Black Ferns hail historic Lions Women's tour as 'new pinnacle' for players

The countdown to the first-ever British & Irish Lions Women’s tour of New Zealand has reached the one-year mark, with Black Ferns playmaker Ruahei Demant declaring the historic three-Test series a “new pinnacle” for players fortunate enough to be involved.

The tour — which will include matches against a Black Ferns XV and an Invitational XV alongside the three Tests — has been years in the making. A feasibility study launched in 2021 eventually led to the Lions confirming the tour would go ahead, with the New Zealand government backing the event with NZ$3.9 million in funding. Upon the announcement, New Zealand’s then Economic Development Minister said the tour could “increase the value and visibility of women’s sport in New Zealand and create new sporting heroes and role models for our younger generations.”

“It has created another little pinnacle event, really, for us, right? To have the opportunity to host the Lions series for the first time — it’s obviously historic,” Demant told RugbyPass. “For us as players to have the opportunity in our careers to be involved in that, knowing how rare that opportunity comes around each cycle, it’s going to be so exciting.”

On the Lions side, head coach Jo Yapp has been attending WXV Global Series fixtures across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales as she begins the process of assembling her squad — a selection exercise that will generate considerable attention over the coming months.

New Zealand is a fitting backdrop for the Lions Women to begin their history. The Black Ferns have won six Women’s Rugby World Cup titles and produced some of the global game’s most celebrated players, including Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, Kendra Cocksedge, Analeah Rush and Rochelle Martin.

For Demant, the Lions carry a personal resonance that stretches back to childhood. Asked for her earliest Lions memory, the answer came immediately: the 2005 series and Dan Carter’s defining performance against the tourists. “For me, 2005, I was only like 10. Dan Carter’s performance, you know?” she said.

The parallel is not lost. Carter is widely regarded as the greatest All Blacks fly-half of all time. Demant, now 31, has built her own legacy as a Rugby World Cup winner and former World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year — a player who will carry the weight of that history into a series that has never been played before.

For context, the men’s Lions have faced the All Blacks 41 times across 138 years, winning just seven, drawing four and losing 30. The Lions Women will be writing an entirely new chapter — and, if the anticipation building around the Black Ferns camp is any measure, it promises to be one worth watching.