Tyla Nathan-Wong will captain the Black Ferns Sevens as they seek to negotiate a tricky last two events in their quest to regain the World Series crown from close rivals Australia.
New Zealand have lost captain Sarah Goss, Portia Woodman and Kelly Brazier to the Black Ferns 15s programme, which will soon kick off in the lead-up to August Women's Rugby World Cup, so they will do well to maintain their 10-point lead against an Australian side not too disrupted by their 15s programme.
The countdown starts in Langford, Canada, next weekend. Theresa Fitzpatrick is included, though she will be released back to the Black Ferns straight after the tournament and will not play the final event in France late next month. There is still a decent mix of pace and experience, though, with the likes of Niall Williams, Michaela Blyde, Ruby Tui and Kat Whata-Simpkins prominent, so all is not lost.
"Many of our experienced players are moving over to the Black Ferns for the next couple of months so it has given us the opportunity to look a bit deeper into our talent pool. It's created opportunities for players with less game time over the World Series to step up for the last two tournaments," says head coach Allan Bunting.
"While many of these players have been in our wider team environment this year, injury or other factors have ruled them out of selection. So our training-camp this week has been about whanau. We've welcomed the new players and given the team clarity, confidence and courage to express themselves and front every challenge.
