Ruth McKay

McKay attended Taihape College where she began playing rugby as a third-former.^[1] She first played for Manawatu in 2003, she was still a seventh-former student at Whanganui Girls' College.^[2]

McKay made her international debut for New Zealand on 16 October 2007 against Australia at Wanganui.^[3][4] She made her second appearance for the side in Porirua.^[5] She faced the Wallaroos again a year later in the 2008 Laurie O'Reilly Cup at Canberra.^[6] She played in both test matches.^[7][8]

In 2009, she was named in the Black Ferns side that toured England in November.^[9]

McKay was a member of the 2010 Rugby World Cup winning squad.^[1][10] She started in their opening match of the World Cup against South Africa.^[11][12] She also competed against Australia, Wales and France. She started in the World Cup final against England where the Black Ferns claimed their fourth title.^[13][14]

In 2012, she was selected for the Black Ferns squad that toured England for a three-test series in November. She featured in every game which England eventually won to claim the series.^[15][16]

In 2013, she was in the Black Ferns squad that took on England again in their July tour of New Zealand.^[17] The first test took place in Auckland which her side won despite some defensive dominance from England.^[18] She started in the second test in which they clinched the series with a narrow margin at Hamilton.^[19][20] She came off the bench in the final game as her side secured the series 3–0 with an emphatic 29–8 win.^[21]

She played in the Black Ferns side that competed in an international women's rugby series in Rotorua in June 2014.^[22] The fixture included matches against Australia, Canada and Samoa.^[22] She started in the final game of the series against Canada at Whakatāne.^[23][24]

McKay made the selection for her final World Cup appearance at the 2014 tournament in France. She started in the opening match against Kazakhstan.^[25] She then featured in the pool game where Ireland stunned the Black Ferns with their first defeat in a World Cup since their 1991 semi-final loss to the United States.^[26][27] She played her last international game in her side's fifth place playoff against the Eagles.^[28]

McKay is a shepherd in Hunterville, New Zealand.^[1][3]

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