Tokyo Olympics: Michaela Blyde hat-trick rescues Black Ferns sevens in comeback win over Great Britain

Ruby Tui's sloppy knock-on from kick-off and her immediate reaction after the Black Ferns sevens survived a major scare at the Tokyo Olympics against Great Britain said it all.

“There's not enough hand sanitiser in the whole of Japan to clean that act up. That was just absolutely terrible. There's nothing like your captain [Sarah Hirini] looking you in the eye and telling you to clean your act up that makes you clean your act up,” Tui told Sky Sport.

The Black Ferns sevens ended the first day of their Olympic campaign by overcoming the British women’s team 26-21, after trailing 21-0 inside five minutes, with a hat-trick from Taranaki speedster Michaela Blyde rescuing the Kiwis on Thursday night at Tokyo Stadium.

Tui said their skipper, Hirini, gave them a stern message as they trailed 21-14 at half-time.

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“Have you ever been pūkana'd before? It was more the eyes. She just told us that's not good enough, that's not doing the black jersey proud,” Tui told Sky Sport.

“Jokes aside, this means a heck of a lot. We've been away from our families for a long time.

“The cool thing is we had each other's backs, put our hands up, said sorry [and] looked each other in the eye through all those mistakes.”

Great Britain still led 21-19 in the final minute and were close to a shock win over the gold medal favourites. Earlier, the Brits edged the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 14-12 and avoided a surprise loss themselves.

However, after the British lost Jasmine Joyce to a late yellow card for a high tackle on Portia Woodman, a New Zealand try seemed inevitable and Blyde burst through a gap to complete the comeback in the dying seconds for a desperately tense victory.

When it mattered, under immense pressure, the Black Ferns sevens executed their skills to beat a determined British effort and secure their second win to advance to the quarterfinals after earlier easing past Kenya 29-7 on Thursday.

New Zealand, the No 1 seeds, top group A and will need to win their final group match against ROC on Friday at 2:30pm (NZ time) to secure first place for a more favourable quarterfinal draw.

But the manner of their first-half performance will not have pleased co-coaches Allan Bunting and Cory Sweeney, who have been preparing the players for years to peak for pinnacle tournaments and none are as big as the Olympics.

The Black Ferns sevens are targeting their first Olympic gold to complete the quartet of titles after winning the Sevens World Cup and the Commonwealth Games in 2018, while also being the last winners of the World Series before its shutdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They have dominated the game since finishing with silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Blyde, the hat-trick hero, said they would be stepping up before facing the Russians.

“First, our tackles weren't good enough,” Blyde told Sky Sport.

“[That was] nowhere near good enough for Olympic level. I guarantee our tackles in our warm-up tomorrow will be 10 times more intense than it was today.”

After a resounding victory against a dogged Kenyan outfit in their opening match, the Black Ferns sevens were stunned, trailing 21-0 when Great Britain converted their first three attacks into tries for Helena Rowland, Megan Jones and Joyce.

New Zealand’s defence was still on the bus outside the stadium and simple mistakes from experienced players, such as Tui and Woodman, invited pressure.

Blyde's crucial first-half double brought New Zealand back into the contest before the break, as she found space on the flanks and was too quick for the Brits.

Tyla Nathan-Wong reduced the deficit to two points in the second half with a sprint to the line, then Blyde’s pace sealed the deal with 30 seconds left.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's biggest challengers for gold, defending Olympic champions Australia, started their campaign with more comfortable wins against hosts Japan (48-0) and China (26-10), although the Chinese tested the Aussies and scored two brilliant breakaway tries.

Australia top group C and face a showdown for first with the unbeaten United States.

France top group B after two wins but Canada and Fiji could still topple the French on Friday.

The quarterfinals of the women’s tournament start on Friday from 8:30pm (NZ time).