Campbell Burnes on Rugby

Former Manu Samoa No 10 and freelance rugby scribe Campbell Burnes sees 2023 as a pivotal year for women’s rugby in New Zealand, so the game needs Ruby Tui to play.

Here’s a list of recent Black Ferns who will not be playing for the team in 2023 and indeed will not be playing 15s this year: Kendra Cocksedge (retired), Les Elder (retired), Renée Wickliffe (retired), Aleisha-Pearl Nelson (retired due to injury), Chelsea Semple (pregnant), Aldora Itunu (new mother), Tyla Nathan-Wong, Theresa Fitzpatrick, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Stacey Fluhler, Sarah Hirini and Kelly Brazier (all sevens).

No less than six of that list were RWC-winning Black Ferns. The team has a new coach and will need to do a fair chunk of rebuilding just months after a red-letter home World Cup.

Did we mention Ruby Tui? As of the time of writing, she had not declared her hand for rugby in 2023. But we know she is not playing Super Rugby Aupiki for the Chiefs Manawa, having helped them to the inaugural title in 2022. For now, sevens is off the menu. As reported in Rugby News magazine, she was less than impressed at missing the cut for the Commonwealth Games, so it seems 15s is now her game, though the NRLW is clamouring for her services too.

Tui is not everyone’s cup of tea but has proven to be a sparkling, charismatic presence in a Black Ferns team that won a legion of new fans. Her book, Straight Up, detailing her raw and often startling back story, is easily the best-selling women’s sports book in New Zealand history. It is not an exaggeration to say that she was the most recognisable woman in the country behind the Prime Minister for several months.

Yet Tui was much more than some peripheral figure in the Black Ferns, good for a timely quote or to spark the crowd into song. She almost became the face of women’s rugby in New Zealand, no mean feat given she had never played for the Black Ferns until June. And, more importantly, she forced her way into the top starting XV by virtue of her sizzling form, even pushing the prolific Ayesha Leti-I’iga to the bench.

Now what? She is much in demand, off the field, in particular, so we should not begrudge her cashing in. But we would love to see her back playing for her Papakura club, then the Counties Manukau Heat in the FPC and, of course, the Black Ferns. She had been coy about her rugby plans, but now is the moment to build on that joyous momentum from last spring. Let’s see her back in the black jersey in a team that has lost several senior and clutch performers. Let’s see a back three of Renee Holmes, Tui and Leti-I’iga cut some shapes, aided and abetted by a midfield of Amy du Plessis and Sylvia Brunt, with Ruahei Demant and Ariana Bayler running the cutter. That is a backline to excite.

In short, rugby needs Ruby. She will help put bums on seats and keep some of that momentum which is in danger of slipping just two years out from the next Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.

Over to you, Ruby.