Black Ferns grapple with eligibility rules as players seek more rugby

Source: Radio New Zealand

Amy Rule knows how much playing top flight rugby in the UK has elevated her game – but it has also left her facing a dilemma that the Black Ferns have not encountered until now.

Before this season, no Black Fern had played in the Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) competition in the UK. Eight New Zealand internationals took up contracts for the current 2025/26 season.

Rule was the first Black Fern to sign to the competition when she announced in June last year that she was joining Exeter Chiefs after the World Cup.

Five of the eight players provided injury cover for respective clubs.

Maia Roos, Tanya Kalounivale, Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, and Black Ferns co-captain Ruahei Demant are in that group and will travel from England at the end of this month to join the squad for the Pacific Four series.

Loose forward Layla Sae will miss much of the 2026 season after suffering a serious knee injury on duty for her English club Harlequins.

Three veterans – Amy Rule, Alana Borland (nee Bremner), and Georgia Ponsonby – gave up Black Ferns contracts to play full seasons in the UK competition, making them ineligible for Whitney Hansen’s first squad as Black Ferns coach.

Ponsonby however, was granted an exemption by the NZR board due to injuries leaving depth at hooker thin, and was on Monday named in Hansen’s 30-strong squad for next month’s series.

Rule said she wanted a new experience after last year’s World Cup, which was a disappointing campaign for the Black Ferns when they finished third.

“I ended my contract with the Black Ferns to play a full season here because I had been with New Zealand Rugby and the Black Ferns for over five years and I wanted to live in a different country, and experience a different type of rugby. We can’t play this game forever, and I just want to play as much rugby as possible,” Rule said.

The tighthead prop said unless she plays some domestic rugby in New Zealand later this year, she will not be eligible for the Black Ferns for the whole of 2026.

“I want to finish off the season with Exeter Chiefs and when I finish I don’t know what that looks like after, it’s still up in the air.

“New Zealand Rugby have been pretty strict on how they do their rulings and to be eligible for Black Ferns you have to play in the New Zealand domestic competition. I’m not showing 100 percent intention of coming back this season but time will tell.”

The 25-year-old admits she will have some “big decisions to make” in the next couple of months, knowing if she were to re-sign with Exeter for the 2026/27 season it could rule her out of a big year for the Black Ferns.

The inaugural British and Irish Lions Women’s Series will take place in New Zealand in September 2027.

“It is historic and I definitely want to be a part of it and put my hand up for it but it’s just going to be dependent on how the calendar falls into place, what I decide to do this year and moving through into next year.

“Time will tell, it’s all kind of happening at the moment what the next couple of years look like, or even heading towards the 2029 World Cup.

“Definitely got a close relationship with New Zealand Rugby and having those conversations, obviously I’ve got a good relationship with Whitney and all the management so conversations are being had.”

Ponsonby and Borland too will have to start thinking about whether they sign on for another year with Ealing Trailfinders.

It remains to be seen whether NZ Rugby will continue to allow players to sign with UK-based clubs on short-term contracts, without it affecting their eligibility.

Ponsonby said those conversations would happen shortly.

“I’m not really sure what path I want to take but I need to have conversations with coaches here and coaches back home to see what can or cannot happen,” Ponsonby said.

“I think the Black Ferns are still having conversations about what they will and won’t allow. Obviously there are girls who have come over here this season for injury cover, who are just signed until the end of March.

“Whether or not that will be an option for players again for the next season I’m not sure. I hope they create that opportunity for players to come over here and play a half season because it’s really beneficial. I’m not sure if the option will be available again or not.”

More rugby needed

One of the reasons so many Black Ferns took up contacts in the UK was the fact that they faced months without playing.

Last year New Zealand Rugby announced it was shifting the dates of Super Rugby Aupiki so it would not clash with new international windows.

Previously played through March and April, Super Rugby Aupiki has been pushed back to June, with six regular season games and a grand final.

It meant from October to April there was no top-level rugby for women’s players in New Zealand.

The quirk with PWR is that it breaks for seven weeks during April and May, before resuming for the final two rounds of regular season, then semi-finals and a final.

During that break the northern hemisphere players can compete in the Six Nations for their respective countries, while Rule and Borland will watch the Black Ferns Tests from afar.

As for what she’s getting out of playing PWR, Rule said it was pushing her to a new level.

“In New Zealand the only real opportunities to really hone your craft was in Aupiki and then international level – so I had six games to grow my craft before playing international rugby.

“Whereas here week in week out, I can really push myself, take risks, make mistakes and you just can’t beat playing rugby compared to training, I think it’s helped my game immensely.”

While it’s seen as a semi-professional competition, with some players working full-time jobs, Rule said the amount of training resembled a full-time programme.

Rule said the sheer number of minutes players got across the 18-game regular season made a huge difference.

