Ruby could have chosen to have her life take a very dark turn - but she didn't. She worked like a dog to get a university education & discovered rugby gave her a sense of belonging that no other sport did. Even after training and hard, physical work she remained small, but her speed, determination & team spirit made her perfect for rugby sevens & her personality should give her a media career long after she retires from this sport. Rugby has been a saviour and a metaphor in her life, giving her a sense of purpose – at the centre of it all, the quest to help one another: team spirit and camaraderie. After a childhood filled with neglect Ruby yearned for another path. Determined not to let her upbringing limit her, she survived abuse, drugs and tragedy to become one of the most successful women's rugby players in the world. Yeah, I was trying to think of ways I could get out of quarantine, and apparently if you break a bone they let you out,” Tui quipped.

Straight Up blows the stereotypical rugby biography out the door. It is the first ever written by a female professional rugby player.On Tuesday, she added: “To help grow our game around the world, especially in a place like the US, is an opportunity I take very seriously. PR7s has an awesome model for their competition, with equal pay and opportunity for men and women. And I’m absolutely buzzing to play some sevens again!”

Ruby says she was freed up when she eventually came to understand that the difficult events of her childhood were not her fault. I pictured a young brown female sportsperson walking in there and seeing herself nowhere, not belonging in the book world. My eyes welled up right there in the bookshop. I have to do this. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review ourThe book begins where everyone begins: with childhood and the profound ways that our early years shape who we are. Tui’s early life shifts between her large and loving Sāmoan family (on her dad’s side) and her more isolated palagi one (her mum’s). That she was loved is a fact often affirmed: Tui’s perspective throughout the book is frank and without blame, without bitterness or even regret. Very gently, with a tone of patience and an acceptance that becomes the undercurrent of the entire book, Tui describes a childhood made unstable by alcoholism, drug abuse and psychological and physical violence.

If you go to a rugby tournament [overseas] and sing ‘Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi…’, about six people in the crowd turn around and go ‘Aue!’ That’s how you can find the Kiwis. So, it’s always been in and around rugby life to me. There was no doubt in my mind it would work. A third wrote: “Ruby Tui is an international treasure. That woman gives me goosebumps. What an advocate for women in sport

I think it’s being in tune with yourself, looking after your mental health, and asking yourself honest questions every day and not being afraid to do that.” Her last breath really stayed with me … and I'll probably never forget that was her last breath. And we were there, you know. Her media appearances and social media posts are legendary – a lighthearted poke at the BBC in a posh English accent, a terrible Dad joke with the former Prime Minister. The World Cup and Olympic gold-winning New Zealand winger Ruby Tui will play in the US this summer in Premier Rugby Sevens (PR7s), a multi-tournament competition in which men’s and women’s teams compete for one trophy. Tui set out to write a sports book and ended up with an astounding masterpiece on life. At various times it crosses into self-care, leadership, relationships and teamwork. Each chapter concludes with a piece of advice from ‘Ruby’s training bag’.