Red card to Black Fern - Rule set for PWR start

Amy Rule helped New Zealand win a bronze medal at the World Cup last month

Premiership Women's Rugby: Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester-Hartpury

Venue: Sandy Park, Exeter Date: Saturday, 1 November Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Coverage: Watch live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website & app.

Amy Rule will hope her full Premiership Women's Rugby debut will be a little less dramatic than the first time she ever played the game.

The New Zealand prop - who became the first-ever Black Ferns player to move to PWR when she agreed to join Exeter in June - had a unique introduction to rugby that ended in her being sent off.

"I didn't know the rules, didn't understand the ball had to go backwards and we had to go forwards," says the 25-year-old, from Riverton, near Invercargill - almost as south as you can go in New Zealand without dropping into the ocean.

"I remember getting chucked on because they were desperate and the opposition making a break and I was like 'okay so I know I've got to tackle this person' but didn't know how to tackle at the time so it ended up being a clothesline, knocked her out basically."

But, from that moment, Rule was hooked.

Her talent was spotted by those in charge at New Zealand Rugby and the former rower was fast-tracked into the Black Ferns system - and four years after that eventful debut she pulled on a black jersey for the first time.

"I remember talking with our high performance manager and the goal was for this World Cup in 2025, so looking back on it now my mind's blown," she tells BBC South West.

"I'm very grateful for the journey. I think I was really fortunate that I learned about high performance and what it meant to be a full-time athlete while the game went from semi-professional to professional.

"So I was learning and growing with the game, which was really special."

Amy Rule faces reigning champions Gloucester-Hartpury when she makes her Exeter debut

That professionalism was one of the big plus points for Exeter boss Steve Salvin when he recruited Rule before this year's World Cup.

The prop went on to help the Black Ferns win a bronze medal as she took her tally to 31 caps, scoring two tries for New Zealand along the way.

"The way she approaches her game in terms of taking notes, asking questions, challenging, all the things you would expect from someone of a professional mindset," Selvin said.

"She's also helped, not just the younger players, all the players on various bits and pieces.

"She's a really nice girl as well, she's actually really good friends with Liv McGovern, obviously one of our Kiwis over here, so she wasn't coming in not knowing anyone, she had got a friend in camp.

"But she seems to have settled in really well and I'm really excited to see how she goes this weekend."

Rule already has an idea of what Devon is like, having trained in the county with the Black Ferns before their World Cup game against Japan - although she did not feature in the 62-19 victory at Sandy Park.

And she is hopeful she can impress the home supporters when she makes her first start against reigning PWR champions Gloucester-Hartpury on Saturday.

"I'm electric on attack, I love to find holes, I love to find opportunities to get gain line," she says when asked about her strengths.

"I'm real physical in that space and I'm really growing in my defence and I really want to be a menace in that space.

"I want people to see me as just an absolute pain."

Albeit, she will hope that "absolute pain" does not translate into a red card like her first game all those years ago.