Portia Woodman-Wickliffe with supporters after the Black Ferns' semifinal win at Stade de France in Paris. Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
It's the farewell party that retiring Black Ferns sevens legends Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Tyla King had been hoping for.
The Black Ferns Sevens are set to secure New Zealand's first medal of the Paris Olympic Games, after winning their way through to this morning's final at Stade de France.
New Zealand will meet Canada in the gold medal showdown, which will be the final act in Woodman-Wickliffe and King's storied sevens careers. Both players announced in the lead-up to the Games that they are retiring from international sevens after this campaign.
Tyla King, on the left, acknowledges the crowd at Stade de France. Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
There could be further announcements to come, as a generation of stars, who have been together since NZ Rugby first established a women's sevens programme in 2012, contemplate their futures.
The meaning of the occasion - getting to play in a gold medal match in front of 66,000 fans at Stade de France - was evident on Black Ferns' co-captain Sarah Hirini's face as she walked into the mixed zone following her side's 24-12 win over the USA earlier this morning.
Hirini, who fought her way back from a serious knee injury to be back in time to make the team for Paris, broke down in tears when asked what the result meant to her side.
"A bit emotional actually, happy tears just proud of the group," she said.
"I suppose I get serious at times and don't really take things in, and out there I got to look around and man it's amazing.
"I'm living my dream, my whānau is here, my husband is here and my niece and nephew are in the crowd and they get to experience the things that I get to do.... I'm just f**king stoked to be honest."
It will be the Black Ferns third straight Olympic final. They won silver in Rio in 2016, where the sport made its debut on the Olympic programme, before their "redemption" in Tokyo three years ago, with a gold medal win over France.
It was thought this morning's final would be the Ferns' shot at "pay back" against Australia - the side that upstaged them in Rio. The final was expected to be a trans-Tasman affair, with New Zealand and Australia heavily favoured to win their respective semifinals.
But for an early scare when the USA opened the scoring at Stade de France to take a 5-0 lead, the Black Ferns lived up to their favourites billing, dictating the proceedings.
Canada then ripped up the script in the second semifinal, beating Australia 21-12 to pull off a seismic upset.
The result left the Australians, who finished fifth in Tokyo, visibly distraught having squandered a 12-0 lead.
Hirini, who did not know which side the Ferns would be facing in the final at the time she spoke to press in the mixed zone, said New Zealand were ready for either opponent.
She was confident her side would be able to put the emotion of the occasion aside and "put on a show" in the final.
