After leaving behind her international career in soccer, she switched to rugby, joining the Canterbury team in New Zealand's women's provincial championship in 2003. As a loose forward, she made the Black Ferns the following year. She has played on Black Ferns teams that won the Churchill Cup in 2004 and the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2006, and was also named the New Zealand women's player of the year in 2005. Ruscoe captained the Black Ferns to victory in the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup.