Kelsie Thwaites
| Date of birth | 8 January 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 81 kg (179 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Kelsie Thwaites (née Wills; born 8 January 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She previously represented New Zealand in beach volleyball before switching to rugby.[1]
Volleyball career
[edit]Thwaites completed an indoor volleyball scholarship in the United States, and played professionally in Paris.[1]
Thwaites and playing partner Shaunna Polley represented New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[2][3] They were the nation's first women's beach volleyball team to compete at the Games.[2][3] The pair won a bronze medal at the Ulsan Open in South Korea on the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.[3]
Rugby career
[edit]Thwaites made a switch to rugby union in 2019.[1] She made the Bay of Plenty Volcanix squad in her debut year for the Farah Palmer Cup.[4][5] She wore the black jersey for the first time in two non-test matches against the NZ Barbarians in 2020.[2] She made her international debut for the Black Ferns against England on 31 October 2021 at Exeter.[6][2]
Thwaites was named in the Chiefs Manawa squad for the 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Macfarlane, Kristin (13 April 2019). "Why Kelsie Wills is focusing on rugby in 2019". NZ Herald. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d Chapman, Grant; Chapman, Alex (30 October 2021). "Black Ferns v England: Nine debutants named for 100th test, World Cup final rematch". Newshub. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ a b c "First NZ women's beach volleyball team to compete at Commonwealth Games". Stuff.co.nz. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ Standley, Ashley (3 September 2020). "Kiwi beach volleyball star Kelsie Wills' rugby switch pays off". Stuff. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ "Black Ferns v England: Nine debutants named for 100th test, World Cup final rematch". Newshub. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ "Black Ferns name four debutants in starting XV for historic test". Otago Daily Times Online News. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
- ^ "Waitomo Chiefs Manawa Squad Announced". Chiefs. 21 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
External links
[edit]- Kelsie Wills at the Black Ferns (archive)
- Kelsie Wills at Chiefs Manawa Archived 25 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- Kelsie Wills at the FIVB beach volleyball database
- Kelsie Wills at the New Zealand Olympic Committee
- Kelsie Wills at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (archived)
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 | This biographical article relating to volleyball is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1993 births
- Living people
- New Zealand women's international rugby union players
- New Zealand women's beach volleyball players
- Beach volleyball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand
- New Zealand female rugby union players
- New Zealand women's volleyball players
- New Zealand sportspeople stubs
- Volleyball biography stubs