RNZ
15 April, 2021, 4:30 am Black Ferns captain Eloise Blackwell (left) with Chelsea Alley (far right) before the match against the New Zealand Barbarians last year. Photo: Photosport Ltd 2020
The Blues and Chiefs have named talent-laden squads for next month’s inaugural women’s Super Rugby match.
More than 20 Black Ferns will feature in the historic encounter on Saturday, May 1 at Eden Park.
The Blues squad is headed by Black Ferns captain Eloise Blackwell and also includes her Auckland team-mates Ruahei Demant, Charmaine McMenamin, Aldoa Itunu, Natahlia Moors, Aleisha Nelson, Saphire Abraham and Cristo Tofa.
Black Ferns hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate is one of four Northland players in the Blues squad, which also features three North Harbour reps.
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Dominico Zapata/Stuff
Heather Alley covered Waikato rugby in the 1950s, but was never able to write under her own byline.
Lurking on the sidelines of the number two field of Hamilton’s Rugby Park, Heather Alley tried her best to blend in with the crowd of men decked out in hats and overcoats. Alley hoped she’d pass for an earnest follower of the Waikato club rugby scene. No one could know the real reason she was there. In her 19 years she’d never encountered such high stakes. And she’d never felt so free. Alley, nee Paterson, was there to report on the game for the
Black ferns Chelsea Alley tackles Barbarians player Joanah Ngan-Woo during their rugby match in 2020.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Who could possibly have imagined that the women s Rugby World Cup would get bumped?
I won t be a hypocrite at this point. I will admit that I have expressed disquiet about global events such as the Olympic Games being staged, due to concerns about Covid-19.
But, hell s teeth, a 12-team women s rugby tournament being held in the northern tip of New Zealand is hardly a threat to life as we know it.
And yet player welfare is the reason being rolled out by World Rugby for the event s postponement, much like we were told when this year s women s Six Nations competition was shelved.