the Herald later reported Miller\u2019s was a hamstring issue.<\/a> <\/p>\nShe says it was a joint decision made by players and management not to explain the nature of the injuries, given they were in the biggest tournament the sport has to offer. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a conversation, but, you know, we\u2019re at a Rugby World Cup and you\u2019ve got to keep your cards close to your chest. I guess for me and the management, it wasn\u2019t about exposing what\u2019s happened to me, and kind of, if I do get ready to go for this weekend, then being able to target that. So, kind of more just, keeping it to ourselves and hopefully I can get back out there, quietly,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was funny just hearing from people at home, like, \u2018oh, you\u2019ve created a media storm, like everyone wants to know. But, nah, it was pretty crack up, a lot of speculation and people guessing this and that or whatever they reckon it is. It\u2019s all fun and games.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Jorja]()
Jorja Miller has been nominated for two World Rugby awards. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Miller could only watch from the stands as her teammates took to the field against Canada, looking to earn their spot in the Rugby World Cup final. <\/p>\n
Before the match even began, she was prepared for a tough evening in Bristol. She says Black Ferns attack coach Tony Christie spoke with her before the game and told her it was likely to be the toughest test of her career, and that proved to be the case. <\/p>\n
The Black Ferns were unable to match Canada\u2019s accuracy and consistency through 80 minutes and were ultimately relegated to the bronze medal match. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard sitting there, not being able to help the girls and serve the team on the field,\u201d she says <\/p>\n
\u201cI trusted everybody on that field, but it\u2019s just so different when you\u2019re sitting in the stands and you actually have no control over anything. It was a really weird situation and I hated it, to be honest, but it was what it was.\u201d <\/p>\n
It was one of the many lessons for the reigning New Zealand Rugby player of the year over the past few months, though she says most of those have come on the field. <\/p>\n
Having not featured in the 15-a-side game since playing for Canterbury in the Farah Palmer Cup four years ago at 17, she admits there has been plenty for her to pick up. <\/p>\n
That does, perhaps, make it all the more impressive as to just how much of an impact she has had. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me as a loose forward, I need to be physical, I need to make my tackles and be there for my team on defence. Whether that\u2019s comms, leading line speed, all of that stuff, but then also be able to be the opposite of that, and kind of play freely on the edges. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust bringing my strengths into the game from sevens, there\u2019s obviously less space, so you really need to make the most of all your opportunities, so just learning and kind of adjusting to that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Miller is hopeful of returning to the field for the side\u2019s last test of the tournament, which will see them play France on Saturday night, continuing to progress in her work with the medical team. <\/p>\n
So often referred to by pundits as the match no one wants to be a part of, Miller says the Black Ferns are going into the clash with France embracing the positive side of the contest. For one, it\u2019s another test match against a quality side and \u2013 with only five outings before the World Cup \u2013 game time is always welcome. <\/p>\n
But it is also an opportunity for the side to finish the tournament on the back of a high, should they be able to string a strong performance together. <\/p>\n
\u201cLike, if we got sent home after the game, I think would be have been, you know, emotions everywhere and feelings and stuff and not being able to actually close that chapter, so we\u2019re really excited for this opportunity to actually finish this how we want to, in the best way we can,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really cool opportunity. We\u2019re just focusing on really enjoying this last week together as a group and hopefully that produces some good rugby.\u201d <\/p>\n
Christopher Reive<\/a> joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAnd to be honest, still, I just really want to learn and don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m at my…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[95,10779,7022,10542,10541,1221,104,33733,25336,17935,111,139,69,90,213,2044,25361,377],"class_list":["post-37524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-and","tag-awards","tag-black","tag-cup","tag-ferns","tag-france","tag-injuries","tag-jorja","tag-lessons","tag-miller","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-sports","tag-time","tag-waste","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}