Super Rugby Women's Competition
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Former Black Ferns Sevens Head Coach and two-time NZR Coach of the Year Allan Bunting has signed on as Head Coach for the Chiefs Women’s team ahead of their maiden 2022 Super Rugby campaign.
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There is also an official article:
Green light for Super Rugby Aupiki
The country’s leading women players will set the rugby landscape alight in 2022 with the inaugural season of Super Rugby Aupiki.
Competition Format
Super Rugby Aupiki will kick off will run across four weekends in March, kicking off on 5/6 March.
The following two weekends will see home and away fixtures for each team before the top two meet in Final on 26 March.
The competition draw will be confirmed later this year, all matches will be broadcast on SKY.
Head Coaches selected
The head coaches who will be tasked with selecting the first Super Rugby Aupiki squads have been confirmed.
The four women’s Super Rugby Head Coaches are:
Chiefs: Allan Bunting – former Black Ferns Sevens Coach
Hurricanes: Wesley Clarke – Black Ferns Assistant Coach
Blues: Willie Walker – Auckland Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) Coach
South Island: Blair Baxter – Canterbury FPC CoachClubs will contract 28 players, with squads expected to be named in the next month. Players will assemble for one preseason match before coming together four days a week through the competition window in March.
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@bovidae said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
There was mention of a player draft last week but I hope that has been canned. You can't be expecting these players to move too far from home without adequate remuneration and support.
I wouldn't think there will be a draft. I know that last week (or week before?) Ruby Tui mentioned on Breakdown that she had received her contract. Squads will be pretty well finalised.
It may be that a pool of players are placed on an unofficial list as injury cover though.
I would expect that these initial squads won't be much different to FPC teams from the host base with extras coming from the positions where depth is required (front row, halfback, lock) where the best three players may be made up from all the area teams or if there is a clearly strong player in one position that outranks the existing.
eg the SI team will be Canterbury plus maybe a prop or two, a lock and a halfback from Ta$man and Otago. For example, I expect to see Maia Joseph there for development and cover -
@crucial This was the article I read about the possibility of a draft.
As is the case in men’s Super Rugby, players sign with New Zealand Rugby and are seconded to teams. There is expected to be a required number of players from each team’s home region, while a player draft, much like the one in the early days of men’s Super Rugby, will also be utilised.
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@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
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@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
Back in 1996 the teams could protect the majority of their preferred squad, but for the last few positions you could use the draft if required. I would imagine it would be something similar so, in theory, the best 112 players are involved.
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@yeetyaah said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
Feels a bit short tho eh? Surely play everyone twice with top 2 playing a final.
Yes, I agree. Obviously, it will be longer in the future when they join Super-W in Australia, but until then, a home and away round robin would have been more attractive. Four weeks is really short and it will be over before some people realise it has even started. I guess, it has a lot to do with money and the difficult logistics of a semi-professional comp in which the players will have to keep their normal day jobs/study to survive. Pay will be peanuts.
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Hopefully, the talent identification in the Hurricanes region will be better than in the men's comp. Obviously, the Hurricanes women's team will consist mostly of Wellington Pride and Manawatū Cyclones players, and fair enough, they are the best teams. But in the Hawke's Bay Tui team there are some really talented players and a good coach would pick them up; I should add that some of them may be too young, as they're still at school (16 and 17 years old). Not sure players that young will be picked.
Keeping an eye on you Mr Wesley Clarke!
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@bovidae said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
Back in 1996 the teams could protect the majority of their preferred squad, but for the last few positions you could use the draft if required. I would imagine it would be something similar so, in theory, the best 112 players are involved.
....i support the Highlanders...trust me...i know how the draft use to work
it use to be like xmas, a nice surprise who will be making up a third of the team this year -
Media release on the Hurricanes website about the appointment of Wes Clarke:
Media release on the Chiefs' website about the appointment of Allan Bunting:
https://www.chiefs.co.nz/news-item/olympic-gold-medal-winning-coach-announced-as-chiefs-women-head-coachMedia release on the Crusaders' website about the appointment of Blair Baxter:
https://crusaders.co.nz/latest/news/blair-baxter-appointed-head-coach-of-new-south-island-womens-team-for-super-rugby-aupiki/Media release on the Highlanders' website about the appointment of Blair Baxter:
Media release on the Blues' website about the appointment of Willie Walker:
https://blues.rugby/walker-named-as-nib-blues-womens-head-coach-for-super-rugby-aupiki/ -
@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
Yep, I get that, I just doubt it will be used much. There aren't going to be many strong candidates that don't make their local side and teams aren't going to necessarily want too many from far away when they only assemble for 4 days a week.
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Stuff is firing out the articles today. The 4-week format is locked in for 2 years, and the teams can also have 2 overseas players.
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I think it's a good first step.
Not perfect, but you'll get yuor top players together in teams for an extended period, play against good competition, and get some real life experience of playing and travelling.
So I'm in, wil lbe good fun, and I think yuo'll see some real improvements in the players as a result.
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@nzzp said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
I think it's a good first step.
Not perfect, but you'll get yuor top players together in teams for an extended period, play against good competition, and get some real life experience of playing and travelling.
So I'm in, wil lbe good fun, and I think yuo'll see some real improvements in the players as a result.
It’s still a step back from that though. More like men’s NPC.
Team only together for four days a week, for four weeks.
They get to play and travel at FPC.
What this does add is a concentration of talent so the experiences go up a notch for those that haven’t played in the BFs or BF7s -
@crucial said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@nzzp said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
I think it's a good first step.
Not perfect, but you'll get yuor top players together in teams for an extended period, play against good competition, and get some real life experience of playing and travelling.
So I'm in, wil lbe good fun, and I think yuo'll see some real improvements in the players as a result.
It’s still a step back from that though. More like men’s NPC.
Team only together for four days a week, for four weeks.
They get to play and travel at FPC.
What this does add is a concentration of talent so the experiences go up a notch for those that haven’t played in the BFs or BF7sand also: showcase some womens rugby to a wider audience, test a wider pool of players at a higher level. It's a step forward, and I think a good one.
The difference with FPC is quality of players and coaches. I think being in a more professional setup will be important - and also provides a pathway to Black Fern selection. Star in the FPC, get picked up for Super, same as ABs (but with smaller, shorter windows at this stage).
You just need the rugby to be of a decent quality now, and keep building depth and capability in the playing ranks
Head Coach of new South Island Women’s team appointed | Highlanders Rugby Club Limited Partnership
