Kennedy Wailer Tukuafu ( ''née'' Simon; born 1 October 1996) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. She is a loose forward and plays for the

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns (), represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tour ...

internationally and was a member of their

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

champion squad. She also plays for

Chiefs Manawa The Chiefs Manawa are a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand, that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Chiefs Manawa won the inaugural season of the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. They w ...

in the

Super Rugby Aupiki Super Rugby Aupiki is a professional women's rugby union club competition in New Zealand. Its inaugural season was held in March 2022. It is a stepping stone between the Farah Palmer Cup and the Black Ferns. Aupiki translates as ‘''the asce ...

competition and represents Waikato provincially.

Rugby career

Tukuafu made her provincial debut for

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

in 2013 against Otago Spirit. She made her test debut for the New Zealand women's national side, the

, against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2019.

2020–22

In 2020, she was awarded the international and Farah Palmer Cup player of the year by the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association at the New Zealand Rugby awards. Tukuafu was part of the inaugural

side that played in the first women's

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

match in New Zealand at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

in 2021. She was named in the Black Ferns squad for the August test series against the Wallaroos for the

2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup The 2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup was the 13th edition of the competition. The matches were played on 20 and 27 August, with both Australia and New Zealand hosting one match each. After a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was confirme ...

. She made the Black Ferns 32-player squad for the

2023

In 2023, She was selected as co-captain of the

squad, with

Ruahei Demant Devon Ruahei Demant (born 21 April 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She made her debut for the New Zealand national women's team, the New Zealand women's national rugby union team, Black Ferns, against Australia women's national rugby ...

, for the

Pacific Four Series The Pacific Four Series is an international rugby union competition that is sanctioned by World Rugby. It is contested between four women's national teams — Australia women's national rugby union team, Australia, Canada women's national rugby u ...

and O’Reilly Cup. In July, she started in her sides 21–52 victory over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at the

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Honours and awards

In the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours, Tukuafu was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to rugby.

References

External links

*
Chiefs Profile
1996 births Living people New Zealand women's international rugby union players New Zealand female rugby union players Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-stub