One-time highland dancing queen has lit up the Women’s Rugby World Cup with her attacking zest
R
ugby’s next potential superstar is not shy about articulating her hopes and dreams. “I want to change the game and I’m proud to say that. I want to do things that no one has ever done, female or male.” Nobody could ever accuse the fast-rising Jorja Miller of lacking blond ambition or the necessary self-confidence to match her rare talent.
The 21-year-old builder’s daughter from the South Island of New Zealand is also not the sort to sit around patiently twiddling her thumbs. Already she is her country’s youngest Olympic gold medallist and has been voted the best sevens player in the world. Last year, aged only 20, she was named New Zealand’s player of the year, making her the youngest winner since Jonah Lomu.
And now here she is, curled up on a sofa just outside Exeter, readying herself for the Women’s Rugby World Cup knockout stages. The Black Ferns are about to face South Africa in the quarter-finals and the dynamic Miller, who once combined rugby with competitive highland dancing, is their not-so-secret weapon. Players who can run like a back and graft like a forward are gold dust, as England’s Henry Pollock is proving in the men’s game. Miller, similarly, wears No 7 but could pass for a lightning-quick three-quarter.
