Victoria Grant ('' née'' Blackledge; b. 26 August 1982) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

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 it ...

coach and former player. She played for internationally and for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

at provincial level. She was recently appointed as Head Coach of

Hurricanes Poua Hurricanes Poua are a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team based in Wellington, New Zealand that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. History Team name On 7 February 2022, The Hurricanes revealed the new name of thei ...

Biography

Grant has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Health Science majoring in Physiotherapy and a

post-graduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

diploma in

Sports Medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

. She was named Women's player of the year. Grant was a member of 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 tourname ...

champion 2006 Rugby World Cup squad. She made her test debut at the tournament on 4 September 2006 against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. She was also part of the 2010 Rugby World Cup winning squad. In September 2022, Grant was appointed as the new Head Coach of

for the 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season. She will be absent 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 ...

as she will be having her second child, she will return as head coach in 2025.

References

External links

Black Ferns profile
1982 births Living people New Zealand women's international rugby union players New Zealand female rugby union players New Zealand female rugby sevens players New Zealand women's international rugby sevens players New Zealand rugby union coaches {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub