Grace Steinmetz (born 16 January 1998) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She made her test debut for the Black Ferns in 2022. She plays for Chiefs Manawa in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition, she previously played for

Matatū Matatū is a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Matatū represents the South Island, specifically the regions covered by the Crusaders and the Highlanders. They are governed ...

. She also represents Canterbury provincially.

Personal life

Steinmetz was born in Paraparaumu. She participated in hockey, athletics and touch rugby before she moved into Sevens rugby. She is the niece of 2002 All Blacks second five

Paul Steinmetz Paul Christopher Steinmetz (born 26 January 1977 in Paraparaumu, New Zealand) is a retired professional rugby union footballer. He made one appearance for the All Blacks in 2002. Playing career Provincial Rugby Steinmetz made his debut for Wel ...

. Steinmetz is a Lawyer and studied Law and Commerce at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Rugby career

2018–20

Steinmetz played sevens for Wellington and was in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on a sevens contract in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to return to New Zealand. Steinmetz made her debut for Canterbury in 2018. She was selected for the

Black Ferns Sevens The New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team represents New Zealand in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. The team has participated in all rounds of the World Rugby Wom ...

training squad in 2019 and was part of Canterbury's fourth

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 ...

title win in 2020. She came off the bench for the Probables against the Possibles in a Black Ferns trial match. Steinmetz played for the Black Ferns against the New Zealand Barbarians on 21 November 2020 at Nelson.

2021–22

Steinmetz signed with

for the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season in 2022. She was initially 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 ...

but was ruled out due to injury. After missing out on the Pacific Four tournament, Steinmetz 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 Laurie O'Reilly Cup. She made her test debut for the Black Ferns against

on 27 August 2022 in Adelaide.

2023–24

On 28 November 2023, it was announced that she had signed with 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 ...

References

External links

Black Ferns Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinmetz, Grace 1998 births Living people New Zealand female rugby union players