Women’s rugby heats up for Ruby Tui
The world sevens player-of-the-year has made a welcome return to the 15s game for the Farah Palmer Cup. David Long reports.
World Rugby’s sevens player-ofthe-year Ruby Tui has cherished going back to her first love this season.
With there being no locked-in plans on when the world sevens series will return, Tui has thrown her lot in with Counties Manukau Heat in this year’s Farah Palmer Cup, making her debut for the province against North Harbour yesterday.
The 28-year-old wing, who has played 158 games and scored 56 tries for New Zealand on the sevens circuit, is Counties’ key signing.
She has previously played for
Canterbury, but decided Counties would be a good fit for her in 2020.
‘‘ With everything going on with sevens, I wasn’t sure if I was going to play FPC,’’ Tui said.
‘‘There were a couple of personal things and there are also a lot of good teams out there, and I’d only ever played for Canterbury.
‘‘So it was a big decision, but being up these ways, living in Tauranga, working in Auckland a lot with Sky and also having family in Papakura, I thought maybe it could happen, and Counties made it work.
‘‘I feel really grateful in getting the chance to play.’’
Tui is clearly regarded as one of the best sevens’ players in the world, and with the way sevens and 15s rugby have evolved, the skill sets for each variant of the game are getting more specialised.
However, Tui should be a great asset to Counties this season and said 15s rugby has always been special for her.
‘‘When I first found women’s rugby back in Christchurch in 2010, it was 15s,’’ she said.
‘‘There was no sevens at all and that’s where I first fell in love with the game, beginning at the University of Canterbury.
‘‘ In 2012 and 2013, I had to make the big decision with the Olympics coming along.
‘‘ But it [ 15s] is still my first love and the reason why I chose rugby. It’s still really important and the Black Ferns’ 15s are an amazing team with a huge legacy.’’ After this year’s FPC, there’s a fair amount of uncertainty over what’s next for the players.
New Zealand Rugby is trying to get a test programme in place for the Black Ferns, while working around the border restrictions.
For the sevens’ players, there’s likely to be a provincial competition later this year and an Oceania Invitational tournament in early 2021, where the build-up will start for the Tokyo Olympics.
Tui has an open mind on playing for the Black Ferns later this year.
‘‘ All of the girls are talking about it, but in these uncertain times, you can’t look past the FPC, for the sevens or Black Ferns’ national teams,’’ she said.
‘‘ You can’t make decisions that far in advance, you have to look at what the opportunities are, and for a lot of us that’s the FPC right now, including myself.
‘‘I’m concentrating on the Heat and if I can contribute anything on or off the field then that would be massive for me.’’ For the past couple of years Tui has been part of Sky TV’s rugby commentary team, but her new commitment to Counties is now her top priority.
‘‘Last year I just commentated the FPC, because I was playing sevens and that was how I juggled it then. Right now in my career I
‘‘All of the girls are talking about it, but in these uncertain times, you can’t look past the FPC, for the sevens or Black Ferns’ national teams.’’ Ruby Tui
want to be playing and Counties have given me that opportunity.
‘‘It means so much to me that they’ve given me a shot.
‘‘ I’ll keep practicing my commentary, but right now, playing is the priority.’’