The Black Ferns successfully returned to the Hong Kong Sevens last weekend, after a 22-year absence. Yet another band of Kiwi women kept the flag flying - among them, Mere Baker, who'd become a world league champion and world-renowned sevens coach. Adam Julian caught up with her.
In the preface to Ruby Tui's bestselling autobiography ‘Straight Up’, there's an incident relayed by the World Cup winning winger that proves to be the catalyst to drive her to greater heights.
Unfit and lagging in a team club run, straight shooting coach Mere Baker baits Tui. Baker suggests if Tui can catch the middle group, she’ll make her the best Sevens player in the world.
Tui discovered her "secret gearbox." Her body controlled by the will of her mind. She passed the middle pack and eventually finished third.
In 2019, Tui was crowned World Sevens Player of the Year, two years later adding an Olympic gold medal to her resume.
"God, Ruby was unfit, and I let her know it," Baker (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu) laughs.
“People who know me were like ‘holy shit you're in Ruby's book.’ Some even said I did similar things for them. That was crazy nice."
Born and raised in Riverton, Baker has coached in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Ireland, the United States, Scotland, Italy and even Estonia with eye-catching results. Her forthright approach is legendary but how does it resonate in this apparently more sensitive age?
"You can still have honest conversations, but I look at it as expectations versus reality rather than being a dictator. You must have realistic milestones players can aspire to. Where can you be in three months, six?" Baker says.
"With Māori and Pasifika athletes, providing them with a sense of self-empowerment and confidence is really important. Only then will they have that trust where you can be really frank."
Such wisdom and authority were far from Baker's grasp two decades ago.
Being a Canterbury representative in rugby, touch, sevens, and league suggested, at least superficially, that life was sweet. In reality, Baker was a shambles and "on the road to jail."
In 2002, Peter Joseph was approached by New Zealand Rugby asking if he’d be interested in coaching the New Zealand Sevens women’s team who’d won the 2000 and 2001 Hong Kong Sevens.
Joseph had managed the Aotearoa Māori Sevens, who’d been a local success for a handful of years. Then suddenly funding disappeared entirely for sevens, redirected instead to 15s in a bid to win the World Cup in Barcelona.
Convinced international sevens would collapse without a Kiwi presence, Joseph and wife, Shelly, mortgaged their Rotorua house to the tune of $64,000 and took the Aotearoa Māori team to Hong Kong. Baker was picked in the squad, a game-changer for her.
“Peter Joseph - I have a lot of aroha for that man. He saved my life which was a mix of alcohol and violence at that point,” Baker says.
“Hong Kong was the first time I’d been overseas, and man was it a culture shock. We had no money and there were all those people, chicken legs hanging out windows, the humidity. It was nuts, the best trip ever.
“We won the tournament, a bunch of misfits from similar backgrounds to mine. What made Peter such a great coach is he allowed us to express ourselves, but he was constructive in suggesting what was and wasn’t working. He was the guy who gave you that one shot when most wouldn’t.”
Aotearoa Māori proved a smash. They won the next five consecutive Hong Kong Sevens, with Baker only missing the 2005 event. Between 2000 and 2012 they won 14 of the 18 official tournaments they contested, beating 23 different countries with 34 of the 81 women going on to represent either the Black Ferns or Black Ferns Sevens.
“Aotearoa Māori taught me what being a serious athlete is all about. Some of my behaviour before that was out the gate,” Baker admits.
Mere Baker commentating rugby league for Māori TV with Dale Husband.
Baker was an outstanding all-round athlete. In 2003, she won the Rugby League World Cup with the Kiwi Ferns.
“I won national touch and sevens titles for Canterbury. There were a group of us who played sport all year round. It was tough and did take its toll at times, but the camaraderie and sense of pride saved us,” she says.
“In rugby, I was a fullback, then a centre who loved to pass when I was too old to run. I wasn’t the biggest on the paddock, but I was consistent in my role and loved to tackle. In all the sports I played, defence was my main strength.”
By 2009, due to age and injury, Baker was on the outer with the Aotearoa Māori Sevens, who themselves were struggling to find competition after being banished from Hong Kong. With the support of Ernie Goodhue, Baker helped establish the KUSA (Kiwi/USA) Superclub Sevens, with most players sourced from Canterbury and America.
KUSA was the first shot Ruby Tui had at international level. Black Ferns such as Halie Hurring, Kelly Brazier, Anika Tiplady, Kendra Cocksedge, Zoey Berry, Amiria Rule and Olivia Coady, all appeared for the side who won international tournaments in Byron Bay and the Gold Coast. Ironically they were beaten by Aotearoa Māori in the final of the 2012 Roma Sevens.
“By 2009, Aotearoa Māori had become quite an exclusive team. I wasn’t good enough to be there, however there were several ladies who were so that’s why we set up KUSA,” Baker says.
“Financially it was a struggle for both of us and when New Zealand Rugby funded the Black Ferns to compete in the World Series in 2012, we were finished. I hope the history, success, and initiative of the women before the Black Ferns isn’t forgotten.”
With a wealth of experience, Baker turned her hand to coaching in 2012.
For five years she was an incredibly successful player, coach, and development officer for Railway Union in Ireland. She took the premier team with 40 women, most of whom had never played rugby before, up five divisions into the All-Ireland Rugby Championship. Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins, Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Cliodhna Moloney were just some of the Irish internationals she mentored.
Acknowledgment in New Zealand nationally followed, as well as stints in Boston and Arkansas where she briefly assisted the US national team. The Sutton Rugby club in Australia leaned on Baker for support in a consultancy role for five years.
Perhaps her most stunning success was in Japan where in 2017-18, she helped Mie Pearls win the hugely competitive professional sevens league. The Pearls have just signed Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini to play this season.
What about Estonia?
“Oh, that happened after Ireland when I was out of a job,” Baker says. “I emailed every Rugby Union in Europe offering my services and most responded with no. Estonia got me in to help their men’s team. I did the same in Austria.”
In 2019, Baker returned home to become high performance manager at Rugby Southland. Today she lives in Bluff, and works for Tūhono - a Māori agribusiness, helping science connect with Māori business. She’s also doing a Masters in supporting Māori partnerships.
She continues to share her rugby and league expertise as a commentator for Sky Sport and Māori TV.
