Kelsey Teneti on Black Ferns Sevens role and a growing leadership voice

The 2025/26 SVNS has a distinctly new feel. During the opening tournament in Dubai, 21 players made their debuts, and a further 20 had five or fewer tournament appearances.

With 14 tournaments and 36 tries for the Black Ferns Sevens, Kelsey Teneti is already a relative veteran. The 22-year-old approaches the game in an unapologetically uncompromising manner befitting a player of senior status.

“I’m a power player, big and strong, always have been, always will be, just need more pace,” Teneti told RugbyPass.  “My role is to draw defenders, bust tackles and set up my outsides.”

Teneti fulfilled that role with aplomb in Dubai and a week later in Cape Town, even crossing the stripe ten times herself. In the Black Ferns’ Dubai triumph, she scored a try in the final against Australia, which helped snap the Aussies 28-game win streak in the desert.

In Cape Town, she scored three tries in a 38-12 thumping of the USA; she had scored two against the same opponent in a shock loss in Dubai. Despite another try against Australia in the Cape Town final, Teneti couldn’t help New Zealand from slumping to a rare defeat. At one stage, the Black Ferns Sevens were down an unfathomable 26-0.

“The Aussies came out harder and faster after their loss in Dubai; they didn’t stop working,” Teneti conceded.

“Sometimes the score doesn’t reflect how hard the game is. We came back and had our opportunities, but they capitalised on our mistakes. When we lose, we are often our own worst enemies. It’s our mistakes that are so costly.”

Danni Mafoe, Jaymie Kolose, Olive Weatherston, Maia Davis, Braxton Sorensen-McGee and Katelyn Vahaakolo have all played fewer than five tournaments. While McGee and Vahaakolo are capped at the 15s level, scoring a combined 39 tries in 29 Tests, retaining the Singapore title won comprehensively against Fijiana 41-7 in the Cup final last year won’t be easy.

“Most of the teams this year are new, which makes reviewing harder. You don’t know what to expect. My role hasn’t changed much in a playing sense. Being more experienced means I feel more comfortable having a say in the leadership and helping the younger players coming through.”

Teneti helped the Black Ferns fashion a 35-2 record enroute to their eighth SVNS league title last season. Her growing leadership isn’t confined exclusively to the shorter format.

On the Black Ferns XV’s 2025 tour of South Africa, she was part of the leadership group. In the first game of a two-match series in Cape Town, she scored three tries in a 34-26 win. In the second match, South Africa stampeded to a 41-24 victory, a powerhouse performance that forewarned rivals of what was to follow at the Rugby World Cup. South Africa made a historic first appearance in the quarter finals, where they seriously challenged the Black Ferns – New Zealand, making 141 of the first 157 tackles in the game.

“I needed a break from sevens, so I tried to make the Black Ferns World Cup team. That didn’t work out, but the South African tour was special,” Teneti said.

“South Africa has big, powerful women, deceptively quick. In the first game, my tries were due to the Mahi of the girls. I’m at my best when I’m able to play free, eyes up footy, seeing what’s in front of me.

“In the second game, their forwards dominated. They come at you like a wave. It was a unique challenge for our younger girls. The more games we get, the better we’ll be. With South Africa, you could see they are becoming a force to be reckoned with.”

The Teneti whanau are a sporting force to be reckoned with. Kelsey’s father, Kelvin, represented Poverty Bay in 1985 and 1988 and her grandfather, Whetu Teneti, played for East Coast in 1971 and 1973. Her mother, Louise, was a Poverty Bay hockey representative, and Kelsey’s first sport was hockey, where she achieved New Zealand U18 honours.

Kelsey’s sporting excellence wasn’t just restricted to hockey. She was a national junior judo champion in the over 36kg class and won a gold medal at the waka ama world championships in Tahiti. She was introduced to rugby by former Black Ferns Rugby World Cup winner Trish Hina, who started an academy at Lytton High School in Gisborne, and the rest is history.

In addition to her Black Ferns Sevens honours, Teneti has played three Tests for the Black Ferns, debuting in a 23-10 victory over Australia in Tauranga in 2022 and scoring a try in the Black Ferns 100th test victory, 52-21 against Canada in Ottawa in 2023.