Mererangi Paul

BIOGRAPHY

Black Fern #246

Mererangi Paul (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Awa), in a similar vein to Portia Woodman, abandoned a promising netball career to become a leading Black Ferns winger.

In 2023, she was a nominee for World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year after scoring seven tries in five Tests and helping the Black Ferns retain the Pacific Four and Laurie O Reilly Trophy against Australia. 

On debut against the Wallaroos in Brisbane, Paul scored two tries in a 50-0 victory - the Black Ferns biggest against Australia since 1997. 

“The whole week went really fast, everything from training, team naming, and the game itself. My tries were team efforts. There is a lot of competition in the outside backs, so it was good to contribute,” Paul said.

She repeated the dose in the 52-21 victory against Canada. The win was the Black Ferns 100th in Tests and sealed the Pacific Four title. 

“I didn’t know the history of Canada, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was warned that they would be one of the harder games. It was nerve-wracking at times, but I felt we were well prepared.”

The inaugural WXV1 series was a mixed bag for the Black Ferns. A record victory over Wales was offset by a record home defeat to a formidable England. Paul bagged a hat trick against the Welsh but found much stauncher resistance against the Red Roses.  

“The Welsh Test was a day before my birthday, so it was a pretty cool weekend, especially getting that last try. Ruby (Tui) got four in the first half, so it was a day for the wingers.

“England was a hard game to take. I got into a hole early and struggled to get out of it. Defensively it was a great challenge, but it was good to measure myself against a benchmark and learn from it.

“Growing connections with your back three, being decisive with your decision making by playing what you see rather than thinking too much, and being able to occasionally kick and get your positioning right defensively are key things to being a world-class wing.”

One of seven siblings Paul was raised in Whakatāne. Mother Raywine raised the kids while Roger worked in roading and demolition. 

Paul was an accomplished netball player initially at Trident High School and then at St Kentigern College in Auckland. In 2017 she was contracted professionally by the Northern Mystics and played alongside Silver Ferns Anna Harrison and Maria Folau. However, Paul conceded she wasn’t “up to scratch” and like her younger sister Black Ferns Sevens representative Mahina, migrated to rugby. 

Mererangi initially played Sevens under the tutelage of former Black Ferns winger Victoria Grant at Rotoiti. In 2018 she was named player of the tournament at the Ignite 7s and earned a spot at the Black Ferns Sevens National Development Camp for 2019.

Paul joined Super Rugby Aupiki champions Chiefs Manawa in 2022 as part of their wider training squad. In 2023 she cracked the starting XV and scored five tries in as many matches as the Chiefs beat every side en route to the final which they narrowly lost to Matatū.

Paul has scored seven tries in ten games for Counties Manukau and played professional sevens for Tokyo Phoenix.

Profile by Adam Julian.