'I had no idea what effect my story would have on the world'

The big interview Ruby Tui Rugby World Cup winner reveals a childhood beset by domestic violence and how it gave her the strength to become a Black Ferns superstar

- Donald McRae

Oh, mate, absolutely," Ruby Tui exclaims from the other side of the world when asked if she will be in England for the women's rugby World Cup in August. "It's not even a question, bro. I'll be there supporting my team or I'll be in my team. Whatever it is, there's no way you can miss the World Cup 2025."

We are deep in an interview that began at seven o'clock on a sleepy Monday morning in England, eight o'clock that evening in New Zealand, and Tui is flying. The most charismatic woman in world rugby has lit up the past 40 minutes with her powerful personal story and electrifying presence. It is a reminder of how she did the same in November 2022, at Eden Park in Auckland, soon after New Zealand's Black Ferns had beaten England 34-31 in the greatest game in the history of women's rugby.

As she savoured victory in a gripping World Cup final - the only occasion England have lost in their past 53 games - Tui was interviewed on the pitch. "How was it New Zealand?" she cried out to nearly 43,000 fans. "How was it? They said no one cared about women's rugby, but guess what? We are here, we're going nowhere."

She then led the crowd in a rousing rendition of a Maori folk song, Tutira Mai Nga Iwi, like a great conductor celebrating at a post-concert party. Tui looked nothing like the stoical young girl she had been when, in her family's deeply troubled past, she survived life as the daughter of an alcoholic father and a mother whose new relationship was scarred by harrowing physical and emotional abuse.

There were often times when her dad, with whom she remains close, would leave her in his parked car for hours while he drank in the pub or took drugs at house parties. She witnessed the death of one of his friends from a drug overdose.

Tui started drinking when she was 10. She thought it would bind her more closely to her dad while she ached for her mum, who was assaulted repeatedly by a subsequent partner.