The Black Ferns have received a royal welcome ahead of their clash against England this weekend, meeting with King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
The Black Ferns, take on the Red Roses (ranked No. 1 in the world) at Twickenham on Sunday morning NZT.
The Black Ferns met King Charles at Buckingham Palace ahead of their match against England this weekend. (Source: 1News)
King Charles wished the team great success for their match this weekend, before the Black Ferns performed a waiata and presented him with a jersey signed by all of the team.
The Black Ferns met King Charles at Buckingham Palace ahead of their match against England this weekend. (Source: 1News)
The King once again expressed his sadness at the recent death of Kīngi Tuheitia.
He said he also wished he could come visit New Zealand but due to his ongoing cancer treatment, he can only make a short trip to Australia and Samoa.
“I'm extremely sorry I can't come to New Zealand in later October because of doctor's orders but I hope I get another excuse (to come) before too long,” the King said. “In the meantime, give my love to New Zealand.”
Many members of the Black Ferns team said they were slightly unsure of what to do when they met the King. Winger Ayesha Leti-I’iga went for a bold approach and asked King Charles if it was okay if some of the team gave him a hug, to which he obliged.
Later King Charles thanked the team for their "warm hugs".
The King also shared with some of the players about his own experiences playing rugby, saying that he used to be in the second row and had suffered a few broken noses.
Black Fern Ruby Tui said she was surprised when advised to curtsy for the King.
"They didn't say anything about doing a curtsy. I was like 'is this a joke?
"Ten seconds before the King of England comes out, you have to learn how to curtsy. So I don't know what happened, they said you could bow or curtsy, but it was more like a dab, I could not believe that was real life."
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