Sevens players commit to Rugby World Cup campaign

Seven Black Ferns Sevens players have made themselves available for selection in the Black Ferns for this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Stacey Waaka, Theresa Setefano, Alena Saili, Dhys Faleafaga and Kelsey Teneti are all capped Black Ferns and along with Risi Pouri-Lane and Jorja Miller will vie for World Cup selection in 2025.

Black Ferns Director of Rugby Allan Bunting and Black Ferns Sevens Head Coach Cory Sweeney have been working together on a transition plan which will see a graduated integration between the programmes.

Saili, Faleafaga, Teneti, Setefano and Pouri-Lane will join the Black Ferns’ first camp in April, ruling them out of selection for the final SVNS Series event of the season in Los Angeles. Waaka and Miller will join the Black Ferns squad during the PAC4 Series.

“Having the ability to add players into the mix that have a proven ability of winning pinnacle events under pressure is invaluable. 

“It’s great to have our best female athletes driving internal competition and striving for selection for World Cup,” said Bunting. 

“We want to have the best XVs and Sevens programmes in the world and we can’t do that independently,” said Sweeney.

“We’ve seen real success in the past two World Cup cycles with our players transitioning across to the Black Ferns environment. For the players remaining it will be an exciting opportunity for them to get more game time in Los Angeles and grow on the world stage.”

The coaches have worked closely together in recent years, as seen with Black Fern winger Katelyn Vahaakolo making her SVNS Series debut last December. Not included in this list of players is Kelly Brazier, who has been released from sevens to play Sky Super Rugby Aupiki and will be available for selection in the Black Ferns at the conclusion of that competition.

Player profiles

Dhys Faleafaga
Faleafaga starred in both forms of the game while at school at St Mary’s College in Wellington. After graduating she joined the Black Ferns Sevens programme full time and made her international debut in Japan in 2019. Faleafaga has played for the Wellington Pride in the Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse, and has two caps for the Black Ferns, debuting in 2021. She played one season of Sky Super Rugby Aupiki for Chiefs Manawa after the birth of her twin boys, before returning to the Black Ferns Sevens programme.
Black Ferns caps: #224, 2 Tests
Black Ferns Sevens caps: #79, 7 tournaments

Jorja Miller
Touted as one of the best sevens players in the world, Miller has committed to making the Black Ferns for the 2025 Rugby World Cup. A loose forward in the long form of the game, Miller made her FPC debut for Canterbury in 2021 as a 17-year-old, earning five caps and scoring three tries. She was bought into the Black Ferns camp in 2022 ahead of the Rugby World Cup and went on to make her Sevens debut weeks later at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa. In 2024 she was nominated for World Rugby’s Sevens Player of the Year and won the prestigious Kelvin R Tremain Memorial Player of the Year for New Zealand’s leading rugby player, the youngest winner since Jonah Lomu. Miller became the youngest New Zealand female gold medalist ever when winning gold in Paris.
Black Ferns caps: uncapped
Black Ferns Sevens caps: #83, 21 tournaments

Risi Pouri-Lane
Pouri-Lane made her international sevens debut in 2019 and has become one of the leading players in the Black Ferns Sevens. She has the unique distinction of being the only New Zealander to win a gold medal at both the Youth Olympics (Buenos Aires 2018) and the Olympics (Tokyo and Paris). She was 17 when she first debuted for Tasman, playing four matches at first five-eighths in their inaugural FPC season, and followed up with six caps for Bay of Plenty in 2020 playing halfback.
Black Ferns caps: uncapped
Black Ferns Sevens caps: #77, 30 tournaments

Alena Saili
Alena Saili has become a regular selection in the Black Ferns Sevens since debuting in Sydney in 2017. A year later she debuted for the Black Ferns (also in Sydney) and played five Tests across two seasons. She has six caps for the Bay of Plenty Volcanix, playing midfield and wing. Saili is the first Southlander to win two Olympic Gold Medals. 
Black Ferns caps: #197, 5 Tests
Black Ferns Sevens caps: #72, 35 tournaments

Theresa Setefano
Boasting one of the most impressive rugby resumes on record, Setefano has tasted plenty of success across both sevens and XVs. She debuted for the Black Ferns Sevens in 2016 and months later cracked the squad for the Olympics, the following year she debuted for the Black Ferns and went on to be part of the Rugby World Cup winning squad. She has three Olympic medals, and two Rugby World Cup titles to her name. The midfielder has 27 caps for the Auckland Storm and played in the inaugural Sky Super Rugby Aupiki season for the Blues.
Black Ferns caps: #194, 18 Tests
Black Ferns Sevens caps: #66, 40 tournaments

Kelsey Teneti
Kelsey Teneti made her FPC debut for Waikato while still in Year 12 at Hamilton Girls High School in 2020. The following year she was selected to play in the first ever women’s Super Rugby game for the Chiefs against the Blues. She was contracted to the Black Ferns Sevens in 2022, the same year she made her Black Ferns debut, playing all three matches in the PAC4 Series. 
Black Ferns caps: #234, 3 Tests
Black Ferns Sevens caps: #85, 9 tournaments

Stacey Waaka
Another star in both formats of the game, Waaka has had a very similar trajectory to her midfield teammate and good friend, Setefano. With two Olympic Gold medals and two Rugby World Cup titles, she has won every pinnacle event on offer in sevens and XVs. She has 26 caps for Waikato in the FPC and holds the Waikato record of most tries in one season (11, in 2014).
Black Ferns caps: #183, 25 Tests
Black Ferns Sevens caps: #67, 35 tournaments