Players and coaches mingled with the media at the Super Rugby Aupiki season launch event.
Video / NZ Herald
The end of 2022 saw New Zealand drawn to women’s rugby as the Black Ferns clinched a World Cup title on home soil. Now, Super Rugby Aupiki has the opportunity to continue to build on that platform.
The competition returns at the end of the month following a disrupted debutin 2022, as Covid-19 was still causing issues – with some games having to be cancelled because of the virus while those that were played went ahead without crowds.
It was the first year of the four-team competition, providing an important opportunity for players the take a step up from the provincial game without being thrust straight onto the international stage.
As the teams prepare for their second year of action, Chiefs Manawa coach Crystal Kaua believes the competition will see the women’s game continue to captivate the local audience.
“We have a platform now that we’ve never had before; we have people that love women’s rugby,” Kaua said.
“We’ve loved women’s rugby for like 20 years and we’ve been saying, ‘hey everyone, look at this. This is so exciting, this is so good’, and then last year the World Cup created a situation where everyone else said, ‘wow, this woman rugby thing is so good’, and we’re like, ‘finally, finally they can see it’.
“I just think we have a chance to create a platform where young girls can look up and see what we didn’t get to see as kids.”
Crystal Kaua takes the reins as Chiefs Manawa head coach this season. Photo / Getty Images
There will be 26 members of the World Cup-winning Black Ferns squad across the four Aupiki teams, as well as several other players who have pulled on the black jersey in the past.
Matatū loose forward Alana Bremner was among those to feature in the successful World Cup campaign and said the increase of support and interest in the women’s game had been noticeable.
“It’s been incredible the momentum since the World Cup,” Bremner said.
“We’ve done quite a lot of school visits and things in the community since and it’s just pretty cool to see. One of our goals was to inspire the country and nation and you know, inspire younger generation to play, and it’s been really cool to see that come out of the World Cup.”
This season will play out a little differently, with the competition extended from six matches in 2022 to a 10-match schedule, which includes four play-off matches.
Chiefs Manawa come into the season as the defending champions, going through last season unbeaten. However, like many of the teams, they come in with a rejigged squad with players unavailable due to commitments with the Black Ferns Sevens and pregnancies, while others have retired.
“I think all the matchups are going to be difficult and all our squads have shifted and changed and people have moved,” Kaua said.
“I think we’re not going to actually know where we’re at until we play that first round until we see others play.”
The teams will round out their preparation with their final pre-season fixtures taking place next weekend. Chiefs Manawa will meet the Blues and NSW Waratahs in a game of three halves next Friday, while the Hurricanes Poua and Matatū will go head-to-head on Saturday.
