Black Ferns rookie Esther Faiaoga-Tilo's elevation to the test squad for the upcoming Pacific Four and O'Reilly Cup series is the culmination of a unique tale of perseverance and determination, where some risky rolls of the dice have paid the ultimate dividends.
After being discarded by Hurricane Poua at the end of the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season in 2022, Faiaoga-Tilo found herself without a contract and in rugby limbo.
That's when the Waikato Farah Palmer Cup representative made the bold decision to gamble on herself, uprooting her young daughter on the final day of the school term and relocating north up State Highway One to try and "crack something" with the Blues in Auckland.
Initially, that gamble didn't pay off. The Blues overlooked the 28-year-old for selection, leaving her at a career crossroads and facing the age-old ultimatum - whether to continue pursuing her rugby dream or cut her losses and embark on a different career path.
Faiaoga-Tilo dabbled in the latter for a fortnight, before some of her former teammates encouraged her to attend an open training session for the Blues Women, where she made enough of an impression to earn a mid-season callup.
"I was really grateful," Faiaoga-Tilo told Newshub. "I know I worked super hard for that. To move your kid up in the last term, it was really special just to get that initial callup.
"For me, it's more so the mahi that has been done off the field that just put me in that position."
The product of Hamilton Old Boys Rugby Club made two appearances for the Blues at the tail end of their campaign, with the coaching staff's decision to shift her position from the second to the front row proving a masterstroke.
And Faiaoga-Tilo wasn't done yet. Emboldened by the enormous punt that resulted in her breakout with the Blues, she mustered up the courage to shoot her shot one more time, finally making use of the email address she'd been sitting on for the past two months for newly appointed Black Ferns head coach Allan Bunting.
"He didn't even know who I was," she joked. "I didn't really know what to ask him."
Eventually she took the straightforward approach, asking Bunting for clarity regarding what attributes he valued most from his props.
Once again, Faiaoga-Tilo's initiative paid off. Bunting's reply included an invite to a Black Ferns camp in Wellington and she was on the first plane to the capital.
Her physiotherapist had insisted she take a week after administering a cortisone injection for a nagging injury, but there was absolutely no chance she was going to let something that trivial stand in her way of a potentially life-changing moment - no matter how much agony she'd have to endure.
"I was in so much pain but I thought this might be my one opportunity," she recalled.
Clearly, the injury was no hindrance. A few days later came the phone call she'd always dreamt, as assistant coach Steve Jackson delivered the news she'd been selected as one of nine debutants for the world champions' first squad under Bunting.
"I was actually pretty speechless," she admitted. " He was asking if I was still on the phone because I wasn't saying anything.
"I didn't know what to feel to be honest but when I hung up the phone I just cried. I did a prayer.
"Just really grateful. My faith pulled me through that last season… and I just wanted to have faith in myself. It was pretty cool to know that it did pay off."
Jackson beams when he reflects on Faiaoga-Tilo's unprecedented path to the top.
"It's a great story," Jackson said. "She'd been in contact with Allan Bunting off her own bat, and we called her into camp and she played extremely well and she really earned her selection.
"Super proud of her in the way she's come through and really put her hand up."
On Monday, Faiaoga-Tilo was among the 30 players being put through their paces in the Black Ferns camp in Auckland, as they prepare to kick off their test season against Australia in Brisbane on June 29, before heading to Canada to play the hosts and USA in consecutive weeks in Ottawa.
The team returns to Hamilton for the second of the two-test annual trans-Tasman O'Reilly Cup series on September 30.
Eight-year-old daughter Genesis - a budding rugby player herself - is almost as prominent a figure as Faiaoga-Tilo at AUT Millennium, where she can scarcely believe that company her mum now keeps.
"She loves coming in and buzzing out on Ruby [Tui] or Ruahei [Demant]," she said. "That's been really cool to be able to share with her.
"It's very special - just showing her there are opportunities to grow up and chase her dreams."
