Olympic gold medalist Shiray Kaka has reacted to the Black Ferns Sevens’ heartbreaking defeat in the first match of the HSBC SVNS series in Dubai last weekend.
The Black Ferns Sevens lost 28-24 to Australia in the Dubai SVNS final, but had remained unbeaten throughout the tournament before the defeat.
With the second match of the series currently underway in Cape Town, coach Cory Sweeney and the team didn’t dwell long on last weekend’s results.
Currently recovering from the third anterior cruciate ligament surgery of his rugby career, Kaka (133 caps for the Kiwi Sevens) is spending most of his week in the gym rehabilitating ahead of his future return.
“I am currently nine weeks into my ACL surgery recovery. Yes, I was third time lucky to have done that. It’s a slightly different journey this time,” Kaka told the official All Blacks YouTube channel via podcast.
“I am in no hurry. I’m just making sure my body is okay. There are a few months left until I can play again. But yeah, we’ll see what happens.”
The Olympic gold medalist, who was part of the 2020 Tokyo Black Ferns Sevens team, says last weekend’s loss to Australia was disappointing but he is more interested in how they will react as a team this week.
“I actually checked in with them and confirmed, the most important thing after a loss is how the team comes together, how they team up and how they go out on the pitch,” Kaka said on SportsNation’s morning show with Scotty & Scotty. easy.
The Black Ferns Sevens team will be out for revenge in Cape Town after a crushing defeat at the hands of Arch Seven rivals Australia. Especially after both teams convincingly topped their respective pools on day one.
The Black Ferns cruised past China comfortably 40-10 after tries from new Sevens stars Katelyn Vahaakolo, Dhys Faleafaga, Mahina Paul and Risi Pouri-Lane.
The second match of the day against New Zealand was a close contest against Japan, ending 22-12 after 7 attempts.
With the Black Ferns Sevens taking on France in the semi-finals at 12.12am (NZT) on Monday, the star-studded line-up faces either Australia in a rematch of last week’s final or the USA team that topped their group pool. You get the chance to do it. D featuring the UK and Fiji.
Kaka believes the Black Ferns Sevens’ performance will fall into place if the team’s links remain positive for Scotty Stevenson.
“Every time I talk to them, that’s my main focus. And it’s going well, that’s the biggest thing for me, then the rugby will spill over. So I’m hearing good news from them. “I heard the girls are still tied up.”
“I heard they are connected.”