“Here we are training nearly every day, we do Monday, Tuesday, we have Wednesday as recovery day, and Thursday is another training day and then you play on the weekends. And we get about triple the amount of games here so it’s intense.”

Change needed?

Hansen said the feedback from Black Ferns who took up contracts in the UK had been overwhelmingly positive.

“They’ve really enjoyed it, they’ve had some really good learnings across that time and I think it’s been cool having that come back and help to grow us as well. It’s been the right thing for them in this moment and we’re excited to have them back with us for the next bit of their journey,” Hansen said.

The All Blacks eligibility rules have been thoroughly dissected over the years but this is the first time it has really been tested when it comes to the Black Ferns.

Apart from exceptions for senior All Blacks on approved sabbaticals, players must play for a New Zealand-based Super Rugby team to be eligible for New Zealand.

The policy aims to protect the domestic game and prevent a talent exodus to overseas leagues in countries like France and Japan, which attract top international talent with high salaries.

But Black Ferns players haven’t been lured by big salaries because they don’t exist. What they have been drawn to is the level of competition they are getting in the PWR.

The Black Ferns also have some ground to make up if they want to be on top of the world again. England looked untouchable at last year’s World Cup, winning the title on the back of a record-breaking streak of 33 consecutive Test wins.

Hansen said any exemptions under the eligibility rules, would have to go through the NZR board.

“We’ve got an exemption around Georgia [Ponsonby] because we’ve got a couple of injuries and niggles that are sitting in our hooker depth at the moment, so we had to go back to the board and talk about that and what that would look like and ultimately it was the best decision for the team to ask her to come back in and to make that exemption.”

Hansen confirmed Rule and Borland could become eligible for Black Ferns tests in the back end of this year if they played some domestic rugby.

“It’s for this campaign they are ineligible, essentially we’ll go in to Super Rugby Aupiki and we might still see someone come in the back end of that, cover a position or end up in that space, playing NPC. There’s lots of opportunities to be selected again or contracted again for the Black Ferns but that will really depend on what they decide to do next for their rugby journey.”

At this stage Hansen does not believe the eligibility rule needs re-visiting for the Black Ferns.

“I don’t think so at the moment, it’s been really clear on what is and isn’t and when we’ve needed to go back to the board to talk about that then we’ve got the exemption that we’ve needed because it’s been a clear and obvious choice that it was the right thing to do so not at this time.

“We’ve got some athletes who we’ve worked together with clubs that are over there who are covering injury. And for those other three, it was a look at like what’s next for them, it’s at the back of a world cup and them making some decisions on what’s next in their rugby.”

Ponsonby said playing PWR had “massively” helped her game.

“Getting to play with world class players …in our team we’ve girls from England, Ireland, Wales, Spain, Canada, USA … all over the show. I think that’s the beauty of this competition, it is the best in the world for that reason.

“You’ve got the best players in the world spread out across the teams and it shows in the results so far. Every single game is a tough match and you don’t know who’s going to win.”

Borland was the first to sign with Ealing Trailfinders, then Ponsonby received a message from the coach gauging her interest and ultimately decided it was an opportunity she couldn’t turn down.

The 26-year-old is flatting with Borland and her husband, who she lived with for two years in Christchurch.

“We moved our lives over here, I’m just the third wheel,” she laughs. “But it’s great, we love our life over here.”

Ponsonby had got used to the idea that she was not going to be part of the Black Ferns this year so was grateful to be given an exemption for the PAC4 series.

Ponsonby said the demand for New Zealand players was high.

“There’s definitely the appetite over here, they love us as rugby players and what we bring. There’s other countries, the likes of France and Spain that are trying to recruit international players.

“I hope NZ Rugby do open those doors for people, but at the same time we’ve got a great competition back home with Aupiki and my hope is that expands into something bigger and we get to play Australia because that would only grow our own competition as well, I see the merit in both.”

Competition dates

PWR 2025/26

• 25 October – 30 March
• Two month break for international window
• Resumes 30 May – Final 29 June

Black Ferns 2026 Pacific Four Series

• 12 Apr – v USA, Sacramento
• 18 Apr – v Canada, Kansas City
• 25 Apr – v Wallaroos, Sunshine Coast

Super Rugby Aupiki 2026

• 13 June – 25 July
• Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Final – 1 August

Farah Palmer Cup 2026

• Kicks off 29 August
• Finals set for late October

Remaining Black Ferns Tests confirmed for 2026

• O’Reilly Cup – 22 Aug vs Wallaroos
• 5th Sept vs South Africa, Johannesburg
• 26 Sept vs England, Twickenham
• Home Series vs France – 17 Oct, 24 Oct, 31 Oct

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/03/24/black-ferns-grapple-with-eligibility-rules-as-players-seek-more-rugby/