‘‘I’ve got to give demands’’ Teen first-five Patricia Maliepo unafraid to call shots as national debut looms

She has only just turned 18, but Patricia Maliepo has no hesitation telling more experienced team-mates what to do on the field. By

The role of a first five-eighth is to run games of rugby and direct their team-mates around the park.

But when Patricia Maliepo was starting out with the Auckland Storm in the Farah Palmer Cup as a 16-year-old two years ago, it took her a while to find her voice.

‘‘The first couple of games for Auckland, I was still at the bottom level of telling all the girls what to do and what not to do,’’ she said.

‘‘But as time flew, they told me that is my job, and I’ve got to do it and make it easier for them to know what’s going on, and I think over time, I’ve just grown into that I am the game driver, and I’ve got to give demands.’’

Maliepo, 18, is only in her first year out of high school, having attended Edgewater College, then Southern Cross Campus, but she has already established herself as one of New Zealand’s most promising playmakers.

In her debut season with the Storm in 2019, she played mostly at first-five, scoring three tries in eight games, but in 2020 she moved between first-five and fullback, scoring three in seven games.

That flexibility is a feather in her cap, especially as one of her provincial team-mates is Ruahei Demant, who started in the No 10 jersey in all six Black Ferns’ tests in 2019 – their most recent tests.

Maliepo often lined up at fullback for the Storm last year, with Demant at first-five, though she has also played first-five with Demant in the centres. She said having the opportunity to learn off someone with that kind of experience was ‘‘unreal’’.

‘‘She’s a playmaker just like me and we learn off each other and get tips off each other.

‘‘I think that’s the best part of it, learning to be the best in our positions.’’

Maliepo was handed a Black Ferns contract in 2020, after her first season of domestic action, but didn’t get the chance to make her debut, as the international calendar became one of the many casualties

She had to settle for a pair of matches against the Black Ferns for the New Zealand Barbarians, where she was one of the standout players, but she is hoping she will have the chance to pull on the black jersey later this year, where there could be as many as six tests on the cards.

Maliepo was speaking at the All Blacks Experience in downtown Auckland, where visitors now have the option of facing the Black Ferns haka on a four-metre high screen. She has had a taste of what that is like in real life with the Barbarians, and said it would be a special day when she gets to perform it herself. of the

Covid-19 pandemic.

‘‘I think probably beforehand I’ll be in tears.

‘‘With the mana and the legacy of the players that have been through and done that haka, it would just mean so much to me and to my family.’’

While Maliepo is yet to earn her first Ferns cap, she has attended plenty of camps and is firmly in the mix for the Rugby World Cup, especially now that it has been pushed back from this year to October and November next year, giving her an extra 13 months to grow her game.

‘‘I’ve just got to stay focused and work hard,’’ she said.

‘‘With the extension of the build-up into next year, I think it just gives me more time to learn more and have a better chance of making that squad.’’

Before she has to worry about making the step up to the international stage, Maliepo has her third Farah Palmer Cup campaign with the Storm to focus on, starting on July 17 with a match against the Bay of Plenty Volcanix.

Auckland were beaten by Canterbury in the final in her first season, then lost to the red-andblacks in the semifinals in her second season, where teams were split into north and south pools, instead of the Premiership and Championship.

The normal format is back in 2021 and Maliepo said she was looking forward to pulling on the blue-and-white hoops once more.

‘‘I think each game is just about learning, and you improve as time goes by and having all the older Black Ferns’ sisters in the 09, that’s real helpful.’’

A place in the Black Ferns won’t be the only thing up for grabs in the Farah Palmer Cup,

‘‘With the mana and the legacy of the [Ferns] players that have done that haka, it would just mean so much to me and to my family.’’