Sarah Hirini

Sarah Hirini

MNZM

Hirini in 2019
Birth name	Sarah Goss
Date of birth	(1992-12-09) 9 December 1992
Place of birth	Feilding, New Zealand
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
School	Feilding High School
University	Massey University
Spouse	Conor Hirini
Occupation(s)	Professional sportswoman
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 2011–2013 Manawatu 13 (23) Super Rugby Years Team Apps (Points) 2022 Hurricanes Poua (0) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2016–Present Neuseeland 14 (15) National sevens team Years Team Comps 2012–Present Neuseeland 263 (405 pts)
Medal record Representing Neuseeland Women's rugby union Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 Ireland Team competition 2021 New Zealand Team competition Women's rugby sevens Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team competition 2020 Tokyo Team competition Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold Coast Team competition 2022 Birmingham Team competition Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 Moscow Team competition 2018 San Francisco Team competition 2022 Cape Town Team competition

Sarah Hirini MNZM (née Goss; born 9 December 1992) is a New Zealand women's rugby union player and two-time Olympic medalist. She plays for the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team, and captained the Manawatu Sevens side that took out the 2013 National Women's Sevens title in Queenstown. She was named in the squad for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Early life

Hirini was born on 9 December 1992 to Ronnie and Alan Goss. Her sister Rachael Rakatau also plays rugby and played for the Manawatū Cyclones in the Farah Palmer Cup championship in 2021

Her father Alan was a champion shearer who won a Golden Shears title in the 1985 intermediate shearing final. Her mother Ronnie was a master wool handler, winning 53 open finals, including the 2008 Golden Shears open title, as well as competing in the New Zealand open championships finals in Te Kuiti in 1999 and 2003, in the Golden Shears open final six times, the 2014 world championships in Ireland, and represented New Zealand in ten trans-Tasman wool handling test matches. She grew up in a sports-loving household in the Oroua Valley, just out of Feilding. Her secondary school education was undertaken at Feilding High School, where she boarded.

When she was young Hirini competed in shearing contests alongside her brother Simon. After leaving high school having obtained a scholarship she commenced full time studies at Massey University, undertaking a Bachelor of Arts in Māori and sports science. However following selection for the national Sevens team, for the next eight years she completed her studies part-time, graduating with a degree in Maori studies.

Playing career

At secondary school she initially played field hockey, but began playing rugby after she accompanied some friends who were attending rugby tryouts. “I thought it’d be good fitness for my hockey and also, if I did one more sport I didn’t have to go to homework class after school.”

At the end of her secondary education she was so passionate about rugby that she wanted to play it full time, but with no obvious professional career path for women in rugby, she continued played it as amateur. In her second year of study at Massey, with New Zealand Rugby ramping up its commitment to being competitive at the Rio Olympics she obtained a full time one year New Zealand Sevens contract, which paid $30,000.

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

Hirini was selected as a playing member of the Black Ferns Sevens for the Rugby sevens at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She was then selected to join Hamish Bond in being New Zealand's flagbearers at the opening ceremony. Due to a racing the next day Bond was replaced by David Nyika. Due to Covid restrictions on how many could enter the Olympic Village at a time eleven of the players and management including Hirini were due to fly from Townsville, where they had been competing in the 2021 Oceania Women's Sevens Championship) in order to ensure Hirini would be able to attend the opening ceremony. They would be joined later by the rest of the team. After their first flight was cancelled the eleven missed their connection in Brisbane, which led to their 24-hour pre-departure tests expiring. Eventually a way was found of getting Hirani accompanied by Portia Woodman to Tokyo in time to participate in the opening ceremony.

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games

Hirini was named in the Black Ferns Sevens squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She won a bronze medal at the event. She also won a silver medal at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.

2021 World Cup

Hirini made the Black Ferns 32-player squad for the 2021 Rugby World Cup. She scored a try in the final pool game against a scoreless Scotland who were beaten 57–0. She also scored a try against Wales in the quarterfinals.

Honours

In 2013, she received the Massey University Manawatu campus sportswoman of-the-year award.

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hirini was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby. She was nominated, for the fourth time in six years, as the World Rugby Women's Sevens Player of the Year.

She was the first woman to play 200 matches in the global circuit. Her mother, sister and niece made the trip to the south of France to witness her 200th game.

In 2022, she became the third woman to appear on the cover of the New Zealand Rugby Almanack.

Personal life

Of Māori descent, She affiliates to the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi. She married Conor Hirini in January 2019.

While based at Mount Maunganui she obtained her private pilot’s license in 2021, after three years of study.

External links

• Sarah Hirini at the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series (archived)
• Sarah Hirini at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• All Blacks Profile