Fiona Richards (born 23 December 1970) is a former female

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. Richards made her

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns, represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tournamen ...

debut on 4 October 1993 against a NZRFU President's XV at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. She made her international debut a year later on 2 September 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Richards played in the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

along with her older sister and fellow Black Fern

Anna Richards Anna Mary Richards (born 3 December 1964) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. She represented at four World Cups — 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010. Richards played representative tennis and netball before debuting for the Black Ferns on 2 ...

. She represented Auckland provincially and the College Rifles Thunderbirds in the Auckland Club Championship with her sister. She retired from rugby in 2000 due to a knee injury. Richards now coaches the Thunderbirds with another former Black Fern Rochelle Martin.

References

1970 births Living people New Zealand women's international rugby union players New Zealand female rugby union players Female rugby union players {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1970s-stub