'Breath of fresh air' to play in PWR - Demant

New Zealand co-captain Ruahei Demant has signed for Bristol for the rest of the PWR season

Just 48 hours after she landed in the UK, Ruahei Demant's body might not have adjusted to the jet lag and drop in temperature - but the New Zealander's "mind, body and soul" could not be more excited to be back in the northern hemisphere.

Demant is a former World Rugby player of the year and a World Cup winner with the Black Ferns with more than 50 caps for her country, yet the 30-year-old says the chance to spend four months playing in Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) for the first time with Bristol is a "breath of fresh air".

She said: "I can't believe how many supporters turn up to PWR matches, especially because it's dark and it's cold.

"It blows my mind, we don't get that at home - even our domestic rugby. So everything; the players, the competition, the support, the fans - it's all a breath of fresh air, it's so exciting, I can't wait to hear it, I can't wait to play in it, I can't wait to play against the opposition we're coming up against."

Conversations to bring the fly-half to Bristol started before the World Cup, with the Bears seeking cover at 10 following the retirement of Amber Reed and Holly Aitchison's departure to Sale.

Demant, meanwhile, was searching for game time with the New Zealand rugby calendar now empty until the Pacific Four series in April and with the Super Rugby Aupiki league rescheduled to June.

The fact Bristol's identity of free-flowing, running rugby suits the versatile back - who can also play at centre - makes the pairing all the better.

"The way the team likes to run the ball, the bravery the girls show, that was right up my alley," Demant said.

"I'm excited to learn new things, play a different style, grow and evolve as a player and make new friends and make memories with people that I'd have never meet if I didn't have this opportunity."

Visiting the facilities at Bristol's High Performance Centre, where the men's and women's Bears teams work together side by side, since she has arrived has also been a revelation.

"There's no real separation with the boys. It really surprised me because we don't really have that at home, things are different. That was a really cool surprise for me," she said.

'Girls will literally travel round the world just to play'

Demant has returned to England just over two months since her side finished third in the World Cup, losing 34-19 to Canada in the semi-finals to end their chances of a third straight title.

The six-times World Cup-winning Black Ferns were previously undefeated in the World Cup for 11 years and had not lost a knockout match in the competition since 1991.

Demant was player of the match in the previous World Cup final in November 2022, when they beat England to clinch the title on home soil, but she said she felt "embarrassed" to leave with bronze this summer.

"What was most disappointing was it felt like our team never completely gelled so we never got to play our best footie," Demant said.

"I don't know how the team felt but I was really embarrassed - being a co-captain at a World Cup with the team having won six World Cups and not even getting to the final, when you think of a legacy and what the jersey demands."

Director of rugby Allan Bunting stepped down earlier this month and Demant said there was a "clear need" for the nation to change the way they approach major tournaments.

"More game time, not just internationally, but in the lead-up to those games so that the calibre of players coming through have higher IQ, everything that game time gives," she said.

Demant is one of just three players to have surpassed 50 caps for the Black Ferns

Demant is one of a number of Black Ferns players who have joined PWR teams following the World Cup; Amy Rule at Exeter, Alana Borland and Georgia Ponsonby at Trailfinders, Layla Sae and Liana Mikaele-Tu'u at Harlequins - the most in the history of the league.

Demant said there was no discontent with the New Zealand Rugby Union but that players are "surprised" at the fact they face six months with no matches.

"The desire to want to play is so high that the girls are willing to do anything, literally travel halfway round the world just to play," she said.

While the first-ever women's British and Irish Lions tour will be to New Zealand in 2027, Demant said the desire to play was down to something much more simple - a "love" of being out there.

"How are we meant to improve, how are we meant to grow as players - not just as a team but as individuals - when we're not playing any games?" she said.

"For everyone back home who's wanting to come over - I know heaps of the girls are trying to - it definitely shows that to get better we need to play more games against better opposition and with better coaching, with better girls and we need to evolve and continue to grow and that's what the PWR offers."