Ayesha Leti-l’iga and Ories women putting best foot forward for title success

Above: Ayesha Leti-l'iga crossing for a try for Oriental-Rongotai in their recent Victoria Tavern Trophy match against Marist St Pat's. Photo by David Brownlie Photos 

They’ve got the bye this coming Saturday, but the Oriental-Rongotai women’s side will still be leading the Victoria Tavern Trophy competition at the end of this weekend and they should go on to secure a home semi-final and earn the chance of contesting the final at the Petone Rec on 5 August.

Individually, Ayesha Leti-l’iga has run in 18 tries in the six competition games she’s played this year, including hat-tricks in each of her last two games.

What does she put this down to? “Part of it is because I was sick for a while at the end of last year with a chest infection and that affected my sevens rugby season last summer. I wanted to come back strong this season.”

She’s also the benefactor of a cohesive game plan, with its emphasis on backs and forwards combining more in general play. Coach Mason Malagamaali'i has installed the philosophy that “if you’re there you’re it.”

Unbeaten this season, the Ories women have won every game by an average winning score of 56-8 and have scored tries at a rate of almost 10 a game.

“The changes the coaches have brought in have helped. Mason has brought in a lot of new stuff to our team and the structure that’s been added has helped us become stronger and better.”

Ories’ set-piece has turned up the heat, with loosehead prop Raylene Lolo playing consistently well, while loose forward Joanah Ngan-Woo has been another standout helping to create the opportunities for Ayesha and the outside backs.

“Joanah is a strong runner and attracts a lot of players and she manages to offload the ball, I don’t know how she does it, but that helps us a lot and makes it easier for us to score tries!”

It’s certainly been raining tries on the left wing this year. Ayesha scored five tries in one game against the OBU Impalas in their first round meeting. “I was shocked myself; I’ve never scored five tries! I actually didn’t know it was that many until my coach told me. I thought I had scored probably three.”

She scored a hat-trick for Ories in his debut Wellington club rugby match early in 2015 and in her Ories career so far she has scored 43 tries in 25 matches, including eight hat-tricks.

Ayesha has played some games at fullback as well as left wing this year. “I prefer wing, I think I understand my position as a wing better than fullback.”

Fearless on both attack and defence, with a low centre of gravity and powerful in contact, Ayesha is definitely a player for the future and could attain higher honours in the future.

Late last year, Ayesha, Joanah and Jackie Fereti were selected in a 51-strong Black Ferns training programme. None made the Black Ferns, but Ayesha was an interested spectator, watching the games that were on TV.

Having spent two seasons in the Wellington Pride women’s NPC side, she has played against most of the New Zealand players, including the two Counties Manukau Heat Black Ferns and wings Portia Woodman and Renee Wickliffe.

“It’s a good challenge for me, playing against these players,” said Ayesha. “For example, Portia Woodman is every winger’s dream, and the experience playing against them is invaluable and you know what you need to improve on. Especially on defence. Once you give Portia space that’s her gone so have to defend well for her not to run around you.

“Also training beside them is so much different as well as playing against them. They are just so different in person when you are in training environment with them. Portia is really friendly and such a little kid when not playing.”

Ayesha has already achieved a lot given she’s only in her fourth year of playing.

She started in Year 11 at Porirua College in 2014. “My family took the school team and I knew nothing at all, so I just started on the wing and went from there.”

She used to play other sports such as basketball, but now it’s just rugby.

On being selected for the Pride for the first time in 2015: “I remember Ports [then coach James Porter] asking me to come to Pride training. I was just expecting to make the U18s so I was so shocked, but I went and loved the environment and learning and playing against much older and stronger girls.”

She scored a try in her debut NPC match against Manawatu and went on to play in every subsequent match up to and including the final against Auckland. Auckland won 39-0, with their left wing Mele Hufanga scoring 16 tries in eight games in 2015.

“I think what made my first Pride season more successful was because a lot of players under estimated me, because of my size, and I just love to prove them wrong.”

Last season, Ayesha returned for her second season in the Pride, scoring six tries in as many games but missing the chance to line-up against Portia and Renee and Counties-Manukau in the semi-final as she was away in Japan with school on a geography trip. The Heat went on to beat Auckland and win their maiden Farah Palmer Cup title.

Being the youngest in the Pride team, she was given the nickname ‘Baby’. But now with a group of current school players coming through perhaps that moniker will be passed on.

Outside of rugby, Ayesha lives with her grandparents in Porirua and is in her first year studying Sport and Exercise Science at Massey University.

To date, there’s been no All Blacks or Black Ferns out of Porirua College. 2007 U19 World Rugby Player of the Year Robbie Fruean is probably the most famous player out of the school, while Alapati Leiua played for Samoa against the All Blacks last Friday.

This year Porirua College are five from five in the Premier 2 WelTec Girls competition, and in Ayesha Leti-l’iga, all the players have a role model and recent student to aspire to.