A little bit of history will be made at Massey University on Saturday as the home side hosts the brand new Wanganui Metro Women's team for kickoff of the 2020 Prue Christie Cup.
In the pipeline these past two years, raising a Wanganui team to play in the Manawatū women's club competition has been the dream of WRFU chief executive Bridget Belsham and the keystone of the side in development officer Sosoli Talawadua.
The former Waikato captain and an eight game-capped Black Fern, including the victorious 2017 World Cup campaign, 31-year-old Talawadua returned home to Whanganui with her family last year to join the WRFU, while also playing for the Manawatū Cyclones in the Farah Palmer Cup.
She will be at prop for a squad of "21 committed ladies", an eclectic mix of schoolgirls, current players and those jumping back on board a decade or so after they finished high school.
Priority for Talawadua is for the players to remain bitten by the rugby bug so the side continues its existence and others can join in the future, while ensuring the safety of the younger members as they learn the techniques of the code.