Olympic women's rugby sevens champs New Zealand see potential in China

New Zealand defeated Canada 19-12 in the women's rugby sevens final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on Tuesday to repeat as gold medalists, after previously winning the event at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.

In an interview with CGTN Sports Scene's Greg Laffradi, New Zealand's Risi Pouri-Lane and Michaela Blyde shared their feelings about winning gold again in Paris, the difficulties they had to face to do so and their observations on the Chinese team they beat in the quarterfinals.

Pouli-Lane and Sarah Hirini co-captained New Zealand at the Paris Olympics and that was a new role for the former.

"Risi has been someone who has stepped into some very big shoes," Blyde said. "Obviously, with Sarah tearing her ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] in December, we had to really get in behind Risi and support her. It's a huge role at a young age at a very crucial moment, well, a time period of our career preparing for the Olympic Games. But Risi's just someone who does, the one percent is really, really well."

Rugby is a very physical sport, which means players often get injured both in practice and on the field. The two players are no exceptions, with bruises and scars all over their bodies.

"That's the nature of the game. You get all these bruises and cuts and scars and whatnot and gashes," Blyde said. "But you know, when you think of what you've got to do on the field, it's about who can be mentally and physically the toughest."

New Zealand beat China 55-5 in the quarterfinals at the Paris Games. Though it was a big win, both Pouri-Lane and Blyde believe the Chinese team has plenty of potential.

"The score definitely doesn't reflect the talent that's in the Chinese team. They've got a lot of skill and natural talent in that team," Pouri-Lane said. "They've actually made us work for that, when it wasn't an easy win, although that's not what the score said. But now you give them a few years on the World Series and they'll definitely be a very competitive team. They've already made a few upsets on this Olympic campaign, so I'm really excited to see how they continue on their growth."

China came in sixth in the women's rugby sevens event in Paris, achieving their best-ever showing at the Olympics.