Welcome from community
Kia ora Everyone,
My name is Rick Whatarau and I have been given an awesome opportunity to join Canterbury Rugby with the role of Game Development Lead working with our Game developers of Coaching, Playing & Match Officials for the Canterbury Province.
This role involves supporting our amazing volunteer network of club & school Coaches, Referee's, Managers, Administrator's, Convenors and Jack of all jobs to keep growing all our players to enjoy our wonderful game and create unforgettable experiences.
I am looking forward to this challenge and hope to see you around the traps.
Rick Whatarau
Game Development Lead
Sun, speed, must be sevens season!
You thought rugby season was over? in slides sevens! Teams from across Canterbury took to Ilam Fields last weekend, in a showcase of unbelievable speed and electric atmosphere.
With 11 Men’s Open, 7 Women’s Open and 4 Men’s Reserve teams playing across two days in glorious weather, the sidelines were absolutely bustling with support.
New comer to the tournament, Nikora Jarvis from Saracens praised the atmosphere on the day and highlighted the mixture of festival and sports with music and large groups of friends enjoying themselves, “we entered our colt’s team to go out there and have a run and it was big success. I’d encourage anyone to do the exact same if you’re sitting on the fence about registering”. Jarvis’ team finished second in the Men’s Reserve.
“We introduced the reserve men’s grade this year, to open up the opportunities for teams with different abilities to take part,” said Michael Sheat, Canterbury Community Rugby Manager, “It was so good to see lots of players getting involved in club sevens”. With clubs returning each year and more clubs taking up the opportunity, this is such an exciting event for Canterbury Rugby and a fantastic way to keep those connections within our community.
A special shoutout to the Sumner Crew of volunteers, led by Garry Mitchell and Andy Toy. Now in their 13th year, they continued the tradition of a barbecue brekkie featuring whitebait patties and glasses of bubbly to kick off the tournament.
A huge congratulations to the winners!
University of Canterbury Rugby Club - Men’s Open
High School Old Boy’s Rugby Club – Women’s Open
Lincoln Rugby Club – Men’s Reserve.
Next up will see four of our Secondary School teams taking part in the National Finals! Christchurch Boys High School and St Bedes have qualified for the boy’s grade, as well as Christchurch Girls High School and St Andrews qualifying in the girl’s grade. The teams will head to Mount Maunganui to compete at the Condor sevens tournament on 31st November and 1st December. Best of luck to all our Canterbury sevens players!
Words by Hannah Yates
Whistle while you work
You love rugby, but perhaps your playing days are done; you’ve had one too many injuries, or you’ve come to the realisation that you won’t be getting the call up for the All Blacks since your 40th birthday. Maybe, you love the game but like your high school prom date, you never really clicked enough to make it long lasting. Believe it or not, this doesn’t have to be the end of your relationship with rugby.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it until the final whistle – we cannot get the players on the field without that person in the middle calling the shots. The one that’s responsible for keeping games fair and clean, the one who (believe it or not) will know the laws better than your half back.
James Munro’s refereeing origin story is unique; playing for his St Andrews College team, the second half was suddenly without a referee. Having recently collected a few NCEA credits from a referee course, Munro offered to change from his team jersey to being called “sir” for the rest of the game. Apparently, he did a marvellous job as the opposing teams coach was on the phone to CRFU’s Game Developer - Match Officials suggesting Munro take up refereeing more permanently.
Now, across an 18 year period Munro has over 130 premier, multiple Heartland, NPC (including a Ranfurly Shield) and assistant referee Super Rugby games under his belt.
“The beauty of refereeing is there is so many aspects to it” says Munro, “the extra benefits are so wide … management skills and communications skills that will benefit maybe your career or personal life or your wellbeing. It’s a good challenge and there’s really good support”.
On the other side of the coin is Brett Hancox, who played 230 senior games for Saracens before picking up the whistle in 2024. “I wanted to give back” said Hancox, “it was time to give up playing, but I didn’t want to give it all away”.
Refereeing Year 7/8 and Junior Boys games, Hancox also assistant refereed for several senior games, including the North Canterbury Stags V Ellesmere Development, “I didn’t expect to get any rep rugby games” said Hancox “I think having a rugby background really helped, you can read the player a bit better”.
Despite not being part of one of the teams on the field you’re certainly not alone as a referee, with regular meetings and trainings session, “It’s usually lead by an expert person that’s brought in to upskill people, broached in a way that’s relevant to all levels,” said Munro.
“The other refs, they’ve all got your back and help you through different things” said Hancox, “When I was assistant refereeing the seniors, I would have both teams come and have good chats after the game. More people will come talk to you when you’re a ref.”
With only positive experiences to speak of throughout his first year of refereeing, Hancox highly recommends others to get involved, “Just do it. A lot of people step back and say they couldn’t do it, but just give it a go. It’s pretty cool,” said Hancox.
If Munro and Hancox have inspired you, click here to learn more about how you can get involved with refereeing in 2025.
words by Hannah Yates
Upcoming Events
It’s AGM season, check out the following dates to get involved
25 Nov - Canterbury Rugby Referees Association AGM 7:00pm | Burnside RFC
27 Nov - Canterbury Metropolitan Rugby Clubs Association AGM 7:00pm | Linfield RFC
4 Dec - Ellesmere Rugby Sub Union AGM 7:00pm | Rolleston RFC
11 Dec - North Canterbury Rugby Sub Union AGM 7:00pm | Amberley RFC
A huge thank you to our 2024 Pathways Partners.
