Black Ferns fan favourite Ruby Tui celebrates a try. Photo / Photosport
It was the Rugby World Cup hairstyle du jour.
The bright streak of red adorning Black Ferns star Ruby Tui has inspired replicas among fans across Aotearoa and abroad.
Tui, who made her Black Ferns debut this year, got a streak when she first dreamed of playing for New Zealand as a way of expressing herself.
“I wanted a big tattoo, I wanted to get a piercing or something, but all these things take you away from training.”
She liked the look of all-red locks but as a student then, Tui said it was too expensive, so she opted for a single streak down one side.
“That won’t take me out of training, it’s not too dangerous, but it’s a bit of me expressing myself. I was captain of Canterbury at the time, my name’s Ruby, like ruby red and I was like ‘cool let’s do it’.”
As time went by the streak remained, and it was still there when she made the New Zealand team. But Tui said she was encouraged to remove it as she had ambitions for TV commentating and felt she wasn’t confident enough at the time to keep it.
“So I got rid of it, and I remember thinking, ‘man, I’m not done with it. Like you know, I really want to bring that back.’”
It stayed in the back of her mind, and when she was let go from the NZ women’s sevens team, Tui said she knew it was time for another round.
“I sent a memo to all the girls who were there when I first got it done and they were losing it, and I was like ‘I’m doing it, I don’t care if it’s not acceptable on some TV shows, I’m just going to bloody bring it back.’”
The style reminded her of when she first started playing for New Zealand, and why she started in the first place.
“It just inspired me all over again, so I’m bloody glad I did it, and then nek minnit all these little girls [have] got it in their hair.”
Keys has been a grand slam semifinalist on six previous occasions.