{"id":467528,"date":"2026-02-09T01:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T01:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/467528\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T01:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T01:25:11","slug":"nib-blues-sign-mererangi-paul-to-2026-super-rugby-aupiki-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/467528\/","title":{"rendered":"NIB Blues sign Mererangi Paul to 2026 Super Rugby Aupiki squad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NIB Blues head coach Willie Walker has added Black Ferns utility back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/players\/mererangi-paul\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mererangi Paul<\/a> to their backline stocks, ahead of the 2026 Super Rugby Aupiki season.<\/p>\n<p>The nominee for the 2023 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year scored seven tries in five Tests for the Black Ferns, after debuting under Allan Bunting against the Wallaroos in Brisbane.<\/p>\n<p>On debut in 2023, Paul scored a double against the Wallaroos, before backing it up a week later against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/canada-women\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Canada<\/a> in the Pacific Four series, where she scored another double in the title-clinching victory.<\/p>\n<p>Paul, who was previously a professional netballer with the Northern Mystics, has made the move north from the Chiefs Manawa, after developing her career through the Sevens programme.<\/p>\n<p>The 27-year-old Whakatane local believes that the club\u2019s vision was one of the reasons she wanted to make the move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Blues kaupapa really stood out to me,\u201d Paul said on a Blues statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a clear vision around connection, growth and backing players to express themselves. I\u2019m excited about the challenge and the chance to learn from the coaches and the group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The current Blues head coach is excited to have someone of Mererangi\u2019s quality in their backline, along with her exceptional rugby IQ.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMererangi is a genuine game-breaker,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe brings pace, power and great rugby IQ. She\u2019s tested herself at the highest level internationally and still has a huge amount of growth ahead of her. We\u2019re excited she\u2019s chosen to continue that journey with the Blues.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NIB Blues head coach Willie Walker has added Black Ferns utility back Mererangi Paul to their backline stocks,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-467528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}