Wallaroos Player of the Year Tabua Tuinakauvadra begins her trail-blazing 2026

Fresh off returning from a meniscus injury against the Waratahs, Wallaroos Player of the Year Tabua Tuinakauvadra is hungry to dive straight into the action, being named in the starting side for the ACT Brumbies as they take on the Fijian Drua in Ba this weekend.

The match marks the start of a busy year ahead for Tuinakauvadra, who will link up with the Leicester Tigers in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) in England, being the first name announced in a new collaboration between Rugby Australia and the competition.

Tuinakauvadra will be kept busy in the interim as she tries to get the Brumbies back to the semi-finals of Super Rugby Women’s before heading into a busy Wallaroo schedule in August. Even so, the star loose forward is excited about the opportunities ahead.

“I think the opportunity to play more rugby and also against teams that we don’t typically play [is exciting],” Tuinakauvadra said at Canberra Airport, ahead of her side’s departure for Fiji on Thursday.

“Pac Four [Series] has been around for a while, and we play against the same four teams.

“Being able to have the opportunity to play on a different side of the world, and different teams, and to see where they are at in terms of their program is a great challenge and a great goal to have.

“Especially coming back from my knee. If I wasn’t pushing Super [Rugby Women’s], I would be pushing [for] that. It’s [PWR] something that was always on the list to make.”

The 23-year-old is excited by what’s in store for Australian women’s rugby going forward, as more names are confirmed to go to PWR while more talent starts to show itself in the developing pathways in Australia, such as the NextGen Sevens program.

The growing depth has been noted by the 22-capped Wallaroo since last year’s Rugby World Cup in England, with an influx of new faces joining the Brumbies in Canberra.

“I think you don’t really notice how many babies there are until we all sit down in a room and you’re like, wow,” Tuinakauvadra laughed.

“Especially now, I sit in the middle of the age range and you see there’s actually quite a few younger ones. Last year there was only Nu’a [Manu’a Moleka], and now there’s a good group of them that finished school last year.

“The depth that they’ve developed in the off-season, lots of those girls have played NextGen Sevens. It’s really exciting for what this program looks like in the next five to ten years.

“It’s just like a good burst of energy. Sometimes you need the youth to keep you up.”

It did prove to be a baptism by fire for Tuinakauvadra upon her return to the pitch, being thrust straight into an intense clash with the Waratahs at Viking Park.

However, despite going down 29-17 to the defending champions, the Brumbies came out of the match brimming with confidence, especially when combined with their round one 15-12 win over the Reds, which snapped a seven-game winless streak.

The Waratah fixture proved to be a blowout Tuinakauvadra needed as the side prepares for a physical clash against the Drua – a side they have come within seven points of defeating on home soil in their last two fixtures.

“Big props to our physio and our S&C [strength and conditioning coach] because they really guided me through that whole process and checked in each week,” Tuinakauvadra said.

“For me to be able to feel like I’m okay to play a full game this week, I can really take pride in the fact that they looked after me well… to be able to be in the right space to come up against Waratahs, I think as an athlete, you have to make good choices for yourself.

“I feel like I made the right one there. It was good to get the blowout that I needed.

“[Against the Drua, we’re expecting] physicality.

“You saw last week in their game against the Force, they came back. You can never count them out. Also, the pressure of the crowd and the weather, that’s always taken into account.

“On any given day, they can be playing their best, but even them chasing people down, they’ll get you in the end.

“[For us to win], I think it’s just completion.

“As you play the game and fatigue sets in, the completion obviously goes down. You’ve got to complete your tackles. You’ve got to complete your passes to the edge.

“I think that’s what lets you down at the end of the day. You have to have a never-say-die attitude.”

The fixture marks a critical juncture for the two teams, with both sides sitting on a win and a loss apiece as the regular season of Super Rugby Women’s crosses the halfway mark.

Victory for either side would likely be enough to lock in a top-four finish for the semifinals. Should the Brumbies lose, the side will likely face a sudden death clash with the Western Force in Canberra in round five after their bye.

Should the Drua lose, the hosts will have to travel to Ballymore to defeat the Queensland Reds next week to keep their season alive.