Kelly Brazier, who plays club rugby for Alhambra-Union, and has been playing for Otago since she was a schoolgirl, left last night for the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, to take part in an international sevens tournament with the national side this weekend.
Since the sport was accepted into the Olympic fold a couple of years ago, women's sevens has quickly grown and a circuit has been set up.
Brazier, who has just taken part in a tough five-day training camp at Mt Maunganui, went to a tournament in Houston last month, when New Zealand lost to eventual winner England in the semifinals.
The 23-year-old said the carrot at the end of the day was to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.
''Ultimately, that is the goal. But the immediate focus is to be picked for the tournament in Amsterdam and then on to Moscow when they play the World Cup this year.'' she said.
''I still want to play 15s. If I had to choose then I would want to play sevens but I'm keen to play both as long as I can. The contact you get in 15s really helps in the sevens game.''
The sport's inclusion in the Olympics has led to many countries becoming interested in the game, not just the traditional rugby-playing countries.
For the tournament this weekend, New Zealand has been drawn in a pool with Brazil, Tunisia and the Netherlands.
Brazier, who has earned the utility tag in the bigger version of the game, is also a jack of all trades in sevens.
''I am at the first receiver, or back at halfback and then sometimes out in the midfield. Just floating between the three. You've just got to learn more about all the roles and what has to be done for them.
"You get a lot more room in sevens, so you have to run a lot more.''
That brings a demand for higher fitness levels and there have been some tough training sessions over the past days for the New Zealand team.
''The first day we went down to the beach and did a whole lot of game simulations - playing for seven minutes and then having a one minute break and starting again. Then we had to so some fitness, carrying tyres above your head for like 80m and then 60m and down. That was hard work.''
Guangzhou has nearly 13 million people, and is about 120km northwest of Hong Kong. Downtown Guangzhou is going to be a long way from the North Ground, but Brazier should be back there soon enough, as she lines up for Alhambra-Union this season.
She is also eager to play for Otago again.
