вЂњWe were a good team, but they were so upset we didn't win.

I hit the ball, it was sweet and I was watching it and then there was a big gust of wind and the ball shaved the left-hand upright. At Cox's Creek, where we were playing, there was no wind when I set up the ball to kick it. I tell ya, it was going over for all intents and purposes. вЂњThe kick was about 25 metres out, left-hand touchline. I was the captain and the one doing the kicking so I took it. 'I was basically ostracised because one of the other women said, вЂOh IвЂ™ll take the kickвЂ™. вЂњAfter that game, my team never spoke to me,' Baker says. What was a surprise was the showing of rank outsiders Manukau, who almost upset the old order completely with a storming playoff run that Ponsonby only just snuffed out at the last hurdle, taking the final, 4-3, in what was definitely the clubвЂ™s hardest match to date.вЂќД«aker missed a crucial kick towards the end of the game -В a cruel ending for a player whoвЂ™d been the catalyst for much of the RoversвЂ™ success. Paul Neazor reported at the time: вЂњPonsonby once again powered its way to an undefeated club title, which wasnвЂ™t a great shock to anyone. In 1989, Ponsonby were in the midst of an 86-game winning streak when they encountered Manukau in the senior womensвЂ™ Auckland final. A friendly meeting at the pub persuaded her to join Manukau Rovers, where she was an absolute standout. Rugby resumed with a stint at the St PatrickвЂ™s club in Te Awamutu before she shifted north to Auckland to manage a drycleaning business. A shortstop for Melville in softball, she once competed in a game that finished 1-0 after 16 innings and six hours.

In football she was a вЂњconverted strikerвЂќ who once bussed and sailed with the Auckland rep team to Blenheim to play in a national tournament for Waikato. Ironically, her brother Joe played netball.Д®xcluded from the oval ball game, she was good enough to achieve senior representative selection for Waikato in basketball, football and softball. Miriama played with boys until age 14, when she was told she couldnвЂ™t. Her nine uncles all played in Te Awamutu, including Waikato and Maori All Black fullback Andrew Baker. The daughter of Edward (a weed sprayer turned publican, then prison officer) and Margie (a clothes maker from NgДЃruawДЃhia), Miriama grew up surrounded by rugby. When I was playing all the coaches used to tell the girls they had to get me down no matter how because if they didnвЂ™t, there would be a try scored.вЂќ I said no because you canвЂ™t have all the best players in your team. вЂњI slotted in well, because I got on with the Ponsonby girls. They were tough girls, the people there were pleasantly surprised.

It was a fantastic day and a fantastic game those Americans were like running into brick shit-houses. 'We were the curtainraiser to the Canterbury versus Argentina match at Lancaster Park. вЂњThereвЂ™s no better feeling than pulling on the silver fern, itвЂ™s impossible to describe,' she says. This was the first official match played by a New Zealand womenвЂ™s rugby team.ДЇrom Manukau Rovers, Baker was the only non-Ponsonby or University of Canterbury selection in the game, of which Baker has fond memories. Miriama Baker was a prodigious sporting talent, who started at first five eighth for the New Zealand XV in their 13-7 win against the California Grizzlies in 1989. Now Baker tells Julian where she's been, why her club shunned her and what really happened when she went AWOL in Wales. But a LockerRoom story last week uncovered her whereabouts. For two years, Adam Julian tried to track down wily Black Fern No.2, Miriama Baker, for the Black Ferns A-Z encyclopaedia.

Draw the squad 2 people