Anna Mary Richards (born 3 December 1964) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. She represented at four

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

—

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Richards played representative tennis and netball before debuting for the Black Ferns on 26 August 1990. She was a member of the first official

New Zealand women's sevens The New Zealand Women's Sevens is an annual women's rugby sevens tournament, currently hosted at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton. The tournament is one of the stops on the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series and is hosted as pa ...

team, who took part in the 2000 Hong Kong Sevens. Richards played 54 matches for the Black Ferns of which 49 were full internationals. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, She was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to women's rugby. Richards was appointed as head coach of the Hong Kong women's sevens team in 2014. She was inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

on 17 November 2014. She also has a law degree and a BA. As at January 2023 she is the women's player development manager at Auckland Rugby.

References

External links

Black Ferns profile

World Rugby Hall of Fame profile
* 1964 births Living people Rugby union players from Timaru Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand women's international rugby union players New Zealand women's international rugby sevens players New Zealand female rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches Rugby union fly-halves {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1960s-stub