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The stakes in our women’s Super Rugby Aupiki are higher than they’ve ever been in the competition’s short history.
The winner will face the Australian Super Rugby champion in April, and those who flourish will be selected for the Black Ferns Rugby World Cup campaign in August.
The Blues victory over Chiefs Manawa in the 2024 decider was as dramatic as any game of rugby last year.
As RugbyPass reported: “With 15 minutes remaining ominous clouds became unremitting rain and the hosts were down 5-18, wobbling towards the canvas. What followed was a genuine Houdini act sparked from a most precocious source. Kahlia Awa, in her debut season, produced a cameo so assured and influential it might pique the interest of Black Ferns selectors.”
Awa had a hand in three late tries scored by the Blues, including the winner by Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, who was sporting a golf ball-sized black eye.
“Man, that was a tough game. We knew it would take whoever was on our team to get us to the final whistle. It’s what dreams are made of. From the first camp, I knew we had something going on in this team,” Mikaele-Tu’u said.
Do the Blues have what it takes to become the first repeat winners of the title?
Blues
Liana Mikaele-Tu’u in full flight at a training run in 2024. Photo: Getty Images
The defending champions are stacked with 13 current and four former Black Ferns. The forward pack is young and dynamic with Maia Roos and Liana Mikaele-Tu’u key leaders and Chryss Viliko and Maama Vaipulu breakout performers in 2024.
Black Ferns hooker Atlanta Lolohea adds further strength to the pack from Matatū, while former Chiefs Manawa bookend Awhina Tangen-Wainohu will look to put a horror run of injuries behind her in Auckland.
Loose forward Elizabeth Moimoi was exceptional for a youthful Auckland side that struggled in the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC). Holly Wratt-Groeneweg from Canterbury is another compelling option in the back row. Wratt-Groeneweg has trained with the Black Ferns Sevens.
The backline is full of fireworks with Black Ferns Ruahei Demant, Sylvia Brunt, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Katelyn Vaha’akolo. Less flashy but equally essential is first five-eighth Krysten Cottrell, the Blues leading points scorer in 2024. The experienced Hawke’s Bay pivot is the perfect navigator for the Blues flair.
Blues head coach Willie Walker told Rikki Swannell on RugbyPass:
“We’re very lucky that we’ve got a majority of our squad back from last year. Our retainment rate was really high, with only a couple of positions where we had either lost players due to injury or being unavailable…Front row is always key to making sure that our platforms are set and a couple of key signings in the back line mean we’re pretty happy across the board.”
Player to Watch: Katelyn Vaha’akolo was in record-breaking form in 2024 breaking Dianne Kahura’s 2002 record for most tries in a New Zealand first-class season (19 in 11 matches) with 22 tries in 14 games. She was nominated for the Tom French Cup as Māori Player of the Year and Black Ferns Player of the Year. Her historic success started with eight tries in six matches in Aupiki, including two in the final. She finished the competition as the leading try scorer and was named Player of the Year both officially and by the New Zealand Rugby Players Association. With the Black Ferns, she embarked on a record run of scoring tries in 11 consecutive internationals. She also represented the Black Ferns Sevens, winning the Cape Town Sevens.
Chiefs Manawa
Chiefs Manawa lost consecutive finals in the last play of the season after winning the inaugural championship in 2022. A heavy defeat to the Blues in pre-season suggests reclaiming the title will be tricky but with 17 current and former Black Ferns, Manawa has the ammunition to deliver the goods.
Hooker Luka Connor has scored an Aupiki record 16 tries in 14 games and will spearhead a powerful front row that includes the FPC’s leading try scorer Grace Houpapa-Barrett and Black Ferns powerhouses Tanya Kalounivale and Krystal Murray.
Luka Connor is part of a powerful Chiefs Manawa front row. Photo: Getty Images
The lineout drive is a hallmark of the Chiefs so the loss of Black Fern Chelsea Bremner to Matatū will hurt but Black Fern Charmaine Smith and Fijian international Jade Coates will do their best to fill the void. Mia Anderson provides height in the back row.
Manawa has plenty of excitement in the backline with Ruby Tui, Mererangi Paul, and Renee Holmes but possibly lacks the explosiveness of the Blues especially in midfield. Who plays first five-eighth? Kelly Brazier, Rosie Kelly, Kiriana Nolan, and Hazel Tubic are all sold choices.
Former Māori All Black Dwayne Sweeney coaches alongside Rugby World Cup-winning Black Fern Carla Hohepa.
Player to Watch: Veisinia Fakalelu – Statistically, Waikato had the most dominant scrum in the FPC. Fakalelu added additional value with her explosive carrying, which saw her rank inside the top 10 for most defenders beaten. While at Hamilton Girls’ High School, Fakalelu won two National Secondary Schools touch titles. Waikato coach James Semple highly rates her, stressing that she has the size, power, and work ethic to go all the way.
