Risealeaana "Risi" Pouri-Lane (born 28 May 2000) 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 ...

and sevens player. She captained the

2018 Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international multi-sport event, sports, cultural, and educational event held from 6 to 18 October 2018 ...

squad that won gold in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. She also won gold medals with the Black Ferns sevens team at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. She is the only New Zealander to have won a gold medal at both a youth and summer Olympics. She made her international debut for the Black Ferns fifteens in 2025.

Early life

Pouri-Lane was born on 28 May 2000 in Auburn, Sydney, Australia, to New Zealanders Lealofi and Kevin Pouri-Lane. When she was three years old her family returned to New Zealand, settling in

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding district has a numb ...

. She attended Motueka High School from where she graduated in 2017. At the age of five she began judo and went on to win several national age group competitions. She represented New Zealand at the 2016 judo Oceania championships. At the age of 10, she started playing touch rugby as a social player. She soon graduated to playing at a competitive level playing in the Motueka High School mixed touch team at the national secondary school tournament in 2016. At the age of 17 she played for the New Zealand under 18 women’s team in the Trans-Tasman tournament. She also played in the school’s girls 15-a-side and sevens rugby teams, and was good enough while at high school to play for the Tasman women’s sevens in the national tournament. As well as continuing with judo she also competed in athletics and netball while at high school. These commitments clashed in 2015, when she had to decide between athletics, Condor sevens rugby and touch rugby national secondary school sports events, all occurring on the same weekend. She choose to attend the Condor sevens national tournament.

Rugby career

Sevens

In 2017, she was selected at the age of 16 for the New Zealand sevens development squad, with whom played in Japan and Australia. In early 2018, she was awarded a 12 month contract with the

New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team The New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team represents New Zealand in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. The team played for the firs ...

. Aged 17, she was the youngest fully-contracted player. She took time away from the senior team to captain the New Zealand sevens team which won gold at the

2018 Summer Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics (), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international multi-sport event, sports, cultural, and educational event held from 6 to 18 October 2018 ...

in Buenos Aires in October 2018. Upon her return from Buenos Aires she made her debut for the senior team at the 2018 Dubai tournament.

2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

Just prior to departure for their pre-camp on the Sunshine Coast for the

Gold Coast Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

Kat Whata-Simpkins suffered a hamstring injury, which resulted first in Pouri-Lane being added to the travelling team and when it was confirmed that Whata-Simpkins would not recover in time Tenika Willison was promoted to the initial 12. Alena Saili was made a travelling reserve or 13th player with Pouri-Lane staying on as another reserve. After injuries to other players in the warm-up to the final against Australia Pouri-Lane was promoted to the playing 12, coming on in the last moments of the game to assist the team in winning the gold medal. In January 2019, she was awarded a full 12 month contract with the sevens team.

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

She was selected for the New Zealand Women's Rugby Sevens team for the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

which went on to win the gold medal. Upon her return from Tokyo she spent 14 days isolating at a managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facility before being reunited with family and released into the general population.

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games

She was named in the Black Ferns Sevens squad for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. She won a bronze medal at the event. She later won a silver medal at the

2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth and final edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in Sep ...

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2022–23 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series

After captain

Sarah Hirini Sarah Hirini (; born 9 December 1992) is a New Zealand women's rugby union player. She has played fifteen-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, as a member of the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team and New Zealand women's national ru ...

was unable to play for the rest of the 2023–24

World Rugby SVNS Series In 2023 World Rugby re-branded the now legacy World Sevens series to a new World Rugby SVNS Series (known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC SVNS). Starting in December 2023 in Dubai, Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singap ...

after rupturing a

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in the second game of the first tournament of the season in Dubai on 2–3 December, Pouri-Lane took over the captaincy of the Black Ferns for the remainder of the season, during which she led them to winning the Sevens league title. However, the team were only able to come third at the Grand Final in Madrid. Over the course of the competition she played 43 games, and scored 15 tries.

2024 Paris Olympics

On 20 June 2024, it was announced that she had been selected as a member of the New Zealand Women’s Rugby Sevens team for the Paris Olympics. With Sarah Hirini returning from injury in make the team, it was subsequently decided that Hirini and Pouli-Lane would co-captain the team. The team won the gold medal, defeating Canada 19–12 in the final.

Fifteens

Pouri-Lane made her test debut 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 ...

on 24 May 2025 at

Albany, New Zealand Albany ( ) () is one of the northernmost suburbs of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, northwest of the Auckland city centre. Albany is found at the headlands of Lucas Creek, and was ...

against the

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in the final match of 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 ...

Personal life

Pouri-Lane is of Samoan and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

descent and affiliates to the

Ngāti Kuia Ngāti Kuia is a Māori iwi of the Northern South Island in New Zealand. They first settled in the Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, and later spread to the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and Tasman districts to Taitapu on the West Coast, and as far sout ...

Ngāti Koata Ngāti Koata or Ngāti Kōata is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, originating on the west coast of Waikato, but now mainly at the northern tip of South Island. Ngāti Koata whakapapa back to Koata who lived near Kāwhia in the 17th century. She ha ...

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

References

External links

Black Ferns Sevens Profile

Black Ferns Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pouri-Lane, Risi 2000 births Living people New Zealand female rugby sevens players New Zealand women's international rugby sevens players Ngāti Koata people Ngāti Kuia people Ngāi Tahu people Youth Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand Rugby sevens players at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players for New Zealand Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rugby sevens Rugby sevens players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games People educated at Motueka High School Rugby union players from Motueka Rugby union players from Sydney Rugby sevens players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen