Tena koe, This Saturday is a massive celebration of regional provincial union rugby at Apollo Projects Stadium.
We have three local rivalry games to celebrate the Heartland and NPC competitions at their finest.
South Canterbury v Mid Canterbury at 2.05pm, Canterbury v Tasman at 4.35pm and Buller v West Coast at 7.05pm
We are welcoming supporters of all provinces to the city, come along and support, one ticket gets you in for all three games!
We have some national champions in our province. Congratulations to the High School Old Boys “Light Bears” on their win in the National U85kg final in Auckland at the weekend, a comprehensive win in an awesome free flowing package of entertainment. Well done to the team, club and all the supporters that make it happen.
Talking of celebrations, last week for Māori Language Week, 30 rugby clubs, CRFU board members and staff attended a workshop on Sunday to further their understanding on Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi). Great connection from our clubs, independently facilitated brilliantly, with a commitment to take back to our memberships and work through next steps.
This weekend, the U18 South Island Girls’ tournament begins on Sunday at Ngā Puna Wai, with two Canterbury teams raring to go for their home tournament.
There is also a festival of Girls’ rugby, U11 and U13 at Christchurch Rugby club this weekend, with over 300 players from around the country, great to see this level of participation and interest in our game.
Next weekend, the U16 South Island Boys’ tournament starts in Ashburton, with five teams from the province involved.
Never a quiet time and see you all this weekend at Apollo Projects Stadium on Saturday to cheer on the Red & Black.
Ngā mihi,
Tony Smail
CEO, Canterbury Rugby Football Union
Community Welcome
Photos from Sunday’s Te Tiriti training, with 30 clubs in attendance looking to upskill on their understanding on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Tasman clash awaits Canterbury at Triple Header
Manasa Mataele returns to the Canterbury backline replacing the injured Ngatungane Punivai in an otherwise unchanged backline for Saturday’s historic Triple Header in Christchurch against Tasman.
After grinding out their 5th victory of the year over Southland last week, Coach Marty Bourke was pleased with the timely return of his Fijian flyer, with outside backs in short supply. “Manasa was in great form earlier in the season and was having a real impact for us, so to get him back now as we head into crunch time is a credit to him and our medical staff.”
The return of Alex Harford and the ever-combative Dominic Gardiner to the bench has seen a smile return to the face of Bourke as he looks to roll out a one of his strongest sides for the clash against third placed Tasman. “We know they’ll be tough and want to pick us off at home, so we need to be ready for that. This year has been extremely physical, so having guys that are ready for that is extremely important for our season to continue as we want it too.”
Carisbrook Toomalatai gets his second start at Tighthead prop, alongside Joe Moody at Loosehead and George Bell at Hooker. Mitchell Dunshea and Sam Darry will pack down in the second row, while skipper Billy Harmon returns to the side of the scrum combining with Tom Christie and Cullen Grace to form the Loose Forward trio.
Youngsters Tahlor Cahill and Gardiner will cover the Locks and Loosies, with Seb Calder, Ben Funnell and Daniel Lienert-Brown the front row.
Willi Heinz, Harford and Jone Rova will reinforce the backs of Mitchell Drummond, Fergus Burke, Mataele, Rameka Poihipi, Dallas McLeod, Solomon Alaimalo and Chay Fihaki.
The Bunnings NPC match between Canterbury and Tasman will see the Lionel Hunter trophy go on the line with hosts Canterbury the current holders. Neighbors Mid and South Canterbury do battle in the earlier match of the day, kicking off at 2:05pm, before Buller and West Coast go head-to-head at 7:05pm rounding out the first ever Bunnings NPC and Heartland Championship triple header.
Tickets for the Triple Header are available from Ticketek here.
Tasman team to play Canterbury
Triple Header match previews
Saturday’s Triple Header sets up an epic day of rugby rivalries, as neighbours go head-to-head at Apollo Projects Stadium.
First clash of the day at 2:05pm sees unbeaten South Canterbury take on Mid Canterbury. South Canterbury will take confidence in form into this game following a win over second placed Thames Valley in Whangamatā last Saturday, beating the Swampfoxes 36-31. Mid Canterbury will look to bounce back from a Golden Point thriller with the West Coast, losing 32-29. Placed eight and on the cusp of the playoff picture, the Hammers will be determined for an upset in Christchurch with the Hanan Shield also on the line.
At 4:35pm, Tasman and Canterbury will clash for the Lionel Hunter Trophy, as the Bunnings NPC’s second and third placed teams battle it out. Holders Canterbury will be looking to build on a 29-14 win over Southland on the weekend, with a win likely to lock in a home quarterfinal. Tasman beat Counties Manukau 27-17 in their 199th Bunnings NPC match to confirm their spot in the quarterfinals too, and will be looking for a repeat of their pre-season win in Hanmer Springs in their 200th NPC game as a province.
The final game of the day at 7:05pm will see Buller host West Coast for the Rundle Cup in the 226th meeting between the two sides, with the home team looking to build on their first win of the campaign over Wairarapa Bush 27-20. West Coast are coming off the back of the aforementioned Golden Point win over Mid Canterbury, and will look to secure themselves a spot in the Lochore Cup playoffs with a win and results going their way.
South Canterbury vs Mid Canterbury
Buller vs West Coast
Canterbury Referees in Heartland action
Canterbury will be represented in three of the six games in Round 7 of the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, with George Haswell, Daniel Moore and Josh Bamber all taking a spot in the middle.
North Otago will host Thames Valley at the Maheno Domain on Saturday, with Josh Bamber refereeing his second Heartland fixture, following his debut in Greymouth last weekend.
In Christchurch, George Haswell, who recently received the Tom Doocey Cup for Canterbury’s Number One Referee at the recent Canterbury Rugby Referees Association prizegiving, will referee the first game of the Triple Header at Apollo Projects Stadium between South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury.
Daniel Moore will have the honours in the Rundle Cup match between Buller and West Coast, reprising a role he was meant to have back in 2021, had it not been for Covid’s interruption to the representative season.
“It’s a pretty special opportunity to get to referee a Heartland game in your own province.” said Moore, “And for it to be the Rundle Cup, the second oldest provincial trophy, it’s pretty cool.”
“It’s cool for us to have the chance to referee at this representative level and in the Heartland regions, it’s something only refereeing can offer you.”
HSOB Light Bears take out U85 Club Cup!
The HSOB Light Bears are national champions after taking out the U85 Club Cup over the Takapuna Bombers on the weekend, check out the match highlights below!
South Island U18 Girls’ Tournament
The South Island U18 Girls’ Tournament is coming to Ngā Puna Wai this weekend, with games taking place from Sunday through to Tuesday.
Two Canterbury teams are entered (Red and Black), alongside a Hanan Shield side (Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and North Otago), Otago, Southland and Tasman.
The matches on the first day are the final fixtures of the round robin, with both Canterbury sides going head-to-head, and the Hanan Shield side taking on Otago.
Canterbury will also be represented by referee Joseph Donoghue, after the North Canterbury official was chosen as one of the tournament referees.
7 players in Black Ferns XV side to play Manusina XV
Canterbury’s Black Ferns XV contingent will get the opportunity to turn a week of experiencing a professional environment into gameday with a match against a Manusina XV this weekend.
Seven of the Canterbury squad will pull on the black jersey, including Marcelle Parkes who will debut her positional change to the front row.
HSOB’s Grace Brooker will captain the side, which includes Hooker Atlanta Lolohea, Locks Emma Dermody and Laura Bayfield, Loose Forward Holly Wratt-Groeneweg and Halfback Di Hiini.
While not named in the playing XV for tomorrow’s game, Prop Maddi Robinson has also played an integral role in the environment, soaking up all of the learning opportunities present to our girls’ who have been selected for higher honours after a big Farah Palmer Cup campaign.
The match against the Manusina XV is kicking off at 4:35pm, Saturday at Navigation Homes Stadium, with the match broadcast live on Sky.
Linwood run another successful Mahuika tournament
Linwood RFC hosted another successful Mahuika Girls’ 7’s tournament last month, as the club continues to work hard on providing opportunities to their community.
With the girls’ sevens tournament played out of season to provide the opportunity to all players to give the sport a go, the tournament has grown from 8 to 12 teams this year, including the introduction of a Linwood side for the first time.
“We identified a need within our community and local high school for a have-a-go environment for girls’,” said Linwood RDO Sam Jack, “This tournament allows us to cater to those girls that are already playing rugby, but also to those that play other sports, to give rugby a go.”
“We had growth in the tournament through the increase of team, the tournament was livestreamed to allow more people to watch, and it’s all about promoting women and girls’ in sport, in particular rugby.”
Mahuika also had a number of success stories this year, with the Linwood side winning in their first tournament together, and the South Westland side, travelling on the day from the West Coast, taking out the plate.
“It was great to welcome the South Westland side over to Mahuika.” said Jack, “they’re an under 13 side but they don’t get the opportunity to play against other all girls’ teams, so provide them with the opportunity and to have them experience some success at the tournament was pretty special too, it emphasises what makes a tournament like Mahuika so important.”
Tākarokaro programme in schools
Parkview Pārua School have been able to experience a brand new sports programme, thanks to the support of Canterbury Rugby, NZ Rugby and Sport NZ.
The Tākarokaro programme, facilitated by Canterbury Rugby Game Developer Claudia Bethell, has been running at Parkview Pārua School over the past term, giving students the opportunity to complete three learning experiences including, the finding out section, designing an activity and participating in the festival.
“The finding out section involved tamariki researching how active New Zealand is and how participation levels differ depending on factors such as deprivation levels, demographic, and gender.” said Bethell. “This was completed using the Sport NZ insight tool. It was used to help inspire tamariki to become more active. This information would also later help influence the designing of their activities.”
“They then created an activity and were given resources to help create one. Their game had to include a set learning intention e.g what the purpose of the game was, the equipment they needed, how it would be set up and played, some progressions for the game and what skills are used within it”.
An important part of the programme is providing the opportunity for the school’s local clubs to get involved, with Parklands RFC the closest junior club to the school.
“They had a session with Parklands RFC where they taught tamariki progressions and regressions of rugby/rip that can suit all levels and help make it for everyone to enjoy.” Bethell said.
“We then had the final festival where tamariki created posters of their activities, they took the opportunity to teach their activities to their classmates and we finished with sharing some Barkers fruit pouches!”
You can find out more about the Tākarokaro programme at it’s website here.
Larry’s South Island Club 7’s
Canterbury Rugby is excited to host Larry’s South Island Club 7’s this November, taking on the hosting duties as sevens is re-energised in the South Island following a COVID enforced hiatus.
Played on the 11th and 12th of November on the hard and fast grounds of Ilam Fields, there will be both Male and Female grades, with a $5000 prize pool on offer to the teams that enter.
For more information, follow the button below:
Developing Rugby Coaches Course - World Rugby Level 2
Canterbury Rugby is excited to inform our community coaches that our Developing Rugby Coaches Course (World Rugby Level 2) applications are now open to register to attend.
When: Friday 6th October (4:00pm-8:00pm) and Saturday 7th October (8:30am - 5:00pm)
Venue: Rugby Park – CRFU Offices
Recommended for age-grade coaches: U14 and above.
The DRC course will include the following content:
Role of the Coach and Coaching Styles
Principles of Play
Skill Analysis and Coaching an Individual Skill
Identities of the game: Backline attack, Breakdown Attack, Breakdown Defence, Counter attack, Kick Starts, Restarts, Scrum & Lineout
Planning – Season/ Session Growth and Development
Coach Development Opportunities
Spaces are limited and successful coaches will be notified directly in due course. This course is tailored for coaches that have completed a NZR Level 1 Foundation course and are currently coaching an Under 14 side or above.
We will still consider coaches who are coaching below U14 as long as they have completed their Level 1 Foundation and coaches who haven’t completed their Level 1 as long as you can provide evidence that you have done some form of formal coach upskilling within the past 12 months that isn’t Rugby Smart.
Preference will be given to those coaches that can prove in 2024 they can complete a minimum of 50 hours coaching and visits form CRFU Game Developer as required.
To register please fill in the online form here: https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/253717
Registrations close 5:00pm, Tuesday, 26th September
For any questions, please contact your local Game Developer:
Metro: Riki Tahere riki.tahere@crfu.co.nz or Mark Croft mark.croft@crfu.co.nz
Ellesmere: Nathan Brown rdo@ellesmererugby.org.nz
North Canterbury: Craig Mullan craigmullan@ncrugby.co.nz
