On the field, Sarah Hirini has earned enough accolades to last her about five separate careers.
From winning two World Cups in both the Sevens and XVs arenas as well as two Olympic golds and a Commonwealth gold, she has basically ticked every box a rugby player could hope to.
It only makes the 32-year old’s ventures off the field all the more impressive.
Hirini holds not only a Bachelor of Arts in Māori Studies and Sport Science from the University of Massey but also has obtained her private pilot’s licence – feats that have not come in quick succession.
“It took me eight years to get a three-year degree, but I think I was more stubborn than anything to just want to have something outside [of rugby],” Hirini said. “I love rugby, but I know I needed balance in my life at some time.”
Full-time pilot students usually take six months to complete their studies, but with the extreme demands of the Sevens circuit, it stretched out to “three or four years”, according to Hirini.
She said it’s always been a dream of hers to gain the qualification, but to also demonstrate that no one, let alone a rugby player, has to conform to the norm of “just doing a university degree”, especially in a field such as piloting, where the field is extremely male-dominated.
The pool of women pilots is “very, very small”, Hirini said.
“I follow a few of the woman pilots who work for Air New Zealand – huge inspiration. They’ve had kids and things as well now, and it’s just massive to be able to watch them do what they do. I think it would be an amazing industry to get into if you started that pretty young.”
The World Cup-winning Black Fern said she’s “definitely thought about” obtaining her commercial pilot’s licence and had all intentions pointed towards getting it, but said it may not be a possibility for a host of reasons.
“Other than it being really expensive, there’s just so much time that goes into it,” she said.
“[Also], not sure whether I want to start a pilot’s career when I’m just about 33 and at the moment I won’t be able to fly being pregnant, so yeah, I’m not too sure about that one.”
While Captain Hirini soaring the skies for Air New Zealand may be off the table, the preparation and time management skills honed while hitting the books on tour are ones vital to success in any field.
“For us on the Sevens circuit, you’re in a different country every month, so having to deal with time zones and when stuff’s due, you had to make sure that you were either really, really prepared or sent a really good email to your lecturer to hopefully they get an extension.”
The gold-medal Olympian acknowledged she was not the best student in the world, but said she set out to prove to herself she could do both at the same time.
“Especially when I went into my pilot studies, there were six exams, and you had to get over 80% to pass papers.
“Those papers were pretty difficult, with the physics and having to learn about the clouds and things like that, so putting extra time into making sure I was studying properly and trying to figure out ways, proper ways that were going to help me learn quicker.”
As rugby enters its next stage of professional evolution, there has been more scope for players’ development outside of the sport. It’s exemplified by the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association (NZRPA) bargaining and installing dedicated hours in players’ working schedules for personal development in different fields, a step Hirini credits for her successes.
Hirini is currently a player representative on the NZRPA board.
“My career has been very, very long in rugby, I know that, but not many people get to be able to do this for so long, so it’s important to have something else to put time into.
“Just stuff you need as a human to be able to live your life when you leave the environment, because I know our environments are very sheltered at times, so I think that’s really important.”
Hirini said that when she entered the rugby scene in the early 2010s, “we weren’t getting paid very much, if at all”. As a result, having qualifications or skillsets outside became essential for areas in life and off the field that many people can relate to, such as being able to pay a mortgage, a stark contrast to the players entering the environment today.
“For ones now coming in straight out of school getting paid great money, it can be quite [an] incentive to just coast along and be happy with what they’re doing, so I reckon having this platform to be able to study or just be able to have enough different options is hugely important.”
As for her ventures looking forward, the rugby legend is adjusting to a different lifestyle that she loves with her first child on the way, as it allows her to think about a life post-rugby “all the time”.
One future includes the growth of the Hirini Rugby Academy, a programme she runs with husband Connor Hirini that aims to provide resources and help to young girls, on not only their rugby journey but also giving them tools to “become a good person”.
“It’s not really that set or formal at the moment … [but] we try and reach as many kids as we can,” Hirini said.
“We’ve probably hit about 300 last year, similar to this year. We just want to keep growing that next year, and we’ve been fortunate enough to do that in a lot of different places. We’re very, very lucky right now that Tudor, my watch sponsor, sponsors our academy, and they have provided us with so many more resources, so I like it.”
The academy not only works in New Zealand, helping those from smaller regions or bigger ones where rugby isn’t an option, but also internationally, highlighted by Connor travelling to Guam.
“What I love is we turn up to an event, there’s lots of kids [and] they all get a free T-shirt. To be honest, they’re probably happy with the free T-shirt more than anything else … I knew at that age, that’s what I was into as well,” she said with a smile.