The last word that comes to mind when Bienne Terita plays rugby is “difficult”. Powerhouse, maybe. Joyful, if you’re lucky enough to be a teammate and observe her off the field. Not “difficult”.
The Wallaroos rookie has scored four tries in her first two Tests this year, two of them in her maiden World Cup appearance and all four against reigning world champions New Zealand.
Her second effort last week, in Australia’s loss to the Black Ferns, was a classic master-and-apprentice match up between Terita and Portia Woodman, high priestess of the Black Ferns. The Sydney teenager dragged Woodman over the try line to put the Wallaroos ahead 17-0. You’re the Voice blasted over the heads of a stunned Eden Park crowd.
Terita, a product of Randwick Rugby’s Maroubra Magic junior girls’ sevens program, joined the Australian sevens straight out of high school and has made Test rugby look easy in her debut season. But “difficult” is the word she chooses when asked to describe swapping formats.
“They are completely different games. It was really hard because of the physicality and just more contact with more bodies (in 15s),” she says. “It’s been difficult transitioning over. It’s a really technical game as well, where sevens is eyes-up footy.”
That grounding in eyes-up footy is to thank for delivering Wallaroos coach Jay Tregonning a young footballer with a winger’s instincts already well-developed. Last week, Terita could have gone around fullback Renee Holmes on her outside for that second try. Instead, she made the split-second judgement to step back inside and slice through the gap between a wheeling Holmes and Woodman. She had plenty of work to do but powered through Woodman’s tackle to finish the job.
Making hard things look easy: Bienne Terita is off to a flying start in Test rugby.Credit:Rugby Australia
“I’m pretty stoked about it,” she says of her first two performances in the Wallaroos jersey. “It’s more to do with my team and the help that they’ve given me in training, which has helped my confidence on the field. They put the ball into space and then I’m able to do my job as best I can.”
There’s been an element of therapy in the success for Terita, who concedes she was heartbroken when she missed selection for Australia’s gold medal-winning Commonwealth Games squad this year.
A sevens native and a member of a generation to whom Australia’s 2016 Rio Olympics champions are heroes, she debuted during the 2021-22 World Series, playing in three tournaments at the start of the year. When selection time came for Birmingham, however, she wasn’t established enough to unseat any of Tim Walsh’s incumbent golden girls.
“At the time [the Wallaroos] wasn’t really an option, so I was pretty heartbroken when I first found out,” she says. “But once I knew this opportunity was at my feet I took it and ran and I’m so happy with what I’ve done with it now. It’s definitely kept me on my feet, with a positive mindset as well.”
Terita charges past Black Ferns Renee Holmes and Portia Woodman to score in Australia’s loss to open the World Cup.Credit:Photosport
Terita cites sevens legend Ellia Green as an inspiration in her journey from suburban netballer to Rugby World Cup try-scorer. The youngest of three girls, she dabbled in touch football as well but decided to try rugby after watching Green play the house down for Australia in Rio. The teenager confirms she was starstruck training alongside ‘the Green Machine’, and soaked up every minute before Green retired at the end of last year.
“I watched [them] a lot, [they] were a huge role model, so being in the same training program was really special,” Terita says of the prolific try-scorer, who has since transitioned to male.
“Ellia was the funniest person I’ve ever met, [they] bring so much joy off the field. Just the mindset [they] had and [their] kindheartedness, I looked up to [them] so much. What [they] created for the game and the next generation was special.”
Now Terita is forging her own path, making difficult things look easy and turning heartbreak into opportunity.
Bienne Terita scores in her Test debut against New Zealand in August.Credit:Getty
“I’ve never played in front of a crowd like that (at Eden Park),” she says. “I don’t think I realised how many people were out there until I got up and sang the national anthem. It was a milestone for women’s rugby. It was very special to be part of that.”
Australia play Scotland on Saturday in the second round of pool matches. It is a must-win fixture for the Wallaroos after Scotland picked up a losing bonus point against Wales. Only the top two sides in each pool automatically go through to the knockouts, with another two nations picked on a next-best points basis.
“As you saw in our last game against New Zealand, we’re more than capable of matching it with teams like that,” Tireta says. “I think we need to believe in ourselves a little bit more, trust ourselves and put it all out there on the footy field.
“Lately we’ve been really trying to enforce that you don’t have to feel the best to play your best. With the training you’ve done, you should be able to perform either way. That’s key.”
Watch all the action from the Women’s Rugby World Cup from New Zealand with every match streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport. Continues this Saturday with Scotland v Australia (12.30pm AEDT), USA v Japan (3.15pm AEDT) and France v England (5.45pm AEDT).
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