Hurricanes Poua
International Joanah Ngan-Woo will be back from injury for the Hurricanes Poua. Photo: Getty Images
The Hurricanes Poua made enough noise to write headlines in 2024 with a haka ruckus that even captured the ire of politicians Winston Peters and David Seymour. Unfortunately, there was little else to write home about. While the Poua’s 36-29 victory over Matatū following the most intense backlash to the now infamous “redneck” haka was genuinely rousing, it wasn’t enough to suppress serious limitations.
The Poua finished with a record five defeats in six matches and one fewer victory than in 2023. In the second half of matches, the Poua was outscored by 156-70. Poua ranked last in tries scored (19), clean breaks (40), metres gained (2,688), lineouts (70%), offloads (57), and tackles completed (82%).
New coach Fusi Feaunati concedes those results weren’t good enough.
“The Poua are prioritising connection and growth this year. The focus is on improving our on-field performance and raising expectations around performance culture,” Feaunati said.
“We’re building a team with an exciting mix of fresh talent and experience, which will be fundamental in growing our performance culture. These women are already performing in FPC and have proven themselves to be hard-working, focused, and ready to excel at a high-performance level.”
“High performance” is something Feaunati understands. For 14 years he’s done the hard yards in Manawatū and Wellington at the secondary school, age group, academy, and finally senior level. Between 2017 and 2022 he was the Manawatū Cyclones coach, winning a Farah Palmer Cup championship in 2021. But will that be enough to drive the Poua to greater heights?
With only four contracted Black Ferns the Poua have the weakest roster. Fitness and scrum loom as a large concern but there is the raw talent in the loose forwards and backline to unsettle opposition.
Ayesha Leti-I’igi made a spectacular return from injury for the Black Ferns in 2024 while Monica Tagoai regained her contract. Harmony Kautai scored a team-leading seven tries for the Wellington Pride in the Farah Palmer Cup. In 2023 she was a Black Ferns XV selection. The versatile Payton Takimoana has scored 14 tries in 20 games for Bay of Plenty while Shakira Baker will join the Warriors in NRLW after Aupiki. Halfback Iritana Hohaia featured in every Black Ferns test in 2024.
World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year Hannah King has returned to Christchurch and will be replaced at first five-eighth by Manu Sina international Cassie Siataga and another Cantabrian Te Ruaoriwa Gapper who has won 35 of her 41 matches in red and black colours.
Rugby World Cup winner Joanah Ngan-Woo will make a welcome return from an ankle injury in the forwards and will form a reliable locking partnership with the redoubtable Jackie Patea-Fereti. Openside flanker Elinor-Plum King who was a nominee for FPC player of the year and Layla Sae is world class.
Esther Faiaoga-Tilo, Angel Mulu, Forne Burkin, and Natalie Delamere have all been Black Ferns in the past but start 2025 well behind the leading contenders.
Player to Watch: Layla Sae was a nominee for Super Rugby Aupiki Player of the Year in 2024. In her last match against the Blues, she made 21 tackles and scored a try. A week earlier, with Poua 22-0 down against Matatū, Sae sprinted 45m off the back of a scrum for a try and almost did it again with another gut-busting burst. In the round robin, she beat the most defenders with 41 and ranked second most tackles (84). She strengthened her position in the Black Ferns, featuring in all eight test matches. Against the USA she topped the tackle count with 17 and scored a try in a fine 57-5 victory. In the 62-0 whitewash of Australia, the Black Ferns loose forwards were described as “rampant.”
Matatū
Matatū went from champions in 2023 to an underwhelming third in 2024, losing their first four games. With 14 current and former Black Ferns in the squad, third won’t cut it.
When asked by Rikki Swannell on RugbyPass, what were the key elements she looked for in putting together the squad, head coach Whitney Hansen, responded:
“We look at depth in each position to ensure we have strong coverage across the board and varieties of skill sets and strengths in different positions to create diversity and balance within the team.”
The Matatū pack with the Bremner sisters, Amy Rule and Georgia Ponsonby boasts plenty of experience but beneath these accomplished Black Ferns, it perhaps lacks the raw physicality of the Chiefs and Blues.
Chelsea Bremner is back in the south, joining sister Alana at the Matatū. Photo: Getty Images
Maia Joseph and Hannah King will look to grow the partnership they developed at 9 and 10 in the Black Ferns but the absence of either will raise headaches. Grace Brooker and Amy du Plessis enjoy a special combination in midfield while Hollyrae Mete, Fiaali’i Solomona, Winnie Palamo and Charlotte Va’afusuaga are rewarded for stirling FPC form in 2024.
Player to Watch: Laura Bayfield – The lock or loose forward was the top tackler in the FPC with 165 in eight games. She was heroic for a young Canterbury side that grew enormously through the season. Bayfield is also powerful with the ball in hand, ranking in the top five for most carries, and adept in the air. Bayfield was inspirational in the 36-31 Premiership semifinal win over Counties Manukau and made a staggering 23 tackles in the narrow 10-7 defence of the JJ Stewart Trophy in Round 2 against Waikato. Bayfield enlisted in the New Zealand Army in January 2017. She ranked inside the top 10 for tackles made and lineouts won in Aupiki 2024.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-02-28 17:18:06
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