{"id":577792,"date":"2025-11-18T07:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T07:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/577792\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T07:06:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T07:06:24","slug":"bristol-bears-confirm-signing-of-genuinely-world-class-ruahei-demant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/577792\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol Bears confirm signing of \u2018genuinely world class\u2019 Ruahei Demant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bristol Bears<\/a> have confirmed the signing of former World Rugby Women\u2019s 15s player of the Year, Ruahei Demant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 2021 Rugby World Cup<\/a> winning co-captain of the Black Ferns<\/a> will join the Premiership Women\u2019s Rugby<\/a> club at the end of November on a four-month contract.<\/p>\n

Her deal will run for the remainder of the PWR<\/a> season and allow the 30-year-old playmaker to link up with the Black Ferns in April 2026 for the Pacific Four Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Demant is one of just three players to have won 50 caps for her country and has scored 130 points since her 2018 debut.<\/p>\n

Capable of playing at both fly-half and centre, her addition will not only provide quality to the Bristol squad but cover after injuries sustained by long-serving duo Phoebe Murray<\/a> and Meryl Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re absolutely thrilled to welcome Ruahei Demant<\/a> to the Bears family,\u201d Scott Lawson<\/a>, Bristol Bears<\/a> head coach, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuahei is a genuinely world-class player \u2013 her vision, leadership and ability to influence games at the highest level set her apart and we can\u2019t wait to welcome her into our group later this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t become World Player of the Year without being something truly special, and her experience with the Black Ferns will bring immense value to our environment both on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe brings not just quality and composure in the backline, but also the kind of presence and professionalism that lifts everyone around her. We\u2019re excited to see the impact she\u2019ll have in a Bears shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the first four rounds of the new PWR campaign Bristol sit eighth in the league table after back-to-back losses against Saracens<\/a> and Exeter Chiefs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The impending arrival of 30-year-old Demant can certainly offer a boost to Bears, who still have plenty of time to recover and stake their claim for a top four spot in the league.<\/p>\n

Most recently Demant helped New Zealand<\/a> to a third-place finish at the 2025 Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup<\/a> in England.<\/p>\n

Three years on from her Player of the Match performance against England\u2019s Red Roses<\/a> in the 2021 Rugby World Cup final, she scored a try against France<\/a> in the bronze medal match at Allianz Stadium.<\/p>\n

It was a disappointing campaign for the six-time world champions, who crashed out at the semi-final stage with defeat to Canada<\/a> and have since seen Allan Bunting move on from his role as Director of Performance.<\/p>\n

She is the second star signing Bristol have made in the past 12 months and follows hot on the heels of Ilona Maher<\/a> in calling the West Country home on a short-term basis.<\/p>\n

Demant will arrive in the West Country ahead of her new club\u2019s clash with three-time champions, Gloucester Hartpury<\/a> on Sunday 30 November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited to have the opportunity to represent Bristol Bears in a world leading competition like the PWR,\u201d Demant said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to meet the girls, the management and the fans all while growing as a person and a player. I\u2019m extremely grateful New Zealand Rugby have allowed me to explore this opportunity and will return refreshed and ready for PAC4 in April!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol Bears have confirmed the signing of former World Rugby Women\u2019s 15s player of the Year, Ruahei Demant.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-577792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115569438584322790","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}