Black Ferns co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu in doubt for rest of season as Hurricanes Poua prop Ngano Tavake cops ban

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Kennedy Tukuafu scores a try during Chiefs Manawa v Hurricanes Poua.

Black Ferns co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu remains in doubt for the rest of the test season, with Hurricanes prop Ngano Tavake copping a season-ending ban for the croc roll that caused her injury.

The ugly incident came in the 33rd minute of last Saturday’s Super Rugby Aupiki match at the All In Round in Pukekohe, with the Chiefs Manawa captain left in agony on the ground after Tavake cleaned her out at a ruck, then twisted and landed on her left leg.

World Rugby introduced the law on the croc roll ‒ defined as: “A prohibited action where a player laterally rolls/twists or pulls a player, who is on their feet in the tackle area, to ground. The action often lands on the player’s lower limbs” ‒ exactly two years ago ‒ July 1, 2024 ‒ noting at the time, “While low in number, these actions continue to cause long-term injuries in many players”.

Referee Marcus Playle sent Tavake to the sin-bin, deeming her actions met the yellow-card threshold, before it was soon after upgraded to a 20-minute red card.

Tavake, the 24-year-old 38-game Manawatū rep, who has played seven games for the Poua since 2022, was then handed a three-game suspension on Tuesday night, which will see her miss the remaining three rounds of the regular season.

She is the second player to be suspended this Aupiki season, with Black Ferns lock Maama Vaipulu also sitting out her third and final week this round following her red card for striking the face of Brianna Wallace in the Blues’ first-up win over the Poua.

Kennedy Tukuafu’s involvement in the Black Ferns season remains uncertain (file photo).

Tukuafu, meanwhile, will also be out of action this weekend, the Chiefs confirmed to The Post, but they did not yet have an update on just how long the 29-year-old might be facing on the sideline.

Being carried off the park was a doubly-sour blow in what was Tukuafu’s 100th first-class match, a game in which she had scored the opening try, and which her team had led 14-3 at that point, before going on to lose 34-29.

While losing Tukuafu is a big blow to the Manawa, who are now 0-3 and at the bottom of the ladder, the potential absence of the tenacious flanker would also be a huge setback for the Black Ferns, who have a big upcoming programme.

Tukuafu is the fourth-most-capped player in the current group (39 tests, behind only Georgia Ponsonby [40], Maiakawanakaulani Roos [41] and fellow co-captain Ruahei Demant [56]) and has shown signs this Super season of being at some of her physical, hard-working best on both sides of the ball.

After opening their new era under new coach Whitney Hansen in fine fashion by claiming the Pacific Four Series title with wins over the United States (48-15 in Sacramento), Canada (36-14 in Kansas City) and Australia (40-5 on the Sunshine Coast), the national side are back in action next month

They play a Black Ferns XV in Upper Hutt on August 14, before facing the Wallaroos in the second leg of the O’Reilly Cup in Auckland (Mt Smart Stadium) on August 22, then travelling to face South Africa in Johannesburg on September 5 in a double-header with the Springboks and All Blacks.

Then it’s onto Europe to start the inaugural WXV Global Series, with away matches against France (September 13 NZT), Scotland (September 20 NZT) and England (September 27 NZT), before then hosting the French in three tests as part of the same series, with games in Hamilton (October 17), Whangārei (October 24) and Christchurch (October 31).