Women’s rugby to gain boost through new competition

The continued growth of women’s rugby in the region looks set to gain jet propulsion in 2023 with a new initiative launched this week by the Mid Canterbury Rugby Union.

They’re looking to run a new women’s 10s tournament for players over the age of 18 focussing solely on local clubs and players and will do so by first introducing four weeks of training to allow players to develop their skills and learn more about the game before sinking their teeth in with four weeks of matches.

“This is exciting because it’s completely Mid Canterbury focused,” women’s rugby development officer, Kirsty Arps said.

“In the past it’s been either through school teams, or the Celtic side who head up to Christchurch to play in the competition up there.”

By planning to use local clubs to help push the idea, the hope is that more potential players out in the wider community may take part and in a safe, fun and relaxed manner.

Arps said the four-week training block before matches were played would be centred around the fundamentals of the game.

“We’ll be looking at safe tack- ling techniques, how to fall to the ground properly and the real basics of the game like laws and rules.

“There’ll be the hands-on element to it as well, but we want to ensure the safety of everyone first.”

Initial interest, after the plan was launched at the start of the week has been strong with a number of individuals already getting in contact to express their interest in taking part.

How far the plan could lead, is anyone’s guess according to Arps.

“Ideally we’d get through the four weeks of matches and still