FROM RIVERTON TO RWC FINAL Rule having the time of her life
Five years ago, Amy Rule did not believe women’s rugby was a thing; it was a sport for males, she thought. Now she is about to line up for her country in a Rugby World Cup final. Logan Savory reports.
Acouple of years back, Amy Rule took a moment to map out a fiveyear rugby plan.
At that time, she circled the Black Ferns squad for the 2025 Rugby World Cup to be played in England as a target.
As we now know, Rule was underselling herself at that point. Her already rapid rise in rugby has been sped up even further.
Rule discovered rugby almost by accident in 2017. She was in her final year at Aparima College, in the coastal Southland town of Riverton, when it happened.
At that time, rowing was her sport. Rule admits to thinking women’s rugby was not a thing; it was a sport for males, she thought.
That changed when she was invited to attend a Southland women’s sevens team training.
By the end of her debut 2017 season, she had played for 10 different teams. Rule could not get enough of rugby and it quickly emerged that she was quite good at it as well.
In that first season, the tighthead prop was fast-tracked into the Otago Spirit squad to play in the Farah Palmer Cup.
The decision to attend that training that day in 2017 remains a life lesson, Rule says.
‘‘I never thought women’s rugby was a thing, so it was my biggest learning in life that if something is unusual, but you have an interest in it, you have just got to give it a go because you never know where it might lead you.’’
Rule’s decision to try something different triggered a chain of events that has led her to a World Cup final against England in Auckland tonight.
It is an occasion that will come sooner than she initially predicted.
‘‘It still blows my mind today,’’ she says of how quickly her rugby rise has taken place.
‘‘I had a five-year plan. I was aiming for the 2025 World Cup so this opportunity is so surreal. I am really grateful for it.’’
While it was as a year 13 pupil at Aparima College that Rule fell in love with rugby, it was when she shifted north to Canterbury a couple of years later that she become aware the sport was much more than a social pastime for her.
It was in 2019 when it started to get more serious.
‘‘When I moved to Christchurch, I discovered the high-performance side [of rugby], I fell in love with that. It took me a good couple of years, because rugby, especially at club level down south, there is a lot of social side to it.
‘‘So moving to Christchurch was a real eye-opener and I could have gone either way. I could have said, ‘actually I just love the social side’; the after-match function in the clubrooms and playing footy like that.
‘‘But I am fortunate that I fell in love with my sleep habits, what I eat, eating to fuel myself, my mental skills and my move to Christchurch was a big part of that – just the environment I was put in.
‘‘I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.’’
Rule has some serious rugby IQ guiding her game at the moment, including former All Blacks scrum guru Mike Cron. Cron has joined the Black Ferns setup, alongside fellow former All Blacks coaches Graham Henry and Wayne Smith.
‘‘Crono is great, his coaching style is very subtle. He doesn’t want to overwhelm athletes . . . he lets players try to work it out themselves, learning through video, learning from the moments, learning off each other.
‘‘Probably the relationship with Crono is relaxed, you are just chatting away, and you find yourself asking questions. It gives you confidence learning off him.’’
Rule’s rise to a starting Black Fern has come at a time when there has also been a massive spike in interest in the women’s game.
During Rule’s debut tour to the United Kingdom at the end of last year, the Black Ferns played in front of about 12,000 people, which she thought was ‘‘insane’’ at the time.
Close to 36,000 turned up to watch New Zealand’s World Cup opener against Australia last month, and even more are expected to be at Eden Park for today’s final against England.
‘‘I can’t quite find the words to string together to describe just how incredible it is,’’ Rule says about the increased interest in women’s rugby.
‘‘We just love that people are loving the game. I think that has been the coolest thing out of it.
‘‘It has been all different types of people. People from all around the world, it has been kids, it has been adults, men and women. People are coming up to us and talking and being passionate about it in the way we are passionate about it.
‘‘It is the coolest feeling. Heading into a World Cup final, New Zealand is so proud of us and we are just so fortunate to have that . . . They are there to support us no matter what because they know we are going to give it our all.’’
The respect for women’s rugby jumped another level for most last Saturday night after close to 1 million people tuned in to watch a rugby epic when the Black Ferns beat France 25-24 in a semifinal thriller.
But it was much more than the close scoreline that enthralled onlookers. It was the speed and intensity that had people shuffling to the front of their armchairs and taking more notice.
Rule concedes she has never played in a game like that in terms of that speed and intensity.
‘‘I was having the time of my life; it is what I love to do is play rugby. So to be challenged like that with two quality rugby teams, and it was also such a cool atmosphere to be part of. The crowd was amazing.
‘‘The French are renowned for their defence and it felt like we were hitting one wall after another. You just keep ticking away and slowly get through.
‘‘It was just fortunate there were a few big moments in the last few minutes that went our way to be honest.’’
Next up is an even tougher challenge: England. After all, England have won 30 test matches in a row. A world record.
But Rule is more excited than daunted about the prospect of facing top seeds England in front of a likely record crowd for a women’s rugby game.
‘‘I play rugby for the pure enjoyment, I love the process of it and always wanting to get better, so doing that and also getting to do this [play in a rugby world cup final] just tops it off. It is the cherry on the top.’’
On top of the 40,000-plus people cheering on Rule and her Black Ferns team-mates tonight will be a proud bunch at the other end of the country.
There is a sense of excitement in Riverton, a town of about 6200 people. One of their own is about to shoot for global glory.
The Riverton Rugby Club will fling its doors open to all tonight for the townsfolk to come along and watch Rule and the Black Ferns play. ‘‘A lot of people have been a big part of my upbringing. I think about the jobs I have had, the teachers, the families,’’ Rule says.
‘‘[Riverton] is a small coastal farming community and there are so many connections. I am getting so many messages and I love that support.
‘‘All these people have supported me through all my stages as well; they all believed in me. So now to be where I am at, and do it for them, is really cool as well.’’
All eyes will be on Eden Park tonight as the Black Ferns aim for a world title while Rule adds another chapter to her remarkable rugby story.