With Jacob Page Grand opening at Rugby club

By Frank Neill

Rugby greats Ruby Tui and Ian Jones will be at the Wainuiomata Rugby Football Club tomorrow, 16 March, for the grand opening of the clubroom amenities upgrade.

The club has just completed an upgrade of both its shower and toilet facilities at its 2 Moohan Street clubrooms.

Before the upgrade there was no separation for men and women in either the showers or the toilet.

The changing room had originally been designed just for men, with open showers and just the one toilet area.

Following the upgrade, there is now a partition between the men’s and the women’s shower areas and shower curtains have been installed. There are also separate toilets for men and women.

The much needed upgrade has been made possible by a $30,000 Bunnings Rugby Assist Grant, with the Wainuiomata club being one of 10 grant recipients.

Moana Kuma applied for the grant on behalf of the club and was thrilled when the application was successful.

“We are incredibly proud of our female squad and the club is committed to strengthening our women’s programme,” she says.

“To achieve this, we need our clubrooms to be a welcoming space that cater to female players and all members of the community.”

With the upgade complete, “it caters for all players now and not just the men,” Moana says.

Ruby Tui and Ian Jones will be special guests at the grand opening as Bunnings Ambassadors.

They will lead a “drills and skills” session, along with Wellington Rugby Union women activators. This session is open to all club junior and high school girls in the Wellington region.

Ruby and Ian will also feature at a “meet and greet” session in the clubrooms.

An Olympic gold and silver medalist in the Rugby Sevens, Ruby has been a regular member of the Black Ferns Sevens since being discovered in 2012.

She was named Black Ferns Sevens Player of the Year in 2017 and World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year in 2019.

Her gold medal came at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and her silver medal four years earlier.

Ian has played 79 tests for the All Blacks, having debuted on 16 June 1990 in the All Blacks match against Scotland at Dunedin.

He is New Zealand’s secondmost capped lock, and was the All Blacks captain for one match.

Ian was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Rugby in the 2010 New Year’s Honours.

Girls can register for the “drills and skills” from 4:15pm

The powhiri and ribbon cutting ceremony will begin at 5pm, followed by the drills and skills at 5:15pm.

The meet and greet with Ruby and Ian will take place in the clubrooms from 6:15 to 7pm.

Food at the grand opening will be provided by the Petone Bunnings crew.

The Wainuiomata Rugby Football Club now caters for all players, not just men.

The club has three all girl teams in the Wellington competition, where