Straight Up

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The life stuff, all the non-rugby stuff – people from all over the world have related to that. The reaction has been out of the gate, I never thought that would happen.” An example: “Our team is a waka and we leave mana in our wake.” And another: “It’s not your skin colour, your salary or any of that stuff that makes you great; it’s your fight, it’s your work ethic.” So she’s not ready to retire yet; she’s had great advice from the likes of mentor Keven Mealamu and the rugby players’ association.

So later that day me and Dad waited for her outside KFC. Dad had a van at the time, so we all had to squash up together on the front seat — Dad, me in the middle and then my sister, Lesh, on the side. Squashed between my dad and my sister: it was the best feeling in the world. Adults had told me it was impossible to get an older sibling, but here she was. My older sister. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t say a word I was so nervous, but inside I was wearing the biggest smile. Then Dad said, Do you want to hang out with her without me? Of course! After her jaunt in the US, would she ever be tempted to play in England’s top division, Premiership Women’s Rugby? “I talked to ‘Scaz’ [Emily Scarratt] at the World Rugby Awards last year, chatting about money and that,” Tui says cryptically. “England crossed my mind. It sounds fun.” Exclusive interview: Five months after the Rugby World Cup victory, that famous singalong and a best-selling book, Ruby Tui is emerging as a powerhouse off the field. She talks over lunch with editor-at-large Shayne Currie about living life with purpose, her future plans - and children. I pictured a young brown female sportsperson walking in there and seeing herself nowhere, not belonging in the book world. My eyes welled up right there in the bookshop. I have to do this. Congratulations again on the gold. There’s probably no greater pressure in sport than representing New Zealand in rugby. What was the feeling like when you won the gold?” asked McDonald.

I’m fortunate to have that kind of relationship with myself that I’m not scared of the day that I say no.

What rain? Where’s the thunder? We’re at the Olympics. Let’s be happy. Let’s compete safely and peacefully. Peace and love. Love you guys,” Tui said. Ruby could have chosen to have her life take a very dark turn - but she didn't. She worked like a dog to get a university education & discovered rugby gave her a sense of belonging that no other sport did. Even after training and hard, physical work she remained small, but her speed, determination & team spirit made her perfect for rugby sevens & her personality should give her a media career long after she retires from this sport.

That’s been really, really huge and it matters … you’ve got to go out of your way for things you actually believe in. Everything I do every day, I believe in every job I do. I was surprised that I enjoyed Reading about her training more. Her mindset and motivation are so impressive and matter of fact. People are always asking me why are you guys so hard out at training? When I'm in a team I'm all in. I cannot play in a team where I don't want to die for my sisters next to me."

Tui now has her own nutritionist (and trainer and physio) and she adds a side of steamed rice, which takes pride of place in front of her. “Such a good feed.” This memoir by Kiwi Rugby Sevens player Ruby Tui & NZ singer Stan Walker's memoir Impossible: My Story employed the same ghostwriter, Margie Thomson. & both books to me feature an amazing theme of the ability to forgive people in their childhoods who have done them both a great wrongs. Things happen in your life and unfortunately they can shape you in negative ways. I became very fearful, I was holding it within me. I actually, in my little kid brain, thought that if I was around drugs or the white powder that I was responsible for killing people because of what I'd seen. We were just smiling at each other and not really saying anything, and Dad said to me, Do you want to hang out with her after she finishes work? Of course I was like, Oh yes please! What happens to us, especially what happens to us as children, doesn't need to define who we are as adults. And it's never too late to look into these things that happened to us.

Ruby Tui is a professional rugby player and a bestselling author. She won an Olympic gold medal in 2021, an Olympic silver medal in 2016, a Rugby World Cup Sevens title in 2018 and a Rugby World Cup title in 2022. It's a direct investment in these people who just want to do good by you. I just want people to connect how significant that support is." Ruby Tui scores a try against Wales in the World Cup quarter-final at Whangarei in October. Photograph: Michael Bradley/AFP/Getty Images The storytelling is raw. Her life uprooted – from happy, wholesome early days in Wellington to chaotic, scary and ugly times in Marlborough and on the West Coast. I think it’s being in tune with yourself, looking after your mental health, and asking yourself honest questions every day and not being afraid to do that.”

For the record – and I say this with, ahem, no bias whatsoever – New Zealand has six gold medals in Tokyo so far, which is one gold for every 816,000 people. Australia has 15 gold medals at a rate of one for every 1.69 million people. Ben Clark and his 11-year-old son Marcus were in line to get four copies of the book signed as Christmas presents on Thursday – one for Clark’s older daughter, the second for his brother's family, the third for his mother and the last one was for the family bookshelf. I needed an escape, and I needed to feel like I fitted in somewhere, and I found that by drinking with Dad and sorting drugs with Hailey and their friends.The Welsh were among the favourites at the tournament; they should have made the final at least. Warburton’s card put paid to those hopes. “He spills the tea on that card and how they didn’t make the final. Oh man, I love that because I can put myself in the shoes,” says Tui. As a child, Ruby was exposed to a lot of drug and alcohol abuse and later had a period of "chaotic lubrication" herself. Our values of independence, intelligence and integrity underpin all we do. We do not underestimate the intelligence of our valued readers - and are committed to delivering quality news that you can trust. News that is worth making room for. I stood in the sports section, and I searched and searched. I pulled out book after book, but there wasn't a single biography on a Kiwi female in the whole section. I eventually found an autobiography of Billie Jean King, a famous white American tennis player who did amazing things, but that was it.