World champ Black Fern returns to Whanganui for raft race

Black Ferns Sosoli Talawadua and Toka Natua came to Whanganui with precious metal. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Being six and half months pregnant didn't stop world champ Black Fern Sosoli Talawadua from giving it her all in Whanganui's River Raft Race on Saturday.

Talawadua returned to her hometown with Black Fern teammate Toka Natua to be auctioned off at Whanganui's annual charity event and lend their strength to a team.

The Chronicle caught up with Talawadua over the weekend and it wasn't until the end of the interview she revealed she was in her third trimester of pregnancy.

She is not playing rugby at the moment but said a raft race was no sweat ... or at least those were her initial thoughts.

"The race started in line with the Wanganui Motorboat Club and I saw the big duck just passed the Dublin bridge and I just assumed the race finished there but it went all the way to Putiki so that was a bit of a shock midway through the race."

But despite the disruption in her mental game, Talawadua said it was a lot of fun and she was glad to be a part of it.

She was part of the raft team put together by her father, Whanganui boxing gym manager Eddie Tofa.

"They only entered their team Friday night, made the raft that night in two hours, and hadn't even checked to see if it would float.

"But we got there and it didn't sink or break ... it was just loads of fun," Talawadua said.

She and fellow NZ prop Natua were at Kowhai Park for the pre-race gala with the women's Rugby World Cup trophy, won by the Black Ferns 41-32 in an epic final against England in Belfast in August.

Talawadua said as soon as they set the cup up they had kids coming over congratulating them and thanking them for coming.

"It was really cool to see and everyone was really welcoming."

There were a lot of rules that came with bringing the World Cup to Whanganui but they'd had no problems.

"I had my brother, who's a boxer, with me so that helped secure it."

Talawadua said looking back at last year's win against England came with a mix of emotions.

The Black Ferns were down 17-5 at half time, but she aid everyone was really calm and they just reflected on what the win meant to them.

"I thought the coaches were going to give us an earful but they were calm and so were the players and our whole theme had been about family — and we just went back out there and did it for our families."

The former former Whanganui High School student left her home town five years ago, heading to Hamilton in her bid to become a Black Fern.

She is back in Whanganui about twice a year — or whenever parents Eddie and Sandra Tofa hold a boxing event.