-24 victory over France in the semi-final.
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Tyla Nathan-Wong (Ngapuhi) was a conspicuous absence from the sevens “superstars” cohort for the Ferns.
Nathan-Wong has played 52 of the 64 tournaments the Black Ferns Sevens have contested since 2012 winning six World Series titles, the World Cup in 2013 and 2018, and Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.
The halfback has scored 1179 points in the World Series and her 472 conversions are 153 ahead of the next-best player, Canadian Ghislaine Landry.
Nathan-Wong was in contention to join her Sevens sisters at the World Cup, but her fifteens test debut proved to be bittersweet. On August 20 Australia was slayed 52-5 in Christchurch but Nathan-Wong was the victim of an unfortunate injury.
“My debut was a full circle moment,” Nathan-Wong told RugbyPass.
“Sevens wasn’t really around when I started so the dream was to play fifteens. I don’t feel much pressure when I play Sevens. I’m used to big crowds. In Christchurch I was so nervous.
“The highlight apart from winning the game was doing the haka and having all those childhood emotions flow through me. My whole family and fiancé who’d literally arrived from London that day, were there to support me.
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“Unfortunately, I got a concussion but it’s still a very special moment.”
The concussion ruled her out of the World Cup Sevens in Cape Town in September, but Nathan-Wong could see something special was simmering in the Black Ferns. She was especially impressed by Director of Rugby Wayne Smith.
“He’s the kind of coach that doesn’t beat around the bush. He’ll call you out on the training field with good intentions. He always wants better from you. You’ll take it and then have a good yarn, cracking up afterward.
“The two teams have different styles but there is an underbelly of whanau and connection with each other which is very enjoyable and essential.”
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While the Black Ferns went on to win Rugby World Cup 2021 in November, Nathan-Wong was one of the few veterans left in the Black Ferns Sevens at the start of the 2022/23 World Series in Dubai.
When World Cup and Commonwealth Games champions Australia won Dubai, it suggested a powershift in sevens was permanent, Nathan-Wong disagrees.
“Aussie had gotten the better of us a few times but when you look at it, they were tight games. One missed tackle, one dropped pass, five or seven points that type of thing,” she explained.
“Watching the girls fall short at the World Cup Sevens was tough and then it happened again in Dubai, and it was like ‘oh man’ but there was this energy and belief about the young girls, and I knew if we could continue to grow and grow, we could get the win in Cape Town.”
The Black Ferns made the final in Cape Town. Two tries and three conversions by Nathan-Wong saw Australia thrashed 31-14.
In January the Black Ferns won the Hamilton and Sydney Sevens to surge to a dozen-point lead in the World Series standings.
“It was cool to see the younger generation step up when they had to. It’s a great blend of youth and experience at the moment.
“We got a good break over the holidays, refreshed, and reconnected with family which is important in this team. When the fifteens girls came back, we continued to grow and grow.
“There is good in-house competition, girls putting their hands up, pushing each other to get better, but we can’t settle. We must train hard and reset for Vancouver.
“I was 17 when I was first in the team and now you’ve got Jorja Miller who’s 19, Jazmin Hotham, and others who are going to be here for the next several years. When I started, I was nurtured by the likes of Huriana Manuel and Linda Itunu so it’s cool, to be in the position to be able to give back.”
“Bindi” Itunu is something of a legend and even hugged the King of England against royal protocol.
“I was there when she did it too. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. We were doing a workout in the gym, and Charles had to wipe his face because he got sweat all over him.
“Bindi is the kindest, loving, caring person but an absolute beast on the field who will put you on your butt if you’re stupid enough to run at her.”
The fifth leg of the World Sevens Series is in Vancouver from March 3 to 5.
Comments on RugbyPass
More useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
22 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
1 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
22 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
13 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
21 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
13 Go to commentsDissapointed that after 7 years Crusaders could not have found a coach that believed their system and improved on it. What was he expecting?
6 Go to comments