Photography: Tessa Burrows.
When Laura Bayfield isn’t gearing up to run out on the field during the Super Rugby Aupiki season, she’s donning her fatigues for the New Zealand Army! Reporting for duty as Captain Bayfield, Army Engineer, the Matatū and Black Ferns legend’s brain switches from lineouts and scrums to serving her country – and the superstar lock says that even though balancing her two demanding roles certainly comes with its challenges, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Rugby Laura and NZ Army Laura tie together quite nicely,” she tells Woman’s Day.
“There’s some transferable skills between them – fitness, strength and the will to keep going, even when the situation sucks! They go together well.”
Growing up in Auckland, Laura, 27, always wanted to be a sportsperson, but in her head, she thought she’d be a netballer. Incredibly, she didn’t even know the Black Ferns existed.
“I loved playing any sport I could as a kid,” she recalls.
“Mum and Dad were always pushing me to try new ones, so I had a lot of experience! I was also super-competitive and the dream was to be a sportsperson, maybe netball, but I realised it was so hard to crack into it. So I looked for another career option and that’s when the military turned up for me.”
Built for a life of service
At 17, Laura signed up after attending a Women in the Defence Force weekend advertised at her school, quickly realising she’d found what she was born to do.
“I was like, ‘Yes, this is what I want to do.’ As soon as I finished school, I joined up. I wanted to be paid to be fit and strong, be part of a team and gain some qualifications. I wasn’t massive on studying, so something more hands on and practical was definitely my calling!”
Laura specialised as an engineer, where her people skills are put to good use.
“I wanted to be able to help people within New Zealand and the Pacific, and we do a lot of humanitarian aid and disaster relief that directly affects our people.”
Laura hasn’t been deployed yet, but she says she’d have no qualms about serving in a conflict zone if called upon. So far, her proudest moment came early in her career, when flooding on the West Coast washed out a bridge and a team of 16, Laura among them, spent three weeks repairing it.
“That was physically knitting the two communities, Fox and Franz Josef Glacier, back together. That’ll always be a real memorable one for me.”
But sport was always lingering in the background – and it was through the military, at the age of 21, where she tried rugby for the first time.
A new love for the game
Crystal Mayes, a former Kiwi sevens player, was taking a physical training session, and was impressed with Laura’s physicality and determination. She invited Laura to a rugby training that night and two days later, she played her first game – and she’s never looked back.
“I loved it instantly,” she enthuses.
“I’d never thought about playing growing up – Mum was pretty against me doing it! I’d never played a contact sport, and I realised I like the physicality and the competitiveness.”
While Laura’s rise at the professional level has been meteoric, with impressive turns in Super Rugby and the Black Ferns, it was reaching the grand final as part of Matatū in this year’s Super Rugby Aupiki series that gave her the biggest personal reward.
“Before I started rugby as a job, I was probably quite a different person at work,” she admits.
“Being a leader within the NZ Army, you almost have to put on a bit of a façade that you’re always put-together and confident. Even if you’re not, you’re almost faking it till you make it. “Since being in rugby, I’ve learnt to be OK with just being myself, rather than putting on a show of what I think people need to see.”
Making space for two passions
And she’s very much found her tribe in the supportive Black Ferns, who have welcomed her with open arms.
“This is such a cool group of people and a community where you can 100% be yourself,” Laura says.
“It doesn’t matter your culture, religion, sexuality or background – you can come here and be exactly who you are, and there’s a safe space for you.”
Signing with Matatū three years ago was the moment Laura went all in, taking leave from the NZ Army to chase a place in the World Cup squad.
“That paid off, thankfully!” she smiles.
“It’s gone from full-time army to full-time rugby, with a sprinkle of military in there as well. I can’t leave behind my army life fully!”
Laura wants young women to know the path she stumbled into is sitting in plain sight for anyone who doesn’t know what they want from life.
“There are so many different options you can go into in the military,” she says.
“There are full-time study options and there are trades – carpenter, plumber, electrician, mechanic and medic. I’ve loved it and I’d love for more women to know that this is here for them too.”
