The World Cup and Olympic gold-winning New Zealand winger Ruby Tui will play in the US this summer in Premier Rugby Sevens (PR7s), a multi-tournament competition in which men’s and women’s teams compete for one trophy.
Announcing the move, Tui said: “I’ve been a massive fan of Premier Rugby Sevens and what they’ve done for women’s rugby since they formed in 2021 in the United States.”
At 31, Tui is one of the biggest stars in world rugby, a member of the Black Ferns team who beat England to win the 15-a-side World Cup in front of 42,579 fans in Auckland last November.
She has recently taken time away from the game. Last week, she announced a new two-year deal with the New Zealand Rugby Union but also said she was “taking an immediate sabbatical”.
On Tuesday, she added: “To help grow our game around the world, especially in a place like the US, is an opportunity I take very seriously. PR7s has an awesome model for their competition, with equal pay and opportunity for men and women. And I’m absolutely buzzing to play some sevens again!”
Tui’s PR7s team remains to be confirmed. Women’s and men’s players are assigned to eight franchises, each identified with a region or city.
Owen Scannell, chief executive of PR7s, said: “Having Ruby come and compete in Premier Rugby Sevens at the height of her playing career is an unprecedented historic moment for the sport of rugby and women’s sports across the United States.
“Not only is Ruby a superstar on the field, but she is also one of the greatest ambassadors for rugby and most significant advocates for women’s sports globally.
“She has already captured the attention of millions of new fans around the world, and we can’t wait for her to join our efforts to build the game in the US.”
Tui has achieved internet fame via viral post-game interviews.
In 2021, at the Olympics in Tokyo, closing a conversation with the BBC in which she switched between Mãori and English, Tui responded to a warning about inclement weather by saying: “What rain? Bring on the thunder. We’re in the Olympics. Just be happy. Let’s compete safely and peacefully. Peace and love.”
After the World Cup final in 2022, Tui told the crowd in Auckland: “They said we couldn’t do it, kids. They said we wouldn’t. We did it. And honestly, it took all of us. Anybody out there defended an England maul before? It isn’t easy in the last minute, baby! But we all did it together. New Zealand did it together.”
Then she led the crowd in a Mãori folk song, Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi.
Regarding Tui’s talents on the field, Mike Tolkin, a former US Eagles men’s coach now PR7s general manager, said: “Ruby’s rugby IQ is off the charts. She is a generational talent who joins world-class athletes at PR7s from other national teams, including USA, Canada and Mexico.”
This year is PR7s’ third. Sixteen men’s and women’s teams will be split into eastern and western conferences.
Tournaments will be held in Austin (17 June), Minneapolis (24 June), San Jose (15 July), and Pittsburgh (23 July). Men’s and women’s teams from each conference will qualify for the championship tournament, at Audi Field in Washington DC on 6 August. CBS Sports and Fox Sports are broadcast partners.
Though US national teams have struggled recently, the men failing to qualify for this year’s World Cup in France and the women losing a quarter-final to Canada in New Zealand last year, World Rugby is increasingly focused on the US. The 2031 men’s World Cup and 2033 women’s World Cup will be played on American soil.
The men’s professional domestic 15-a-side competition, Major League Rugby, is midway through its sixth season. The New York Ironworkers are the reigning champions but the New England Free Jacks, Seattle Seawolves and San Diego Legion lead the way this year.
On 15 July, the day PR7s stages a western conference event in San Jose, California, a separate professional sevens competition is due to take place at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
NYC Champion Sevens will see eight international men’s teams compete for $1m. It will be staged by the World Rugby Football League, backed by Bill Tatham, once of the NFL-rival USFL and who has long held rights to stage US sevens events.
