Former Botany Downs Secondary College student Tafito Lafaele is one of five Auckland Rugby players named in the Black Ferns squad.
The college said on social media, “Congratulations to alumna Tafito Lafaele (graduated 2018) who was named as one of the debutantes in the Black Ferns squad (women’s rugby) for this season.”
Oceania Rugby posted, “A relative newcomer to the game, Tafito Lafaele has made a strong impression as she has developed through the ranks in Auckland. Powerful and athletic, Lafaele went to Botany Downs Secondary College where she starred in athletics, volleyball, basketball, netball and sevens. Last year she played for the Moana Pasifika Sevens team against the Black Ferns and Black Ferns Sevens.”
Lafaele, 21, a member of the College Rifles Rugby Club, is a loose forward.
Months out from Rugby World Cup 2021 playing in 2022, New Zealand rugby fans get their first taste of Black Ferns action with the Pacific Four Series squad named last week, allblacks.com reported.
Black Ferns coaches Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen named 31 players in the squad set to host Australia, Canada and USA next month.
Lafaele debuted for the Auckland Storm in 2019 and since then has been a regular in the Farah Palmer Cup side.
She was an all-round athlete when at BDSC. She was part of the championship winning senior girls basketball team, premier netball team, senior girls’ volleyball, Ki-O-Rahi [Maori team game], Sevens and even competed at Nationals Athletics in discus. In 2018, Tafito was named the BDSC Personality of the Year at the school’s major sports awards.
