‘World-class’ sevens star Bienne Terita reveals motivation for 15s move

ACT Brumbies recruit Bienne Terita has explained how the appeal of playing at another Women’s Rugby World Cup drew the HSBC SVNS Series star back to 15s. Terita will start pre-season training next week, with another two Aussie sevens players joining her at the Brumbies.

Rugby Australia announced on Thursday that nine players from the women’s seven side had committed to Super Rugby Women’s clubs for 2025. Terita joins Demi Hayes and Tia Hinds at the Brumbies, while Sariah Paki is the only 15s convert at the NSW Waratahs.

World Rugby’s reigning Sevens Player of the Year Maddison Levi headlines a strong group at the Queensland Reds, with younger sister Teagan, three-time Olympian Charlotte Caslick, sevens captain Isabella Nasser, and Paris Olympian Khali Henwood also moving to Ballymore.

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It’s understood that these nine athletes will aim to play for their respective clubs during a four-week break between SVNS Series events in March. After SVNS Vancouver and before the always-fun Hong Kong Sevens, these Aussies will get their chance to impress in 15s.

While Paki, Caslick and the Levi’s are among the players switching between rugby’s formats who have never actually played 15s, the same cannot be said for Terita. The powerful winger played for the Wallaroos at the postponed Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

“I think that’s a massive reason why I want to come back, because of my experience I had when I played my first World Cup debut,” Terita told Brumbies Media.

“We obviously want to bring as much value as we can to the World Cup team so hopefully we’ll get that opportunity.

“After the World Cup, obviously with an Olympic year last year, I was solely focused on sevens, I always kind of knew in the back of my mind that I eventually wanted to come back and play 15s and I think this is a perfect time for  us to do that and put our focus there.”

Terita entered the fray of Test rugby with an incredible try-scoring run of four tries in two matches against New Zealand. It was incredible to see a 19-year-old match it with Black Ferns great Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, who retired from international rugby after the Paris Games.

Those performances led Australia’s coach at the time Jay Tregonning to label Terita as a “world-class” talent in both sevens and 15s. This writer asked Terita about the coach’s comments not long after, but the youngster remained humble off the field and confident on it.

Sharni Smale, who also retired from international rugby after this year’s Olympic Games, was the only other sevens converted who lined up for the Wallaroos at the last World Cup, where Australia bowed out in the quarter-final after a one-sided 41-5 loss to England’s Red Roses.

But with another World Cup rapidly approaching, and a genuinely star-studded roster of sevens talent making the switch to rugby’s 15-a-side format, there are nine reasons to be intrigued and maybe even optimistic that Australia can shock some teams at the showpiece event.

“We obviously only had me and (Sharni Smale) at the last World Cup from the sevens program so it’s really good to see a lot of girls put their hand up,” Terita added.

“I know a lot of the girls are really keen to hopefully get there as well so it’ll be a really exciting time.

“They are pretty set on positions at the moment with players like Maya Stewart, Desiree Miller… I might have to expand my mind a little bit and put myself in a different position but I think hopefully playing in a Super W team I’ll be able to get a little bit more experience there.”