Sign In / Register
Ahead of the opening the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) competition this week, Warkworth hosted a pre-season fixture between women’s rugby teams Harbour Hibiscus and Northland on July 21.
Referee Rebecca Stanaway says pre-season games are held at clubs around the region in order to engage with the community.
Before the Warkworth game, which Northland won 22-19, training sessions were held for Mahurangi College and local club players.
“We take it to the clubs to bring some awareness around FPC and to allow players at those clubs to interact.”
Stanaway, a member of the NH Rugby Union and NH Rugby Referees Association boards, says interest in the game has “built up quite significantly” in the area in the seven or eight years that she has been involved as a referee.
For young players keen to give it a try, the first port of call would be through the college, which has U15 and U17 teams playing on Monday nights.
Harbour Hibiscus’ opening FPC game on Sunday is against Otago Spirit, which beat the local team in the competition’s quarter finals last year, so “it’s a bit of a grudge match”.
Named after the former Black Ferns captain, the FPC is the highest level domestic women’s rugby union competition in the country.
Stanaway says that after the women’s Rugby World Cup in 2022, there was a “massive explosion” of interest across North Harbour, with player numbers growing by around 20 per cent year on year.
Last year there were only two women’s premier teams, Silverdale and North Shore. This year the number has climbed to five – Silverdale, North Shore, Glenfield, Northcote, and the Massey and Kumeu MK Rangers.
As next year’s women’s RWC in England approaches, Stanaway expects the growth surge to continue.
She says the commitment level of the Harbour Hibiscus players is huge. Some travel up to two hours one way for weekly training sessions at NH Stadium, coming from as far afield as Dargaville and South Auckland.
In addition to her refereeing and board commitments, Stanaway participates in Ako Wāhine, a programme bringing together women for education and development, with a strong focus on connection and community. Established in 2019, it was the brainchild of former Black Fern Vania Wolfgramm.
Only three countries have won the women’s RWC since it started in 1991, with NZ taking the title a record six times. England won it twice, and the USA once. NZ is second, behind England, in the women’s world rugby rankings.
