Fighting fit Naoupu’s back in the green fold
THERE’S a reason Sene Naoupu is a perfect fit as an ambassador for Ireland Active’s fifth annual National Fitness Day. The Kiwi-born Ireland rugby international is throwing herself into contact sport again following a lockdown that provided her own health scare.
A neck injury sustained against Grand Slam champions England last February prompted a routine MRI scan but what was far from routine was the discovery of a tumour in her neck, leaving her with her own journey back to full health at a time when the world was in such a state of upheaval.
‘It was obviously a bit of a shock but I’m thankful that the experts in St Vincent’s were able to extract and excise the actual tumour and I can move on and look forward,’ she explained.
‘I’m conscious there are other people way worse off than me. I’m very conscious that some people are still waiting for surgery, some people are worse off from a health point of view and have family members that might be struggling at this time, too, so look, I’m grand. Really fortunate to be back training and back on my feet. I was able to start a walking programme three or four weeks after surgery,’ said Naoupu.
‘That’s why I love promoting this event because, literally, I had to start from walking. Building up into a slow jog and then into longer runs and building up to a point where I was able to train at national camp last weekend. I’m just really thankful that processes were in place and it was just a matter of doing the work.’
With the Six Nations now around the corner, and sport feeling its way back, she is asked if she could ever have imagined a 2020 like this.
‘It might be safe to say that no-one could have predicted 2020! It’s a big opportunity for us to put things in perspective but what’s always been there, what’s been one of the consistent things, is being active and I’m really proud to be part of the launch of the National Fitness Day.’
What role she plays for Ireland between now and year’s end she can’t say, only that her heart is set on trying to help Ireland qualify for the 2021 World Cup which is scheduled to take place in New Zealand in autumn of next year, with qualification games planned this side of Christmas. ‘Whether I’m there from a health point of view is one thing, and whether I’m there from a performance point of view is another. And we’ll see how that goes.’
Being able to train at national camp last weekend was a stepping stone, though the practical problems posed by Covid-19 mean she was not able to have a shower on site, with similar restrictions in place for team sport activity across the codes. ‘There is something put in temporarily, but not for that particular camp. They are brought in for the next camps, we’ve been told.’
For all the strides made by the Ireland rugby team in recent years, the controversy over the new jersey launch and Canterbury using images of models rather than the Ireland players themselves felt like an affront on so many levels, not least in a year when the 20x20 campaign sought to shine a light on sporting equality and participation and visibility. That the new men’s jersey was promoted using the profiles of current players only added to the sense of grievance. An apology quickly followed.
Naoupu (below) sees a silver lining in the episode. ‘I think it has provided an opportunity and a reminder, a great opportunity to ensure equal opportunity for girls and women in sport. Ensure that the visibility is there, because of the key message that sends. It’s a demographic that we so desperately need to encourage to stay in sport.’
She uses the example of Leinster and Harlequins being the first women’s club game to be played at Twickenham last December and as part of a double-header too with a men’s Premiership game. ‘It was a brave and courageous move from Adidas for us to have our historic fixture in England at Twickenham against Harlequins. That took some brave conversations that were aligned from players to commercial department, communications department and rugby development department, all which were aligned to that particular goal which we were able to achieve. ‘There are so many positive things to have come from what happened in that scenario and I’m looking forward to seeing how that is delivered.’