Chelsea Semple ( ''née'' Alley, born 7 November 1992) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. She was part of the Black Ferns side that won their fifth

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

title in 2017. She plays for the Chiefs Manawa in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition.

Rugby career

Semple made her

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut for the Black Ferns against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in July 2013. Semple was named in the squad to the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dubl ...

. She scored a try in the Black Ferns 121–0 trouncing of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

at the World Cup. She has also represented New Zealand in sevens. Semple was part of the winning team of the

2019 Women's Rugby Super Series The 2019 Women's Rugby Super Series was the third series of the Women's Rugby Super Series, a women's international rugby union competition featuring the best-ranked sides. Unlike the previous editions of the Super Series in 2015 and 2016 which ...

. In 2020 Semple was nominated for the

Fiao'o Fa'amausili Fiao'o Fa'amausili (born 30 September 1980) is a former New Zealand female rugby union player. She played for and Auckland. She made her Black Ferns debut on 18 May, 2002 against Australia at Barcelona. She was a member of the winning Black Fer ...

Medal for the

Farah Palmer Cup The Farah Palmer Cup (formerly known as Women's Provincial Championship until 2016), is the highest level domestic women's rugby union competition in New Zealand and is named after the former Black Ferns captain, Farah Palmer. This contest is hel ...

Player of the Year. She was part of the Chiefs team that played the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

in the first women's

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

match in 2021. She was then selected for the Black Ferns Autumn International tour of

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. She featured in the Black Ferns historic 100th test match, England won 43–12. Semple then faced France in her sides 7–29 loss at Castres. Semple signed with for the inaugural

2022 Super Rugby Aupiki season The 2022 Super Rugby Aupiki season is the inaugural season of Super Rugby Aupiki. The competition commenced on 10 March between Chiefs Manawa and Matatū. On 20 March, Chiefs Manawa were crowned as the inaugural champions of Super Rugby Aupiki a ...

. She was named in the Black Ferns squad for the

2022 Pacific Four Series The 2022 Pacific Four Series was the second edition of the Pacific Four Series. The competition was hosted by New Zealand from 6 to 18 June. Matches were played at two of the venues which will host the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup – The Trusts ...

. She was recalled into the team for the August test series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for the

2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup The 2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup was the 13th edition of the competition. The matches were played on 20 and 27 of August, with both Australia and New Zealand hosting one match each. After a two year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was confir ...

. After missing the 2023 season due to pregnancy, she rejoined Chiefs Manawa for the

2024 Super Rugby Aupiki season The 2024 Super Rugby Aupiki season will be the third season of Super Rugby Aupiki. The competition is expected to run from 2 March 2024 to 13 April 2024. Chiefs Manawa and Hurricanes Poua will kick off the season at the FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamil ...

. She returned to the field for Chiefs Manawa eight months after giving birth. In the Chiefs Manawa game against the Blues in Hamilton on 30 March 2024 she came off the bench in the second half in score a try in what was her 100th first-class game.

Personal life

In 2018 while she was playing for the Waikato women's team she meet James Semple, the team's assistant and backs coach. Their relationship progressed as she advanced to team captain and him to head coach. They married on 5 February 2022. In 2023 she became the first Black Ferns player on full-time contract to become pregnant. After a 42-hour labour she gave birth to daughter Cameron (”Cami”) Ellie Semple in July 2023. Despite having a seizure immediately after giving birth due to extreme exhaustion and blood loss Semple had sufficiently recovered to begin a gentle fitness training regime two weeks later.

References

External links

Chelsea Semple
at Black Ferns {{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Chelsea 1992 births Living people New Zealand female rugby union players New Zealand women's international rugby union players