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Sevens star Ruby Tui named in Black Ferns squad missing three senior players

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Black Ferns Sevens star Ruby Tui is in line for a test debut after being named in the first Black Ferns squad of the year on Wednesday.

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Tui has been included in a 31-strong squad named by the new coaching staff comprised of Wayne Smith, Whitney Hansen and Wesley Clarke for next month’s Pacific Four Series against Australia, the USA and Canada.

With Olympic gold and silver medals, a Commonwealth Games gold medal, a Sevens World Cup and multiple World Sevens Series titles to her name, Tui brings with her a wealth of experience from the sevens arena to the XVs game.

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A member of the Super Rugby Aupiki-winning Chiefs Manawa squad, the 2019 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year is one of seven players in line to make their test debuts for the Black Ferns.

Joining Tui among that cohort includes hooker Natalie Delamore, props Lucy Anderson, Tanya Kalounivale and Angel Mulu, and loose forwards Tafito Lafaele and Kaipo Olsen-Baker.

The squad will be captained experienced first-five Ruahei Demant, but is without three key figures who have been culled by Smith, Hansen and Clarke.

Those players are flanker Les Elder, who captained the side in last year’s ill-fated tour of England and France, lock Eloise Blackwell and wing Renee Wickliffe.

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Smith, the former All Blacks coach who has joined the Black Ferns as director of rugby, said in a statement that the trio have missed selection in preserve them for the New Zealand-hosted World Cup later this year.

“These are players that have had a significant impact on the Black Ferns team for a long time. We want them to be in the best possible condition to be selected for Rugby World Cup,” Smith said.

Smith added that Demant stands as an ideal candidate to lead the squad in next month’s series, which will see the Black Ferns play in Tauranga, Auckland and Whangarei.

“Lu [Demant] has the trust from this group. She is a clear, specific communicator and we see this as a great opportunity to grow her leadership,” he said.

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The Black Ferns will kick their Pacific Four Series off against the Wallaroos at Tauranga Domain on June 6, before hosting Canada in Auckland on June 12 and the United States in Whangarei on June 18.

Black Ferns squad for Pacific Four Series

Hookers:

Luka Connor
Natalie Delamere*
Georgia Ponsonby

Props:

Lucy Anderson*
Tanya Kalounivale*
Pip Love
Angel Mulu*
Krystal Murray
Leilani Perese
Amy Rule

Locks:

Chelsea Bremner
Joanah Ngan Woo
Maiakawanakaulani Roos

Loose Forwards:

Alana Bremner
Tafito Lafaele*
Liana Mikaele Tu’u
Kaipo Olsen-Baker*
Kendra Reynolds

Halfbacks:

Ariana Bayler
Kendra Cocksedge
Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu

Inside Backs:

Ruahei Demant (c)
Amy du Plessis
Carla Hohepa
Patricia Maliepo
Chelsea Semple

Outside Backs:

Renee Holmes
Ayesha Leti-I’iga
Cheyelle Robins-Reti
Grace Steinmetz
Ruby Tui*

* denotes new cap

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1 Comment
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stephen 931 days ago

Is world's best winger Portia going to make final cut

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JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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