The Warm Up: 'My Twitter followers tripled'

Ruby Tui, Olympic gold medalist and world champion in both sevens and fifteens rugby, joins Scrum 5 for a high-energy discussion that pivots from her viral BBC interview—where her Twitter followers tripled—to the seismic shifts in women’s rugby, including the upcoming trial of a smaller 4.5-sized ball. Tui reflects on how the Olympic sevens program catalyzed professional women’s rugby in New Zealand, turning a campaign for equity into a reality. She shares the emotional weight of playing in front of family at Eden Park during the World Cup final, where New Zealand beat England in a historic, momentum-shifting victory. The episode also unpacks the retirement of Welsh rugby legends like Lee Halfpenny, the tactical evolution of the Welsh women’s team, and the controversial decision to reduce the women’s rugby ball size—sparking debate over tradition, fairness, and the future of the game. Amid it all, the arrival of Nadine Griffiths as World Rugby’s new director of women’s rugby is hailed as a landmark moment for inclusion and legacy.