Ruby Tui: ‘I’m going for France – the game needs someone to stop England’

France know they must find a way to keep Zoe Harrison quiet if they are to have a chance against England. Photograph: Tim Rogers/Shutterstock

Players such as Gabrielle Vernier and Joanna Grisez are out for France but England have been contending with worse. The Red Roses have more than 10 players unavailable to them through injury or pregnancy but they have continued to win, and for Tui that is proof they are a world-class team.

She added: “The only way to test if your systems are what they truly are is by chucking in debutants, third- and fourth-string positionals coming through, which is what is happening. What happens is you have your team and you have your bench but the most interesting thing to me is the next layer down: the travelling reserves, the players in camps – those are the standards that you can’t let slip.

“It is hard because there is no one there that is experienced, they are all brand new. So what are they doing in camp? Are they keeping up the standards?

“Are they living and breathing the systems because people think it is about the starting team but you can’t put the pressure all on them. You have got to have these guys carrying. If you want this 37 [game‑winning run] to turn into 67 you need that stuff.”

Tui has also been impressed by the crowd numbers across the tournament and says she did not expect England to be able to continue their attendance momentum quite in the manner they have. She also credits the individual players for being a huge draw for supporters wanting to go to games.

“I am in awe of what the players are doing,” Tui said. “We often look at everyone else and what they can do more but it is hard to imagine what more the Red Roses themselves could do. [They are] doing all of these amazing things that we as the Black Ferns didn’t even think of. I am learning so much from being here.

“I think the game needs personalities, characters. We need people to follow it. But to me they are more than personalities, they are turning up for things and they are putting in hard work, they are really present. I am really glad I didn’t know this when I was playing them because I wouldn’t have been able to get angry on the field at them so easily! The game needs them but they are doing above and beyond.”

Ruby Tui (centre) celebrates after New Zealand beat England in the Women's Rugby World Cup final match at Eden Park in Auckland in November 2022. Photograph: Brett Phibbs/PA

Tui hasn’t played since not being selected for the Black Ferns’ 2025 World Cup squad, with media work becoming front and centre of her professional life, leading to her being nominated for several punditry awards. But she is not ruling out a return to the pitch, with England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby one league she is looking into.

“I have been having some conversations,” she said. “I have been going to a couple of teams. We went through Bristol, Trailfinders, Harlequins … This punditry stuff is a lot. I am not shutting the door. Definitely not the USA but there are a few places I could end up. I am not really sure, I am excited to find out.”