Changing the game

Winning the Rugby World Cup was the end goal for the Black Ferns in 2022’s competition, but taking the victory together is something Alana and Chelsea Bremner will never forget. Metropol’s Nina Tucker catches up with the Little River rugby stars about what the win means for women’s rugby, how life is looking following the victory, and the childhood that shaped their claim to fame.

New Zealand truly got behind our Black Ferns as they brought home the 2021 Rugby World Cup, played in 2022, and siblings Alana and Chelsea are not letting that momentum slow.

The fifth set of sisters to play a test match for New Zealand, they are just getting started. Everyone is so excited to continue to grow the game, they say. Winning the cup was “incredible”, according to Alana, “an overwhelming feeling of pride and joy, sharing that with Chelsea.”
After Covid-19 affected 2022 Super Rugby, Alana and Chelsea are fizzing to have fans at games again as they go head to head for the Super Rugby Aupiki competition, Alana with Matatū, and Chelsea with Chiefs Manawa.

The sisters remain fully contracted Black Ferns, and combined with Super rugby, this means few opportunities to relax. Gym, speed and conditioning, and skills sessions occur most days, interspersed with nutrition and mental skills meetings, plus a game during weekends. This means that making time for family and friends is “the biggest thing” for the sisters, keeping their Little River roots at heart.

Chelsea, a trained teacher, and Alana with a degree in agriculture-business and food marketing, are not slowing down when it comes to showing you can both work and play rugby.

Growing up in a rural town outside of Christchurch, Alana and Chelsea never thought they would see themselves on the world stage. Enjoying country life before technology took precedence, the sisters spent their spare time with their younger brother Michael, biking and building huts outside, or playing in their dad’s canoe, memories they still cherish.
“Mum really encouraged the active lifestyle, we had an absolute ball,” says Chelsea.

Devoted to their girls, Phil and Sharon Bremner provided the encouragement and support needed, the catalysts to Alana and Chelsea’s drive. The girls recounted their parents being present at every game, always “cheering from the sideline”.

In adulthood, little has changed. Both proud parents can be found in the stands at every game the girls play, displaying the same love, comfort, and maybe a little bit more excitement now.

Alana and Chelsea can say they’ve remained best friends through it all, with no more than the average sibling squabble. Sharing a room until the age of 18, the pair “didn’t have the option of not getting on”.

From buying a house to pulling on the Black Ferns jersey, Alana and Chelsea have done it all together. Just like when they were kids, most days are spent together and they “love each other’s company”, declaring their best friend status remains.
When discussing role models, their parents, and legends Kendra Cocksedge and Stephanie Te Ohaere-Fox were front-runners, but it was Chelsea’s definitive comment that was heartwarming: “Alana was my role model”.
While living rural offers an abundance of growth and creativity, opportunities to advance in sports come few and far between. Aged seven when she picked up a rugby ball and began playing for Banks Peninsula, Alana was following in her dad’s footsteps. The rest is history:
“I fell in love with the game,” she recollects. “I haven’t had a year off since I was seven.”

Now the captain for Matatū, Alana is making moves in the women’s rugby leadership space, thanks to years of dedicated hard work before donning her first Black Ferns jersey.

Chelsea followed her sister at 21 after Alana resurrected the Lincoln University women’s team and needed more players. Reluctantly, Chelsea joined.

“I didn’t know any of the rules. I’d never played rugby before,” she laughs.

Pinpointing rural athletes’ struggles, Chelsea explained how school sport was daunting growing up. At combined school competitions, athletes from other schools had their cliques. With only five girls in their year group, the sisters found it difficult to “pluck up the courage” to fully participate.

None of that’s a problem, for them now. Attending frequent rugby camps and sitting tight in the programme, Alana and Chelsea put in countless hours to help them achieve their goals.

“Giving it all you can, putting all your work in, and all you can do then is hope you’re doing enough to get selected,” Chelsea recounted. “Just hoping to get one opportunity to pull the black jersey on.”

Both sisters encourage young athletes to say ‘yes’ to opportunities that present themselves, specifically with what’s available through school rugby.

“That’s the only way to get where you want to go,” says Chelsea.
Alana adds, “Anything is possible if you want it to be. There are endless opportunities to grow, on and off the field. Just say yes.”