Kennedy Wailer Simon (born 1 October 1996) 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 is a loose forward and plays for the

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 ...

internationally and was a member of their

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

champion squad. She also plays for

Chiefs Manawa The Chiefs Manawa (officially called the Waitomo Chiefs Manawa for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Chiefs Manawa won t ...

in the

Super Rugby Aupiki Super Rugby Aupiki is a professional women's rugby union club competition in New Zealand. Its inaugural season was held in March 2022. It is a steppingstone between the Farah Palmer Cup and the Black Ferns. Aupiki translates as ‘''the ascent to ...

competition and represents Waikato provincially.

Rugby career

Simon made her provincial debut for

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

in 2013 against Otago Spirit. She made her test debut for the New Zealand women's national side, the

, against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2019. In 2020, she was awarded the international and Farah Palmer Cup player of the year by the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association at the New Zealand Rugby awards. Simon was part of the inaugural

side that played 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 New Zealand at

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

in 2021. Simon was named in the Black Ferns squad for the August test series against the

Wallaroos The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010. Australian women have been playing rugby since the ...

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 ...

. She made the Black Ferns 32-player squad for the

. In 2023, She was selected as co-captain of the

squad, with

Ruahei Demant Ruahei Demant (born 21 April 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She made her debut for the New Zealand national women's team, the Black Ferns, against Australia in 2018. A utility back, Demant plays as a first five-eighth, second five-e ...

, for the

Pacific Four Series The Pacific Four Series is an international rugby union competition that is sanctioned by World Rugby. It is contested between four women's national teams — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. It began in 2021 and was initiall ...

and O’Reilly Cup.

Honours and awards

In the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours, Simon 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 rugby.

References

External links

Black Ferns Profile

Chiefs Profile
Living people New Zealand women's international rugby union players New Zealand female rugby union players 1996 births Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-stub