FARAH PALMER CUP

FARAH PALMER CUP THE LAST HIT OUT

BEFORE THE WORLD CUP by PETER WHITE

The Farah Palmer Cup continues to grow in popularity thanks to live coverage of matches on Sky Sport and the increasing profile given to women’s rugby in mainstream media.

The competition, presented by Bunnings Warehouse, consists of two divisions. The Premiership is made up of seven teams: Waikato Women, Canterbury Women, Auckland Storm, Wellington Pride, Counties Manukau Heat, Bay of Plenty Volcanix and Manawatū Cyclones. The winner is crowned champion while the bottom team are relegated. The six-team Championship comprises: Otago Spirit, Taranaki Women, Hawke’s Bay Tuis, North Harbour Hibiscus, Northland Women and Tasman Women. The winner of the Championship division is promoted to the Premiership. Both divisions play a seven-week round robin, with the top four Premiership teams and top four Championship teams playing in semi-finals on September 2–4. The following weekend, the finalists will play-off for the Premiership and Championship titles. Teams also compete for the JJ Stewart Trophy, named after the former All Blacks coach who was a strong supporter of women’s rugby. Like the Ranfurly Shield, this challenge trophy must be defended by the holders in each of their home matches during the regular season. The 2021 season was highlighted by Waikato finally claiming a first Farah Palmer Cup title. The team had to do it the hard way, travelling down to Christchurch to take-on an in-form Canterbury side looking for their fifth straight title. It was also a repeat of the 2020 final when Waikato had the title taken from their grasp when Canterbury scored deep into injury time to win it. This time there was to be a happy ending for the visitors as they held on to win 22–20. Manawatū Cyclones proved too strong for Hawke’s Bay Tuis with a 55–12 win to take the Farah Palmer Cup Championship title in Palmerston North. This year’s competition has even more importance than usual, as it is the final opportunity for the Black Ferns squad players to get into top form and impress coach Wayne Smith ahead of Rugby World Cup that begins in Auckland in October. The Black Ferns showed plenty of improvement when beating Australia, Canada and the USA in successive matches to win the Pacific Four Series in June. The Black Ferns have two tests against Australia in Christchurch on August 20 and Adelaide on August 27, but they do not play again before Rugby World Cup kicks off on October 8. This leaves the Farah Palmer Cup as the crucial preparation ahead of the World Cup. Black Ferns will be available for their provincial unions for the majority of the Farah Palmer Cup but will miss rounds six and seven for the Australian tests. With so much anticipation building ahead of Rugby World Cup, this is a golden opportunity for rugby fans to catch the Black Ferns stars in action for their provincial sides in the Farah Palmer Cup.

FARAH PALMER CUP CHAMPIONS

2006 WELLINGTON, 2007 AUCKLAND, 2008 AUCKLAND, 2009 AUCKLAND, 2010 AUCKLAND, 2011 AUCKLAND, 2012 AUCKLAND, 2013 AUCKLAND, 2014 AUCKLAND, 2015 AUCKLAND, 2016 COUNTIES MANUKAU, 2017 CANTERBURY, 2018 CANTERBURY, 2019 CANTERBURY, 2020 CANTERBURY, 2021 WAIKATO.

Canterbury’s JORJA MILLER is tackled during last year’s final against Waikato.