Kei te te hui whakaharatau o te kapa whutupōro wāhine o Aotearoa ngā tuahine nō Te Whānau a Apanui a Ruahei rāua ko Kiritapu Demant ki Tauranga. Ka whai kanohi rāua tahi ki roto i te kapa o Ngā Mamaku i te wā ka tūtakitanga rāua ki Te Waiariki me Tamaki Makaurau. Kua piri atu a Ruahei ki te taha o tōna tuahine a Kiritapu ki roto i te kapa Mamaku. Nō te tau rua mano tekau mā rima a Kiritapu e uru tuatahi ai ki roto. “Ahakoa koia taku tuakana, ā, kua roa au i konei, koia tonu taku tuakana, ahakoa taku roa ki konei ka huri anō au ki a ia mo ōku mātauranga, hei ako hoki”. Mo Ruahei he nui ōna wharanga, engari, i anga whakamua tonu ia kia tākaro i te whutupōro. “He maha ngā uauatanga mōku e toru ōku poka ki ōku ponga, heoi ano, kei konei ahau inaianei”. He kaitātaki ō mua mo Te Kapa Haka o Te Whānau a Apanui te māmā o Ruahei rāua ko Kiritapu, hei tō Vikki Demant i waimarie ōna tamahine ki ngā tohutohu ō rātou mā. “Nui ngā wāhine kaha, pakari i roto i te ao i tipu mai rātou waku koka tonu a Emma Rogers, Astra Tawhai, ko ngā kuia i kite ai raua ki runga i ngā marae o te wā kāinga. He wahine kaha i roto i o ratou mahi. Mehemea I aro mai raua ki au me taku tu ki runga i te atamira, he pai rawa tērā”. Hei tō Vikki anō, mei kore ake a Ned Koopu, te pāpā o Wairangi Koopu, kaitākaro ō mua mo ngā Warriors i toka ake ngā tikanga hākinakina ki roto i ōna tamahine i te wā i noho rātou ki Te Kaha, tatu noa ki ngā tohutohu mai a Glen Osborne, kaiako pā whutupōro ō mua mo Te Rakipaiwhenua, kaitākaro hoki mo te kapa ō Pango. “Na taku tungane a Ned Rerewa Koopu koia tētahi nana taua reanga tamariki i arahi i roto i ngā mahi pā whutuporo Ko Glen Osborne tērā tētahi o ngā toa whutuporo o taua wā, ko ia tonu te kaiarahi, te kai akiaki, waimarie raua”. Hei ēnei rangi okioki ka whai kanohi a Ruahei rāua ko Kiritapu ki te tūtakitanga Three Halves ki Tauranga.
Regional | Black Ferns