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Hurricanes sign Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini for women's team
The Hurricanes have unveiled Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini as the franchise’s first-ever signing for its new women’s team.
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A genuine star of the women’s game, Hirini brings a plethora of accolades with her to the Hurricanes, including a 2020 Olympics gold medal, a 2016 Olympics silver medal, two Sevens World Cup titles, a 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medal and six World Sevens Series titles.
The 28-year-old also has experience in the XV-a-side game, having featured prominently for the Black Ferns in their 2017 World Cup triumph and was the first woman to be awarded the Tom French Memorial Maori Player of the Year in 2019.
That same year, Hirini was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to rugby, and it’s that calibre that Hurricanes women’s head coach Wes Clarke is excited to have in his playing squad next year.
“She’s deeply committed to the Hurricanes and the Manawatu region,” Clarke said of Hirini, who is a flanker in 15s.
“Every chance she gets she always plays for Manawatu even though she lives in the Mount. There was never any discussion about her playing for anyone else. She is always coming back to this region.
“Not only is she really passionate about the region, she’s an outstanding leader, and naturally commands the respect of everyone she works with.”
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“She’s an extremely intelligent rugby player. I always think back to the World Cup where she was asked to do some homework on the back moves, in her position as a 7.
“We asked her to do this at dinner, and then walking to breakfast the following morning, we jokingly asked her a couple of questions and she had learned all of them overnight in detail.
“So, this speaks firstly of her intelligence to understand it all, but secondly her work rate.”
Hirini said the opportunity to play in the inaugural edition of Super Rugby Aupiki was too good to pass up as she continues to build her case for inclusion in next year’s Black Ferns World Cup squad.
“It’s a huge honour to play for the region I grew up in and the club I’ve supported for a very long time,” she said.
The Chiefs have announced the signing of Black Ferns Sevens star Ruby Tui for the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki competition next year. #Chiefs #SuperRugbyAupiki https://t.co/V9P1qhGhur
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 1, 2021
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“I’m from Manawatu, born and bred down there, went to Feilding High School, and although I have recently moved away from the region, I still represent them and play for them.
“I’m just super excited for Super Rugby Aupiki to be going ahead. A lot of people have put in a lot of work to make sure that this competition goes ahead next year.
“It’s been a long time coming and I just know that this is a great step forward, creating so much exposure for the women’s game.
“Also, next year being so exciting with the World Cup in New Zealand it’s just going to keep flying that momentum behind the game.
“It’s going to be an amazing opportunity to play alongside girls from different regions that I’ve played against for the Manawatu Cyclones, so I’m really looking forward to this opportunity to represent the Hurricanes next year.”
Hirini made note of her eagerness to work alongside Clarke, who she was coached by in the Black Ferns squad, at the Hurricanes.
“He’s an awesome coach. I’ve worked with Wes for a several years now and in a number of different teams so to be coached by him again in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition is going to be a massive opportunity for me.
“Each time I’ve been coached by him I’ve gained so much knowledge about the game but also a lot of knowledge about the technical and tactical sides of the game.”
News of Hirini’s arrival at the Hurricanes comes hours after the Chiefs announced Ruby Tui had signed with the Hamilton-based franchise for the 2022 Super Rugby Aupiki season.
The Super Rugby Aupiki squads and draw for next year will be announced in the coming days.
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
36 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments