{"id":95928,"date":"2025-08-27T08:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T08:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/95928\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T08:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T08:38:07","slug":"i-still-feel-a-part-of-my-team-ruby-tui-on-starring-as-a-tv-pundit-after-her-black-ferns-omission-womens-rugby-world-cup-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/95928\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I still feel a part of my team\u2019: Ruby Tui on starring as a TV pundit after her Black Ferns omission | Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ruby Tui was the player everyone was talking about when New Zealand\u2019s Rugby World Cup squad was announced last month<\/a> but not for the reason fans may have expected. The 33-year-old had not made the squad but, as is her nature, Tui is determined to turn her omission into a positive. \u201cI do want young players to know selection doesn\u2019t get easy,\u201d she says. \u201cBut also it is team first, always and 100% of the time, especially when it\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The star of New Zealand\u2019s 2022 World Cup-winning squad, who has also won Olympic gold and silver, and the Sevens World Cup, Tui was squeezed out by competition in the back three with Ayesha Leti-I\u2019iga and Portia Woodman\u2011Wickliffe getting the nod. While acknowledging that being left out was difficult, Tui\u2019s focus is firmly on supporting the Black Ferns.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone can be team first when it\u2019s easy,\u201d Tui says. \u201cI think it is a cool opportunity for me to say I totally love and respect this team, which I absolutely and wholeheartedly do. I support everything. I am gunning for my team. I want players who are struggling with selection to see that and know you do get to a point where you are OK with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have played for New Zealand since 2012 and I have won a World Cup, I have won an Olympics, I feel like it could have been a lot harder for other people. I am not the only one who didn\u2019t make the team, I felt like there was a lot of hype around me but that doesn\u2019t [mean it] hurt any less or any more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people who went through that at the same time, not just for New Zealand, there are a lot of people who missed out on this and it can be really, really hard. But I do want to show people I still feel a part of my team, I have been a part of it for a long time and I feel a part of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tui had made clear that if she were not selected she would want to be part of this groundbreaking World Cup in any capacity, and has landed several media jobs for the tournament \u2013 one as a BBC pundit. Tui sees that as a full\u2011circle moment after she went viral at the 2020 Olympics after a colourful BBC interview with Jill Douglas.<\/p>\n

Ruby Tui\u2019s debut as a BBC pundit for England\u2019s opening win against USA garnered glowing reviews. Photograph: BBC<\/p>\n

Tui leans back, a beaming smile spreading across her face before her eyes squeeze shut with laughter as she remembers the interview, saying she did not realise it was live at the time. \u201cWe should reenact it,\u201d she says of a potential reunion with Douglas in England.<\/p>\n

Tui debuted on the BBC for England\u2019s opening win against USA<\/a> alongside Gabby Logan, the former England head coach Simon Middleton and the former England player Maggie Alphonsi. Tui has had glowing reviews and says: \u201cIt felt right being there. It was a really fascinating experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn New Zealand, there\u2019s a couple of people there but I think the viewership [on Friday] was like 2.5 million or something which is half the population of the country I live in, so it was all quite surreal. I was very happy to be there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to articulate how much it [being free-to-air] means to me. Everyday people, no matter where you come from or what you are up to, can watch these games. It\u2019s truly magic, it\u2019s truly real\u2011life magic that the Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup, the greatest teams in the world, world record\u2011breakers, can be viewed by anyone who turns on their TV.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After the opening game, Tui travelled to York to cover New Zealand\u2019s first match against Spain<\/a>. The Black Ferns won 54-8 but Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Amy du Plessis and Leti-I\u2019iga were injured, something Tui was \u201cgutted\u201d to see, saying they \u201cgot the job done with a bonus-point win\u201d. New Zealand next face Japan on Sunday and Tui says they are not a team you to be underestimated.<\/p>\n

\u201cJapan might not have the same speed or size but man they are fit. If you switch off for five minutes Japan will completely turn the game around and you will be down the other end of the field, as Ireland found out<\/a>. It\u2019s good New Zealand had a little peek at that game. It\u2019s a reminder you can\u2019t take Japan lightly at all, so I am really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is next for Tui as a player? While she did not confirm any specifics, there may be opportunities in Premiership Women\u2019s Rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went into my DMs and there\u2019s Saracens, Harlequins. I was like: \u2018Is this what happens? Is this how it goes?\u2019 I might go through some of my inbox and see what is going on. I don\u2019t know, I have always lived my life and career with whatever feels good. If it feels right and it\u2019s a bunch of mates and we\u2019re going to have fun, like, yeah \u2026 but there\u2019s so much going on right now [in terms of her career next steps]. It does seem like a sick competition, I do watch it \u2026 I\u2019ll have to chat to Ilona [Maher<\/a>, the USA international and former Bristol Bear] and see how she liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though absent from the World Cup squad, Tui\u2019s presence remains undeniable. Whether that is through her sharp punditry, inspiration on and off the field, or her try-scoring ability, she is far from finished shaping the future of rugby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ruby Tui was the player everyone was talking about when New Zealand\u2019s Rugby World Cup squad was announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-95928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}