Rugby: Extended Super Rugby Aupiki returns for 2023

Chiefs Manawa ead coach Crystal Kaua and Hurricanes Poua head coach Victoria Grant. Photo / NZ Rugby

The country's leading women players will return for Super Rugby Aupiki in 2023 for an extended competition.

The Blues, Chiefs Manawa, Hurricanes Poua and Matatū will play across five weekends beginning February 2023.

The head coaches have been confirmed, including the first female head coaches named, with Crystal Kaua leading Chiefs Manawa and Victoria Grant in charge of Hurricanes Poua.

Kaua will now lead the Chiefs Manawa squad after assisting former head coach Allan Bunting to their inaugural title win. Kaua, who has spent 2022 as the Black Ferns Sevens performance analyst and skills coach, will join Grant in being named as the first female head coach of a Super Rugby club.

Grant has had an impressive coaching journey and will step into the head coaching role after being Black Ferns assistant coach Wesley Clarke's understudy for the Hurricanes Poua's inaugural season.

"This is testament to the work achieved by these wahine and those who have assisted their development. It is an exciting time for them both and we are looking forward to seeing them continue their coaching journey," said New Zealand Rugby's head of professional rugby Chris Lendrum.

Willie Walker returns as coach of the Blues following a successful 2022 campaign. Matatū coach Blair Baxter led Canterbury to another successful Farah Palmer Cup victory earlier this month, following his inaugural season of Super Rugby Aupiki.