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National | Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games inclusion of Rugby Sevens will inspire future players - Nathan-Wong

For the first-time women's rugby sevens will be included at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast. The code will join two returning codes beach volleyball and basketball.

Black Ferns Sevens player Tyla Nathan-Wong says “I think there's been a massive spike in the growth of women's rugby in New Zealand and also around the world. I'm looking forward just to continue just to see where it goes.”

Nathan-Wong says it's not just a sport for men, “They need to watch us in the first place. We play the exact sport as the men. We can pass, tackle and kick and it's pretty incredible where women's rugby has come and where it's going. I'm looking forward to it.”

The Black Ferns Sevens are the current World Series holders, however, Nathan-Wong says it is only the beginning for women in the sport.

“The way the Black Ferns performed at the World Cup coming home champions five-time world champions is incredible. Our sevens program's been going too, it's just up on the rise for women's rugby and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”

“You've got all these young new kids coming through. Their choice now as a young girl is to play rugby instead of these other sports. So it's credible to know that they've got the opportunity to play rugby and actually be paid to do it.”

The team are on break for two weeks and reassemble on the 3rd of January.

“We're looking forward to it and all the girls are working very hard at the moment. There's a bit of a break over Christmas so doing our individual training and looking forward to next year. We have our nationals and it's off to Sydney for the second leg of the World Series and coming up in April we've got the Commonwealth Games.”