The Black Ferns Sevens are relishing the pressure of returning to the World Series as the reigning Olympic champions - even if it does put a target on their backs.
Victory in Tokyo last year gave the Black Ferns Sevens their elusive Olympic crown, after dominating the Sevens World Series on top of their World Cup and Commonwealth Games titles in recent years.
Thanks to COVID-19, the Black Ferns Sevens haven't played in the World Series for more than two years, but will make their comeback at this weekend's tournament in Langford, Canada.
And even though New Zealand are always going to enter tournaments as the team to beat, the Black Ferns Sevens' status as Olympic gold medallists will only add to their opponents' desire to beat them.
But for captain Sarah Hirini, pressure to win in the black jersey is par for the course.
"We're going into this tournament as Olympic champions," Hirini said.
"I know we're a different team, and probably have grown a lot since then, but we've always had a target on our back playing in the black jersey.
"That's just a given when we put the jersey on. Now that we're in the black jersey with a gold medal, it probably adds to that."
New Zealand's COVID-enforced absence from the 2022 World Series has left the Black Ferns Sevens watching on for the first four rounds of action.
And while teams like leaders Australia are battle-hardened from tournament victories in Dubai and Seville, those wins have come without playing against arguably the most dominant sevens side ever seen.
For the Black Ferns Sevens though, the opportunity to test themselves in competition after months of playing practice matches against themselves is one they're not shying away from.
"We get to play the best in the world every single day, and to have the opportunity to then play other teams, it's probably a lot nicer than competing against each other.
"It's going to be awesome for us to showcase the work that has been done, and for us it's lucky the teams haven't been able to watch us since the Olympics.
"Us watching four tournaments of them - and them watching none of us - might help us a little bit."
