MOOLOO RUGBY: Renee Holmes runs out for the Waikato women's rugby team. Pictures supplied
Renee Holmes hasn't let the turmoil of Covid-19 inhibit her ambition as she gears up for a big end to 2020.
The sporting prodigy is back in New Zealand and training with the Waikato women's rugby team in preparation for the upcoming Farrah Palmer Cup competition.
She is eager to get back on the field for the Mooloos, having recently moved just down the road from the stadium where she plays and trains.
She described the team as “unreal”.
“Only three of the backs who were named in the team aren't Black Ferns,” she said.
“I'm just so excited to play alongside them. There's a really strong pool of players. I feel sorry for the coaches who have to pick the team.”
Before the pandemic, Holmes was in Japan preparing for another season of sevens rugby but she was forced to travel home after it was cancelled.
She hasn't let that dampen her spirits and has immediately become involved in sport, study and even starting a business.
She says she's happy to be playing in New Zealand again this year and can't wait to get on the field.
The Waikato team's second game of the draw is at Eden Park. She says she can't wait.
“It's super-exciting,” she said.
“I've never played there; it will be my first time if I make the (playing) team.”
In her first year playing 15s rugby, Holmes made the Hawke's Bay Tuis team and was their top points-scorer and MVP (most valuable player).
She said she was “shocked and humbled” to make the Waikato team last year, something she'd dreamed of since seeing them on TV as a child.
“I was so happy just to be named in the 27 (women's squad), then to get my first start . . . I didn't expect that to come so quickly.”
Holmes's skill made a big impression and she was named Waikato rugby's female player of the year for 2019.
She remembers the sacrifices her father made to help make her dreams reality, driving her to Tuis training in Hastings every Wednesday and Friday night.
Sometimes only four or five people would turn up to train, she said.
“My dad's the coolest . . . I didn't realise how much of a commitment it was until I learned how to drive. We'd get home at 1am sometimes. We'd never skip training.”
Her passion for rugby was reignited after she was encouraged by a friend to come down to train for the Gisborne Girls' High School sevens team.
She has fond memories of playing intermediate rugby and waking up at all hours of the night to watch the All Blacks on TV with her dad, but previously she had been focusing on a promising career in football.
She spent Year 11 living in Auckland to build on her game and played in the New Zealand U17 girls' football side.
After returning to Gisborne to be with her family she moved on from football after negative experiences in her first two games in the local men's league.
Her team won both games but the results were overturned after protests about a woman playing against men and “ruining the culture of their game”, despite the teams having agreed on her participation before the game.
The multi-talented athlete has also represented New Zealand in age-grade taekwondo and ultimate frisbee.
The long road trips and commitment to rugby have paid off for Holmes.
Her time in Japan meant she could save enough so that she didn't have to work when she returned to New Zealand in their offseason.
“Japan is where the money is made; I was getting paid to play at 19, to fully focus on rugby,” she said.
With Holmes unable to play overseas this year she's made some adjustments to her personal life.
She's returned to her health, sport and human performance studies at the University of Waikato and has started a business with her partner Quade Tapsell, who has also represented New Zealand — in the NZ Secondary Schools rugby team.
She said the business, Boost Body Recovery, is another opportunity for the couple to give back to their community.
“We can always go and coach more kids, but we can also create a lifestyle out of our experiences.”
The idea to sell massage guns came out of her personal experience using one on herself as she was doing recovery one night.
As lockdown started she spent her newfound spare time researching products and creating a business plan.
“A lot of people were asking where I got my one from . . . we're really keen to make it affordable and reliable for our friends and family.”