To visit Japan has been a unique experience that has allowed us to know a different culture. 

Being able to arrive a week before we are expected in Kitakyushu to work on our recovery and preparation has been very good for us as a team, both on and off the field. We will be ready for the tournament this weekend.

Having spent time ahead of the tournament week allowed us to embrace the great hospitality of the Japanese, their food and culture. Through our coach Reuben Samuel, thanks to his great contacts he has all over the place, we were very well looked after by the Urayasu Prefecture, at the hotel and our training venues. Everything was perfect.

George Murasugi, Reuben’s friend, was the key to all of this and we can only thank him and all of those who contributed so much for this to be a key week in our preparation for the tournament and the remainder of the season.

To return so much generosity and friendship, we hosted a coaching clinic for about four hours with kids and teenage girls. With the younger group it was more about fun and games and with the older girls we worked on finer details of rugby. All of this was done exchanging experiences and getting to know each other. These are always unforgettable moments.

We have a huge Japanese community in Brazil – our team-mate and friend Paula Ishibashi is proof of this. 

Being able to go to Tokyo, see the large numbers walking the streets and how they behave and what that represents was an eye-opener and very interesting. To go from the crowded streets into the temples and feel peace is one of those opportunities I got to enjoy thanks to rugby and for which I can only be thankful. 

Crucial tournament for Brazil

I am very happy to be in Japan for the first time. What I like most is that it is thanks to rugby that I get to live things like these.

That first week was all about preparation and it all came to an end with a scrimmage against a strong local side in which we managed to put into action all the things we want to carry on to the field in the tournament.

We come from a long break, the biggest in the season, and that allowed us to work on our shortcomings, more so after a tournament in Las Vegas that was not very good for us.

We are now fully focused on this fourth tournament, which will be crucial ahead of the final stretch of the season and events in Langford and Clermont-Ferrand.

This first full season on the women’s sevens series has been very good and important for our development, a time of huge growth.

We have not taken as many points as we were hoping to, but we are very clear – we want to stay on the circuit next season.

We don’t have much margin for error and we know it all depends on us.

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