Four tries on home debut: Black Ferns winger Tuliau-Tua'a announces herself against France

Shyrah Tuliau-Tua’a marked her first home Test with four tries as the Black Ferns demolished France 81-12 in Hamilton, a performance that confirmed the 20-year-old winger as one of the most exciting young players in women’s rugby. It was only her fourth international appearance.

The result was emphatic, but Tuliau-Tua’a was characteristically understated about her contribution. “I just finished the hard work of the team. It was nothing amazing,” she told RugbyPass. “One of my work-ons has been scanning and communicating. I have to look harder for space. I did well to find it and communicate back to the midfield. They did a great job to find me.”

She added a fifth Test try in the second match of the series, a 31-12 Black Ferns win in Whangarei, underlining that Hamilton was no fluke.

The rise has been rapid. Tuliau-Tua’a was selected for the Farah Palmer Cup with Waikato in 2024 while still at Hamilton Girls’ High School, only to suffer an injury in pre-season that kept her out for a year. When she returned, she scored the winning try in the FPC final as Waikato beat Canterbury 19-13 — her fifth try in four appearances across the competition.

In Super Rugby Aupiki 2026, she was the standout performer for Chiefs Manawa despite the side failing to win any of their six games. Across the competition she ranked first in defenders beaten (28), metres gained (626), and offloads (12), while also placing third in tries (five) and clean breaks (nine).

Tuliau-Tua’a grew up in Hamilton and first played rugby at Sacred Heart Girls’ College. The decision to commit to the sport came early. “I was a junior on a senior sevens team. We finished second at Condors. On the way home with Mum, I told her rugby is really fun; this is what I want to do,” she recalled. “I was still playing netball in Year 11 but chose to commit to rugby.”

New Zealand Rugby have tracked her since she represented the New Zealand U18 Girls Sevens team in 2022 and 2023. She credits Waikato FPC coach Reuben Samuel, fellow Black Ferns wingers Mererangi Paul and Ayesha Leti-I’iga, and Black Ferns head coach Whitney Hansen among the key figures in her development.

Her emergence arrives at a moment of genuine growth for women’s rugby in New Zealand. Since the 2022 Rugby World Cup, the number of girls aged 15 to 20 playing the game has risen by 26%, including a 28% increase among 18-year-olds. More than 3,000 players now compete in the Under-18 cohort nationally.

Kendra Cocksedge, the most-capped Black Fern and now New Zealand Rugby’s women’s high-performance pathway manager, is overseeing the structures designed to channel that talent into the senior game — structures that Tuliau-Tua’a is already outgrowing.