North Canterbury celebrates connection off the back of Super Saturday

A feeling of connection and an overwhelming sense of success is how last month’s Super Saturday has been described.   

Ohoka’s Max Lines, who was one of three centurions during the jampacked day where all eight North Canterbury senior teams featured at Southbrook Park, said “Super Saturday was a really cool concept” and continuing it as a tradition would help grow the “connected feel with all of the North Canterbury Clubs.” 

Despite looming grey clouds over head, it’s estimated that over a thousand players, spectators and officials attended, “It was a great day, something that should be added to our community calendar to make it an annual event” said North Canterbury Rugby Game Developer Craig Mullan. 

A particularly exciting game was the Glenmark-Cheviot vs Kaiapoi match, as they fought for the Deans Shield as well as the returning R.J Huria Memorial Trophy. Glenmark-Cheviot walked away with the silverware, managing to keep Kaiapoi at bay with a 33-26 win. 

When asked about the importance of having the R.J Huria Memorial Trophy returning following the 2015 Glenmark fire, Glenmark-Cheviot Captain Andrew Hull said “It’s great to be able to have it on display in the club rooms as it opens up a lot of conversations about the history of not only the two clubs but the North Canterbury Rugby competition as well.”

Brennan Kara, of Kaiapoi and Kerran Jenkins of Saracens also gained their centurion blazers on the day, adding the festival occasion as North Canterbury got together to celebrate what make country rugby great.

A wheelbarrow of groceries was raffled off and won by Louis James of Ashley Div 1, while vintage North Canterbury gear was on sale, with proceeds raised going towards the North Canterbury Senior Squad heading to Japan later in the year to train alongside Robbie Deans’ Panasonic Wild Knights.