World Cup too hard to pass up
Ruby Tui on switch: ‘I had to put the dream on hold for a decade but it’s been a dream since I first started’
Ruby Tui has done it all with the hugely successful Black Ferns Sevens. So, when it came to switching to the team’s XV-a-side counterparts, there were some serious — and not so serious — factors to be weighed up.
“If I’m honest, I’m just getting sick of [the Sevens players’] jokes, eh. They’re just getting really repetitive.
“But nah everybody, even all of us Sevens players, our first rugby is XVs and it’s always the beginning of a dream.
“I had to put the dream on hold for a decade but it’s been a dream since I first started.”
Tui was one of seven new caps named in a 31-player Black Ferns squad for next month’s Pacific Four Series against Australia, Canada and the US.
Jokes of all kinds aside, Olympic gold medallist Tui said she was delighted to be in the position to choose between the two formats.
“What a dilemma to be in,” Tui said.
“There are two amazing New Zealand national rugby teams in this country and I’m up there with all of them and I can’t choose. It’s such a hard decision.
“For this year, a home World Cup, I just want to be part of this huge, historic moment.”
But not every player who wanted that opportunity would get it.
The surprise to many in Wednesday’s announcement was the omission of both incumbent Black Ferns captain Les Elder and vice-captain Eloise Blackwell.
Assistant coach Wes Clarke explained by saying some players have had “niggles” or been impacted by Covid, and this would allow them time to get their bodies right.
As for Elder specifically, and her chances of returning for the World Cup, Clarke appeared to keep the door open.
“Les has got a clear plan. She’s extremely hard working . . . a smart human, a quality human [so] once she sorts out a few niggles etcetera.
“She doesn’t have injuries, I want to make that clear but she’s had some disruption in terms of her preparation and we want to make sure she’s got the best opportunity to put her best foot forward.”
With Elder omitted, the captaincy reins had been handed to 27-year-old fiveeighth Ruahei Demant.
It was putting it mildy to say the Auckland inside back, who hails from the small Bay of Plenty town of Omaio in the Ōpōtiki District, was surprised by the news. “Shocked, and I actually thought it was a joke because I was in complete disbelief.” But Demant’s promotion was no shock at all to Tui. “There’s people that walk into a room and they know who they are, and they are kind, good people. Lu is one of those people. “It’s actually a huge honour to able to follow her into battle.”
The Black Ferns are attempting to close the gap on their European rivals as the World Cup looms.
Key to doing that — moving on from the damning results of the recent cultural review.
And with the clock ticking towards their Cup opener on October 8, Clarke said there was a balance to be struck.
“We’ve got to acknowledge that it’s happened.
“There are some wounds that are still probably open in a few places
. . . we’ve done a bit of healing but ultimately we’ve got to start looking forward as well.
“We’ve got to remember some of the young players coming through weren’t involved in any of that and we’ve got to move them along.
“We’ve got a clear goal that we’ve got to get to.
“I think we’ve got [five] months ahead, we probably don’t want to spend three of those looking at the past.”
The first test of that progress arrives when the Pacific Four series kicks off on June 6.