JOHN BISSET / Stuff
Pauline-Jean Luyten is the first woman of Tongan and Pacific descent to be appointed as an emerging director on the New Zealand Rugby Board.
Two years after making rugby history as the first woman of Tongan descent to be appointed to a provincial union council, Timaru’s Pauline-Jean Luyten has done it again.
Luyten joined the South Canterbury Rugby Football Union board in 2019 as an independent after the union’s annual meeting and this month she was appointed as an emerging director in the New Zealand Rugby Board.
talk to The Timaru Herald Luyten said Monday she felt a sense of responsibility when she was appointed to the role and attended her first meeting on Thursday.
“It feels pretty incredible,” Luyten said.
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“As the first Tongan and Pacific woman on the NZR board, I felt excited and honored.
“I felt a great sense of responsibility to serve our Kāinga (community / village) and show that there are possibilities and paths to management and for them as my town that supports me.”
Luyten said Pacific players have made a significant contribution to rugby at community and professional levels of the game, which is why it was important to be at the decision-making table – to provide that lens.
“Relationship (tauhi vā) is the key to the Tongan / Pacific culture and this appointment will strengthen the relationship with NZ Rugby, as when we (Lalanga) weave the small threads of the mat together, it is strong together.”
Supply
Pauline-Jean Luyten pictured last week with New Zealand Rugby Board member Dr Farah Palmer.
“I look forward to contributing and bringing a unique voice as a wife, mother, lawyer, business owner, daughter of the Pacific diaspora, NZ who was born in the South Island.
“All these elements will contribute to my role and approach to the board.”
She said although there was already a wāhine māori, Dr Farah Palmer, on the board, she would be the first Tongan and Pacific woman on the board, which is “quite a big deal” for the Tongan community across New Zealand wash.
Born of a Tongan mother and New Zealand-born Dutch father, Luyten says she will bring the perspective of two worlds to her new role.
“If I’m from the South Island, I’ll also bring a southern provincial perspective,” she said.
Bejon Haswell / Stuff
Born of a Tongan mother and New Zealand-born Dutch father, Luyten says she will bring the perspective of two worlds to her new role. (File photo)
Grant Norton, chairperson of SCRFU, said: “It is a great honor and recognition that Pauline has achieved in her role, first for South Canterbury Rugby and more recently at the NZR Pacific Advisory Group”.
“It is great to see that another South Canterbury rugby player is recognized at national management level and reflects the commitment that Pauline has made to our sport in our region.”
Luyten joined the South Canterbury Rugby Board in 2019 and quickly enrolled in many rugby-related programs, she attended a number of NZR conferences and workshops and spoke at a national NZR Women in Governance conference.
Luyten, a partner at Aoraki Legal, was also a founding member of the Tongan Society South Canterbury which was founded in 2016 and is now its president.
Supply
Luyten teamed up with New Zealand Rugby Pacific Development Manager and former All Black Eroni Clarke last week.
Luyten, along with the General Manager of the Tongan Society South Canterbury, Sina Latu, was instrumental in the management of the first extremely successful South Canterbury Pacific Rugby Day and Forum.
At the end of 2021, she was appointed co-chair of the NZR Pacific Advisory Group.
Luyten’s rugby career was short and ended before university when she dislocated her shoulder. Later, she started running ultra-marathons, including completing the Mt Everest marathon in Nepal, the 60km Kepler Challenge and the Oxfam 100km race in 22 hours.
Her mother, Ailine, was one of the first Tongan women to settle in Timaru when she arrived in the early 1970s.
As well as a law degree from the University of Otago, Luyten completed a Bachelor of Science in 2005 and then in 2009 completed postgraduate studies in sports medicine.
She recently completed her Masters Degree in Indigenous Studies.