All Blacks Sevens representative Kurt Baker says the side's 28-21 World Series victory over Fiji on Monday was “really important” for his inexperienced teammates.
The win marked the Sevens team’s first in the World Rugby Sevens Series since March of 2020, setting them up nicely for the looming Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament between September 9-11 in South Africa.
While New Zealand won the final match of the Series, Australia claimed their maiden World Series title as the overall championship winners.
Despite reaching his own milestone in the win over Fiji – 50 tournament appearances for the All Blacks Sevens – Baker believes the victory was most important for the side’s newer players heading into the Cup’s opener in 10 days' time.
“We’ve got a different group to what we had in 2020 so we’ve got a lot of newer guys … that haven’t played a lot of tournaments,” Baker told SENZ Breakfast.
“For them to know what winning feels like two weeks out from a World Cup in arguably the most rugby-mad country in the world, I think it’s really important.
“Obviously it’s a knock-out tournament so you lose one (and) you’re done, so I think this weekend was probably a good dress rehearsal for it.”
Having debuted in 2008, Baker has seen plenty of success in the black jersey.
When asked about the differences between the 2022 squad and teams of the past, Baker says it’s their “carefree” nature of play that sets this side apart from the rest.
“We’re probably a new, young, exciting team is how I’d explain our team now,” Baker explained.
“We’ve played a lot of carefree sort of Sevens of late but I think we’re starting to click around the way we want to play the game and (what) we think works for us.”
The All Blacks Sevens will hope they can carry momentum and experience from their recent win as they head into the World Cup, with the opening day of play set for September 9.