Now it is a place the Black Ferns star will never forget, after scoring four tries in 13 minutes to help them thump Wales 70-7 on Saturday.
"I’ve wanted to play here for ages," Tui said.
"To have the roof, in case it bloody snowed again ... beautiful carpet under foot, it allowed us to rip into it, so it was amazing."
She was sublime in an electric backline, showing her turn of pace and joining forces with left winger Mererangi Paul — who celebrated her birthday yesterday — for seven tries.
But Tui was humble about her haul, crediting centre Amy du Plessis’ "quality pill" to the outsides.
"We got to reap the rewards, but it was the middles that were the stars."
It was a special afternoon under the roof for du Plessis in front of her Southland friends and family.
"I haven’t cried in the national anthem for a wee while and ... I just saw them in the stand and the tears were just dripping."
Players praised the stadium and their Dunedin fans — Tui called them "pretty bloody beautiful" — and co-captain Ruahei Demant felt the stadium suited their style.
"It was fun.
"We love playing running rugby, so playing under the roof made it easy, especially after having the captains run in the snow.
"It was pleasing to see we went out there and executed what we previewed at the start of the week."
The Black Ferns were clinical across the field. Their forwards did a power of work and their backline flourished.
Layla Sae put her hand up for a starting spot.
Coach Allan Bunting said the flanker had a bright future after the game.
She made some energetic carries in her second cap — and first start — and was part of a savage loose forward trio with co-captain Kennedy Simon and Liana Mikaele-Tu’u.
They put in some bruising hits together, flattening the Welsh any chance they had.
Wales were poor defensively, spending most of the game on the back foot trying to react to the Black Ferns attack.
"It’s a tough one. We’re all hurting," Wales coach Ioan Cunningham said.
"It’s hard to take, but it’s a steep learning curve and the reason we’re here is to close that gap eventually ... we’ve got to stay tight as a group."
Paul opened the game with her first before Demant’s cross field kick was snaffled by Tui.
Wales were down to 14 when Nel Metcalfe was sent to the bin, opening things at the back for the Black Ferns.
Du Plessis cruised towards the line, but unselfishly flicked it to Tui to score.
Tui’s speed on the wing set the game alight, burning Wales down the left to score her fourth pushing the Black Ferns to a 27-0 lead.
Wales had no answers for the Black Ferns keep-the-ball-alive attitude, and struggled to find any structure on defence.
Their first chance in the 22 since the opening came in the 30th minute.
They looked to attack through a lineout, but Black Ferns lock Maia Roos came through the maul, smothering the ball to force the turnover.
Roos was quick over the ball all game and put in some big hits on defence.
The Black Ferns led 27-0 at the break and barely missed a beat, scoring five minute in to the second half.
Sylvia Brunt took the ball to the line off the back of a lineout, flicking it back to Demant.
She set up du Plessis who finished it off, reaching out to slam the ball down under the posts.
They kept rolling, looking twice to score through a rolling maul, driven by replacement hooker Luka Connor.
Wales stunted their flow, but kept giving away penalties, allowing the Black Ferns a second bite.
When nothing was on up front, they moved to their backs.
Brunt popped the ball inwards and Paul slipped through the gap, fending off another to score, leading 41-0.
The Black Ferns eventually coughed up a couple of penalties, allowing Wales to play in the right part of the park.
They made the most of it finally when Abbie Fleming went over a ruck to score and trail 41-7.
Katelyn Vaha’akolo and Demant added two more, before replacement loose forward Lucy Jenkins found herself hanging on the wing twice to score.
Paul finished the game with a stunner to score a hat-trick.
WXV 1
The scores
Black Ferns 70
Ruby Tui 4, Mererangi Paul 3, Lucy Jenkins 2, Amy du Plessis, Katelyn Vaha’akolo, Ruahei Demant tries; Renee Holmes 4 con.
Wales 7
Abbie Fleming try; Robyn Wilkins con.
Halftime: Black Ferns 27-0.
