13 December 2022 World Cup winners visit campus

Lincoln University, through the hospitality of Lincoln University Rugby Club and President Andy Borland (BCom(Ag) 1986), welcomed four of its World Cup winning alumni Black Ferns to a campus reception in Te Kete Ika on 8 December.

Attending were loose forward Alana Bremner, Bachelor of Agribusiness and Food Marketing 2019; lock Chelsea Bremner, PG Diploma in Applied Science 2017; hooker Georgia Ponsonby, Bachelor of Land and Property Management 2022; and prop Amy Rule, Bachelor of Sport and Recreation Management student 2019.  The fifth Black Fern alumna, halfback Kendra Cocksedge, Bachelor of Recreation Management (Sport) 2012, was unable to attend.

All played in the dramatic final against England.

Welcoming the players to the campus Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Edwards, himself a former New Zealand sports representative (hockey), said Lincoln University was tremendously proud of its five Black Ferns and he congratulated them on their success.

“The value of sport in the mix of everything else we do in life cannot be overstated,” he said. “Lincoln had long recognised this through its Sports Scholarship Programme.”
 Alana, Amy, and  Georgia all come into Lincoln on Rugby Scholarships, and Kendra had entered on a Cricket Scholarship, later being awarded an elite  Prime Minister’s Scholarships acknowledging her rugby excellence.

To start the event, a panel-type interview with the four was conducted by Dr Catherine Elliott, Senior Lecturer from the Department of Tourism, Sport and Society. Questions were then taken from the floor, and finally the players mixed informally with rugby club members and university staff.

Some quotable quotes from the occasion included  -
Chelsea: I was offered a Netball Scholarship initially, but opted to go to Dunedin to do a teaching qualification, then on a trip back to Lincoln my sister Alana invited me to play in a rugby match to make up the numbers. I had to hide this from my netball coach, who wouldn’t have wanted me to get injured.  But now of course I love every minute of my rugby.

Georgia: Preparation for games? Get some good food in, and some good tunes.

Alana: Without the music of the team bus we wouldn’t be in the zone.

Dealing with the post-final euphoria - 
Georgia, who said she had come to the Lincoln University event ‘straight from a ram sale’, says she can come down from excitement quite quickly. Being from a small rural place near Taihape keeps her grounded, she said.

Amy: The after-final feeling? I’m still on Cloud Nine’! Her worst moment she said was sometime later when she lifted up the World Cup trophy (which they have nicknamed ‘Nancy’) and the bottom fell off!

What the World Cup has meant to them  -
Georgia: Everyone has got excited about rugby once more. We seem to have ignited the rugby spirit again in people.

Alana:  Ha, I know someone who ate Weetbix for the first time, because we are on the Weetbix Cards. So that’s at least something we have achieved!

Amy: No one has changed. We are all true to ourselves. I want people to feel for the game the way I do.

Chelsea: I am so grateful we could do it for our country.  As a teacher I know how important it is for children to have role models and being able to be a role model is very special for me. It’s important that the country sees the love we have for the game.