Kelly Brazier

BIOGRAPHY

Black Fern #153

Kelly Brazier captured national headlines at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast when she scored the winning try in the grand final against Australia to secure a gold medal for New Zealand.

Brazier told Newshub at the time: "I was just thinking, to be honest, the time was up on the clock and I was not keen on playing another five minutes of extra time. I just looked over to our skipper and she just gave me the nod to tap it on that penalty and when that hole opened up I was just like 'it's now or never', and the old legs got me over in the end."

It was a rich reward for a player who has given long service to the black jersey and was once the only girl in a team of 40 boys.

Brazier was born in Dunedin. Her English father and Irish mother came to New Zealand with their first child Tony.

Brazier first made an impression in touch where at 14 years old she was selected for the New Zealand Under 21 mixed touch team She made the New Zealand Secondary Schools Girls' team at 15.

In 2003 Brazier began playing rugby for Alhambra Union and a year later was selected for the Otago Spirit.

On May 2, 2009, she scored a record 64 points - ten tries and seven conversions - for her club in the Otago Metropolitan Women's Premier match against Kaikorai at the University Oval in Dunedin. It beat the record of 42 points scored by Annaleah Rush (Otago) against the Hanan Shield Districts team in 1999. It was also part of a 56-game winning streak for the Broncos.*

“Kaikorai was the club I played for as a junior but they didn’t have a senior girls team so I accepted an invitation to play for Alhambra. I had been a halfback, and scored a few tries, but the coaches wanted me out of the way so they put me at fullback. Ironically I got the ball even more," Brazier laughed.

Seven months later Brazier made her international debut against England at Pillar Data Arena in Esher, where Black Ferns won 16-3. In the second test match, played at Twickenham, in front of a then record crowd of 12500 people the Black Ferns were defeated 10-3.

She bounced back stronger than ever in 2010, finishing the World Cup triumphant as the tournament's leading points scorer with a haul of 48 points in four matches. She played second-five where her combination with veteran Anna Richards was the ideal mix of youth and experience.

She scored a hat-trick against Wales while her 61st minute penalty to break a tie in the final against England, when New Zealand was down to 14 players, proved historically pivotal. The kick was slotted on a sharp angle on the English 22.

“Your so free when your young and can play without expectation. I’d never played 12 before that but when you're surrounded by legends and beside Anna Richards what could go wrong?

“The score in the final was close, but I didn’t really feel the pressure. It felt like we were the better team and when we were down to 13 we did what Kiwis do and found a way.”

Brazier's speed, smarts, goal kicking and versatility make her a natural fit for Sevens, where she is one of New Zealand's most decorated players since the inception of the professional circuit in 2012.

She has won two World Cups, five World Series titles, an Olympic and Commonwealth games gold medal and is among the top 20 try scorers of all time. In 2010 she even played for the Aotearoa Māori women’s sevens team that won the Roma Sevens. In 2011 and 2001 she played professionally for Clansmen in Edmonton where she won six local titles. .

“To be honest, it’s been crazy. We've gone from pretty much just having a nine-to-five job, and training 5am and 5pm, to now a fully professional sport, run alongside the men's sevens in Mount Maunganui.”

In 2021 she was a member of the New Zealand Olympic team that won gold in Tokyo. New Zealand beat France 26-12 in the final. With a silver medal in 2016 she joined just 17 other Kiwi women, including legends Barbara Kendall, Dame Valerie Adams and Lisa Carrington to win two or more medals at the Olympics. New Zealand's first double medalist was Peter Snell, named in 1999 the New Zealand athlete of the century! Brazier paid tribute to longtime coaches Cory Sweeney and Alan Bunting.

Cory is the analyst, a deep thinker likely to introduce new strategies. He does a lot of homework and has a great understanding of the game. Alan drives the culture. He’s shown real courage to let the girls take more and more ownership. The character and culture of the team is really special. The senior leadership group have different strengths that together compliment each other. We're like one big family.”

Former Bay of Plenty and New Zealand Sevens representative Bunting became a head coach after the Rio Olympics in 2016 and retired after Tokyo. In that period New Zealand won 22 out of 28 tournaments (151 of 160 matches).

Brazier has remained equally effective in the longer format. She holds the Black Ferns record for most penalty goals in a single test (4 v England in 2013).** In 2017 started three matches at second-five, including the final, in a second World Cup win. She was the glue of a backline that scored 49 tries in five games. She is fifth on the all-time Black Ferns points scoring list.

“I pretty much taught myself to goal kick though later in my career I did get advice from Daniel Bowden (ex Auckland rep) Hannah Porter (ex Black Fern) and Mike Delany (ex All Black). I started playing soccer when I was ten. My Mum got injured playing a man in Balclutha and I replaced her and got player of the match. I guess playing soccer was the foundation of my ability to kick.”

In December 2020 she was named second-five in the World Rugby Women’s 15’s Team of the Decade (2010-19).

Former Otago coach John Kyle remarked: “Kelly Brazier is a freak. I call her the Sachin Tendulkar of New Zealand Rugby because I started her for Otago as a 14-year-old. I couldn't get away with that today.”

Dale Atkins was Black Ferns coach from 2007 to 2009: “When I was coaching the Black Ferns we had people around the country watching high school games and recommending players to us. In Otago this bloke Colin used to ring me and tell me about Dunedin players. After St Hilda’s matches he’d explain Kelly had scored x number of tries and x number of points, the numbers were just staggering. You could put her in any position as long as she was on the field. I used to say she’s Cullen-esque, like Christian Cullen.”

Brazier lives in Mount Maunganui, nearly losing a prized possession at Christchurch Airport in August, 2021.

“I lost my gold medal. Oh my god! It happened when I put my bag down facing a haka from the rest of the squad. I’d taken the medal on and off a number of times for photo opportunities so for convenience I put it in the part of my bag where I keep my water bottle. The medal gently fell out and I only realized it had gone missing when I arrived at the hotel. Thankfully Sarah Hirini picked it up.

“I keep it in a frame at home. It comes out a lot when friends visit. I have to keep it away from my baby boy Oakley who likes to bite it."

*In 2012, Brazier scored a Farah Palmer Cup record 45 points (5 tries, 10 conversions) for Otago against Hawke's Bay.

**The test match in 2013 against England where Brazier kicked a Black Ferns record four penalties was won 29-10 in Pukekohe. It was the 1000th women’s Test.

Profile by Adam Julian