Lagi Tuima: 'As my career has gone on, I’ve learnt to sit back and reflect'

In the third round of the 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season Lagi Tuima took to the field against Gloucester Hartpury. It was her 100th appearance for Harlequins. Another landmark moment in her career.

At 27, Lagi Tuima is a hugely impressive figure in the women’s rugby landscape. She was the first British Fijian woman to play for England and has won 16 caps since she made her Red Roses debut in 2017. In 2021 she won the Premier 15s title with Harlequins and is one of only four women at the club to have hit a century in Quarters.

Tuima is also part of a rugby dynasty. She is the eldest sibling to three brothers, two of whom have gone onto professional rugby, Rus and Jeremy. Rus recently announced his move from Exeter Chiefs to Newcastle Red Bulls next season. They are cousins to the Cokanasinga’s – Joe and Phil – and is the niece of ex-Fiji captain Akapusi Qera. To say that rugby is in her DNA is an understatement. But Lagi herself has taken the reigns and led from the front.

Amid the biggest Guinness Women’s Six Nations to date it seems almost timely to reflect on the players that are still setting records and leading the way. Lagi Tuima’s career speaks to the wider success of a small but dedicated community in the UK and broader rugby world.

Start with her career milestones. Particularly her 100 Harlequins appearances, which are objectively quite pioneering, although it was possibly not something she had set out to do.

“Probably not, it was very much about going with the flow, enjoying the occasion, enjoying the experience as it was and being present in the moment,” Tuima told RugbyPass.

“However, as my career has gone on, I’ve learnt to sit back and reflect and not just go with the flow and see what happens but see the purpose behind it. That’s a much bigger drive for me.

“There’s a lot of things that went into getting to that point and you don’t really realise on the day. The girls made it super special. I had some flowers and messages that came through from players – like the pioneers that came before us who did it before and current girls. Pretty special.

“I thought reaching 50 was pretty cool, I was like ‘yeah I think I’ve been here long enough to reach 50. I’ll enjoy this’, but 100 was never something you think about.

“It wasn’t something I looked to tick off at Quins, it was like ‘Oh my gosh that’s happened’ and to do it at a club as prestigious as Harlequins and to have my name on the board amongst some other club legends is obviously a very special feeling and one I don’t take lightly.”

Wondering if she recognises how she leads the forefront of her generation of the Tuima dynasty, she laughed: “I don’t know about forefront, but I know I’m part of a really special rugby line and that goes from my Dad’s side and Mum’s too with her athletic capabilities.

“I’m very competitive and I want to be the best at what I do, and if that’s against my siblings, then it’s that sibling rivalry – in a really healthy way. I want to see them do well and vice versa.

“We’re a product of people who come before us and thankfully the environments that I’ve been exposed to down in Devonport starting in the South West and slowly building my way up the pathway through Plymouth Albion, Bristol Bears and now Harlequins. There is a lot of things I can tap into, but I am part of something bigger.

“I guess if we talk of legacies, I’ve got a niece and nephew and hopefully I’ll pass that excitement down to them, whatever sport they choose – though we’ll probably push them towards rugby.”

Speaking of legacies, there appears to be a new generation of British Fijians coming up through the ranks of English professional women’s rugby.

At Harlequins alone Iley Bailey and Jojo Vosakiwaiwai have impressed with England pathway teams. Vosakiwaiwai debuted for Great Britain Sevens earlier this year, alongside this season’s signing Manuqalo Komaitai, who had a breakout Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign with the Fijiana. Vosakiwaiwai’s older sister, Charlotte, recently debuted for Fiji against Tonga in the Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship.

More widely, British Islanders like the Tongan Tuipulotu’s: siblings Sisilia, Kepu, and Taufa and cousin Carwyn. Greg Fisilau awaits his senior England debut. Haineala Lutui’s breakthrough campaign for Loughborough Lightning has seen her win three Red Roses caps at this year’s Women’s Six Nations.

That is before you even consider Honey Kerslake, daughter of Samoa-born All Blacks flanker Jerry Collins, whose efforts with England U21 Women speak even more to the next generation breaking into the elite level across men’s and women’s rugby.

Tuima discussed the implication of her achievements particularly on young female British Fijians coming up in the professional era, while being predictably humble when highlighting her place in a wider rugby ecosystem.

“So it’s not just me, I’m a small part in bigger things to come,” she said. “I’m a very proud Fijian and to see any of the young girls and boys coming through means a lot.

“To see your people doing well and excelling in this field is always special no matter what sport it is but rugby in particular because it’s in our DNA.

“In the [PWR] Cup campaign that’s just gone, I also got the opportunity to lead the team in Jade [Konkel’s] absence for international duties.

“That was pretty special and obviously Jojo was in the mix training, Koms and Iley came through too and then obviously the two Black Ferns in Li [Liana Mikaele-Tu’u] and Layla [Layla Sae] coming over

“We had a kava night, something a lot of Fijians and Islanders will know about – it’s very popular. It was the first time in a long time that I felt like wow this is what it feels to be of my people in a place that’s, sort of, home away from home in our respective countries.

“For all the young Islanders coming through the pathway it’s an exciting place for the league as well. A bit of flair some through some Islanders as well and it’s showing in the way other clubs are playing and performing. I’m excited.

“Everyone is creating their own legacies and making their own families proud but also enjoying their own journeys that’s separate to mine. I think later down the line it’ll be the case of sharing our truths and seeing where the sport can take us not just as rugby players but as people too because the cultural element really resonates with the game itself.”

Humility aside, it is important to acknowledge the significance of role models in the women’s game.

This is a cornerstone of the ‘see it to be it’ effect and it’s certainly not a coincidence that Tuima’s success at the turning point of the professionalisation and broadcasting of the Red Roses has proliferated into further opportunities for young British female Islanders.

Having ticked off many of the major achievement in a professional rugby at only 27, Tuima is looking openly at the future, but even pressed, her mind is still firmly with Harlequins.

“To be honest I’m not sure what. the next couple of seasons will look like,” she said. “Quins is an ambitious club and there is silverware we want to achieve and the season has been super competitive in a very exciting way but I think it’s really important for me to keep chasing things that have purpose.

“I’ve been helping with coaching Uni of Surrey and we achieved our outcome in terms of getting into Super BUCS. We’ve got such an amazing coaching group that it not just been rugby from a players perspective.

“It’s really allowed me to think about things on both sides as a player and coach. But it was a massive celebration for not only the University but the Harlequins Women pathway too so that’s a massive step.

“But for now we’re staying where my feet are right now and seeing the season off as best we can here at Harlequins and I think everything else will take care of itself in the near future.”

Considering that PWR is currently taking expressions of interest for its expansion, and Newcastle heavily tipped as a destination for a pro-women’s side, it felt worthwhile asking if Tuima would switch from Harlequins to the North East just like her brother. She, again, laughed.

“It would take a lot.”