Tara Turner comes from a competitive family of nine who all play touch rugby – sometimes in the same team. So there were always strong odds the fleet-footed teenager would be good at the game. At 16, Turner is now proving just how good. The Whangarei Girls High Year 12 student has just been named in the Touch Blacks women’s team to take on Australia in Newcastle next month.“I was pretty excited just to trial in the first place," she says. "But I was really, really happy when I found out – especially to be in a team with such amazing players." Turner has worn the black singlet before, for New Zealand age-group girls and mixed sides. But it’s always been a struggle – as one of seven kids – to find the money to travel and play for her country in a code that doesn’t receive a great deal of funding.
