Eloise Blackwell's Top Spot

My position is lock – that’s the one in the middle of the scrum, and you know how they throw someone up in the lineout to catch the ball? That’s me.

I’ve been playing rugby since I was about four – a very long time – and I’ve been a Black Fern since 2011. It’s a big part of my life. I sometimes think: what would I be up to without it? I’m also a Physical Education and Health teacher at an Auckland girl’s school.

I grew up on Great Barrier Island and even though I’ve been to heaps of countries around the world, that’s my favourite place. I go there at every opportunity; to spend time at home and to show it off to any friends who come with me. It’s all there, the beaches, the bush. I go hunting with my brother, I go fishing, there’s hardly anyone there – I just love it. But I don’t want to tell everyone about it! I want it to stay quiet…  

See the New Zealand senior women’s rugby team in action: Black Ferns vs Australia, August 17 at Eden Park, Auckland.

Reported by Kathryn Webster for our AA Directions Winter 2019 issue