Signed, sealed, delivered RUGBY STAR NIALL'S IN SEVENS HEAVEN!

The Black Fern and her husband Tamāli’i Guthrie first fell in love while working as posties

- Amy Prebble

Stevie Wonder’s classic love song Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) could be the soundtrack for Rugby Sevens star Niall Williams and her husband Tamāli’i Guthrie’s beautiful romance. It turns out sparks first began to fly between the couple 15 years ago, when they both worked as posties.

“I actually already knew Tama because we both played touch rugby,” says Niall. “But the last time I saw him, he was playing for the under-21s. When he walked in at NZ Post, I was like, ‘He’s grown up a bit! He’s pretty good looking these days.’ I spent four weeks training him up as a postie.”

“It was only meant to be two weeks!” laughs Tama.

The couple, both 34, have spent the past 15 years building a life together and welcoming two gorgeous daughters, Tatum-Lee, 10, and Rema-Rae, eight.

There have been both ups and downs for the pair, including Niall suffering a potentially career-ending neck injury in 2021. But Tama was a pillar of support and Niall miraculously returned to compete on the international World Sevens circuit in 2022.

But back in 2016, Tama decided it was time to make things official with his Black Ferns Sevens partner. The night before he proposed, he asked Niall’s dad John, who was over from Australia, if he could ask for her hand in marriage. “That was probably scarier than the actual proposal,” he admits.