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By Joe Porter of RNZ

• Jorja Miller is ready to push for a place at this year’s Rugby World Cup.
• Miller, Stacey Waaka and Risi Pouri-Lane have joined the Black Ferns for the Pacific Four Series.
• New Zealand defence coach Steve Jackson said the sevens players have much to learn for the XVs game.

She concedes she has a lot to learn, but Jorja Miller is ready to push for a place at this year’s Rugby World Cup.

The Black Ferns Sevens star has made the switch back to XVs before the showpiece tournament, which starts in England in August. Miller has been picked in the Black Ferns squad for the Pacific Four Series alongside fellow New Zealand Sevens players Risi Pouri-Lane, Stacey Waaka, Theresa Setefano and Dhys Faleafaga.

Miller, Waaka and Pouri-Lane joined the Black Ferns this week before Saturday’s clash with Canada in Christchurch, after missing last weekend’s win over Australia in the opening Pacific Four match in Newcastle.

“It’s really exciting for me. I started playing fifteens, so to be back in this group and playing this game is really exciting. We got to try on the black jersey yesterday for photos, which was really exciting,” Miller said.

New Zealand’s Jorja Miller (right) is comforted by teammate Stacey Waaka during their Sevens World Series quarter-final in Perth against Australia. Photo / RNZ

“Me and Rissi were pretty over the moon being here for the first time. Hopefully we get a chance to put that jersey on this year.”

Waaka has won two World Cups with the Black Ferns XVs, while Feleafaga played two tests in 2021 and came off the bench for her third cap last Saturday in Newcastle.

Miller and Pouri-Lane are uncapped at test level. They seem certain to play at some point during the Pacific Four, though it’s unclear if that will be against Canada this weekend or against the United States the following week at North Harbour Stadium, the Black Ferns’ final match of the series.

“They will get game time, it just depends on when,” Black Ferns defence coach Steve Jackson said.

“We’ve got a couple more days to get through [before team naming], so we’ll see how we go.”

Jackson said the sevens players would be ready to play “in terms of their physicality and their strength and conditioning” but said they had plenty to learn in terms of adapting to the XVs game and the Black Ferns’ style of play.

“They only came in on Sunday night,” Jackson said.

“Understanding our attack, defensive systems. You know, there’s a lot more to go through in a fifteens game than there is in a sevens game. We’ve got different variations in lineouts, different numbers in lineouts, defensive walls etc. It goes on. So there’s a lot more learning to be done this week.

“We really want to set them up to succeed. We don’t want to set them up to go out there and not be a hundred per cent confident.”

Miller understands there is plenty to absorb but she’s quick to make it clear she started out in XVs and has played plenty of rugby union.

“A lot of learning, but it’s exciting. At the end of the day, it’s just rugby,” the 21-year-old said.

Miller says her biggest challenge switching back to XVs is adapting to the different requirements of being a forward there. Photo / RNZ

“We have been putting pen to paper [doing homework], but the girls really support us out there and just back our abilities to perform.”

Miller concedes moving into the forward pack in XVs will be her biggest challenge.

“Coming into the forwards, it will be the physicality. I’m used to sevens, used to little bodies and heaps of space.

“Now it’s kind of the hit-them-ups, the bigger bodies, the big tackles, but I think that excites me, being an openside flanker. I love that stuff. I love the dirty work around the rucks and getting over the ball. So, yeah, I’m excited for that.”

Miller, from Timaru, will have plenty of fans in the stands in Christchurch if she does make her Black Ferns XVs debut.

“It’s nice to come into camp in Christchurch and be close to my family,” she said.

“I went to school up here, so to catch up with a lot of friends, it’s been cool.”

Saturday’s clash with Canada shapes as a grudge match after the Black Ferns were beaten by the North Americans last year in Christchurch.

That 22-19 defeat meant New Zealand failed to retain their Pacific Four title and also robbed the Black Ferns of their World No 2 ranking.

Jackson said redemption has played a role in the build-up to this weekend’s test, though it hasn’t dominated it.

“We don’t like to lose. I know that the players will be up for it. They will have that little bit between their teeth and a little bit of redemption and there’ll be that feeling of payback and those sorts of things.

“First and foremost, they’ve got to concentrate on the things that we’ve been working on this week. If they can do those really well, hopefully we’ll get the outcome that we’re looking for.”

– RNZ