Super Rugby Women's Competition
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@bovidae said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
The Chiefs team trained in Cambridge in preparation for that game against the Blues. I think there was a player and a coach who travelled from NP, and obviously the CM players had to travel south.
And the BoP players over the hill. Apart from the Naki contingent the 'commute' is OK given the road connections.
It will definitely be the outlying provinces that are affected. Otago, Ta$man, HB, Naki and Northland the most.
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@crucial said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@stargazer said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@crucial It's not better travelling from Napier (or Wairoa) to Wellington. New Plymouth to Hamilton isn't ideal, either.
I also assume this is non-paid? No compensation for 2 days a week off work or childcare etc?
Also from the article:
NZR believe the semi-professional competition, as Sexton recently called it, will provide a crucial step between the Farah Palmer Cup and international rugby.
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@stargazer said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@bovidae A name including the word Pounamu (as in 'Te Wai Pounamu') would be so much nicer. Then you have the team colour sorted, too.
The South Island women’s Super Rugby team will be governed by the Crusaders, but will have a unique name and brand identityfair enough and promising
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Question for those in the know: Is it semi-professional as in they're paid while the comp is on (like NPC), or semi-professional as in centrally contracted player will be taking part?
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@antipodean said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
Question for those in the know: Is it semi-professional as in they're paid while the comp is on (like NPC), or semi-professional as in centrally contracted player will be taking part?
Hard to tell. The NZRPA hasn't published an updated Collective agreement document that covers this new competition.
I would think that players would be centrally contracted in that they have to sign up to the RPA Collective for terms and conditions but the payment negotiated is under separate franchise contract.
The semi-pro description is that, like many NPC players, they will be paid while part of the comp. There will likely be a base, training and game attendance, travel compensation etc
The idea would be that they try and negotiate unpaid leave from any job they have and get paid by the franchise instead.
This one seems to be set up that you could hold down a job at the same time and only take a day or two off near the weekend.
Lost time due to travel could be an issue for some players unless they live near the bases.Edit: Given the quite small amounts paid to Black Ferns players I don't imagine that the payments for this comp will amount to much more than a few hundred bucks a week per player assembled with maybe a small match day payment for those selected each week.
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Former Black Ferns Sevens Head Coach and two-time NZR Coach of the Year Allan Bunting has signed on as Head Coach for the Chiefs Women’s team ahead of their maiden 2022 Super Rugby campaign.
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There is also an official article:
https://www.allblacks.com/news/green-light-for-super-rugby-aupiki/
Competition Format
Super Rugby Aupiki will kick off will run across four weekends in March, kicking off on 5/6 March.
The following two weekends will see home and away fixtures for each team before the top two meet in Final on 26 March.
The competition draw will be confirmed later this year, all matches will be broadcast on SKY.
Head Coaches selected
The head coaches who will be tasked with selecting the first Super Rugby Aupiki squads have been confirmed.
The four women’s Super Rugby Head Coaches are:
Chiefs: Allan Bunting – former Black Ferns Sevens Coach
Hurricanes: Wesley Clarke – Black Ferns Assistant Coach
Blues: Willie Walker – Auckland Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) Coach
South Island: Blair Baxter – Canterbury FPC CoachClubs will contract 28 players, with squads expected to be named in the next month. Players will assemble for one preseason match before coming together four days a week through the competition window in March.
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@bovidae said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
There was mention of a player draft last week but I hope that has been canned. You can't be expecting these players to move too far from home without adequate remuneration and support.
I wouldn't think there will be a draft. I know that last week (or week before?) Ruby Tui mentioned on Breakdown that she had received her contract. Squads will be pretty well finalised.
It may be that a pool of players are placed on an unofficial list as injury cover though.
I would expect that these initial squads won't be much different to FPC teams from the host base with extras coming from the positions where depth is required (front row, halfback, lock) where the best three players may be made up from all the area teams or if there is a clearly strong player in one position that outranks the existing.
eg the SI team will be Canterbury plus maybe a prop or two, a lock and a halfback from Ta$man and Otago. For example, I expect to see Maia Joseph there for development and cover -
@crucial This was the article I read about the possibility of a draft.
As is the case in men’s Super Rugby, players sign with New Zealand Rugby and are seconded to teams. There is expected to be a required number of players from each team’s home region, while a player draft, much like the one in the early days of men’s Super Rugby, will also be utilised.
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@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
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@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
Back in 1996 the teams could protect the majority of their preferred squad, but for the last few positions you could use the draft if required. I would imagine it would be something similar so, in theory, the best 112 players are involved.
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@yeetyaah said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
Feels a bit short tho eh? Surely play everyone twice with top 2 playing a final.
Yes, I agree. Obviously, it will be longer in the future when they join Super-W in Australia, but until then, a home and away round robin would have been more attractive. Four weeks is really short and it will be over before some people realise it has even started. I guess, it has a lot to do with money and the difficult logistics of a semi-professional comp in which the players will have to keep their normal day jobs/study to survive. Pay will be peanuts.
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Hopefully, the talent identification in the Hurricanes region will be better than in the men's comp. Obviously, the Hurricanes women's team will consist mostly of Wellington Pride and Manawatū Cyclones players, and fair enough, they are the best teams. But in the Hawke's Bay Tui team there are some really talented players and a good coach would pick them up; I should add that some of them may be too young, as they're still at school (16 and 17 years old). Not sure players that young will be picked.
Keeping an eye on you Mr Wesley Clarke!
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@bovidae said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
Back in 1996 the teams could protect the majority of their preferred squad, but for the last few positions you could use the draft if required. I would imagine it would be something similar so, in theory, the best 112 players are involved.
....i support the Highlanders...trust me...i know how the draft use to work
it use to be like xmas, a nice surprise who will be making up a third of the team this year -
Media release on the Hurricanes website about the appointment of Wes Clarke:
Media release on the Chiefs' website about the appointment of Allan Bunting:
https://www.chiefs.co.nz/news-item/olympic-gold-medal-winning-coach-announced-as-chiefs-women-head-coachMedia release on the Crusaders' website about the appointment of Blair Baxter:
https://crusaders.co.nz/latest/news/blair-baxter-appointed-head-coach-of-new-south-island-womens-team-for-super-rugby-aupiki/Media release on the Highlanders' website about the appointment of Blair Baxter:
Media release on the Blues' website about the appointment of Willie Walker:
https://blues.rugby/walker-named-as-nib-blues-womens-head-coach-for-super-rugby-aupiki/ -
@kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby Women's Competition:
@bovidae ok, so when they say "draft" they mean just for those..."unwanted" is too strong a word, those on the fringe in their home unions, rather than everyone goes into a hat
Yep, I get that, I just doubt it will be used much. There aren't going to be many strong candidates that don't make their local side and teams aren't going to necessarily want too many from far away when they only assemble for 4 days a week.
Wes Clarke named as Hurricanes Women's Head Coach for Super Rugby Aupiki
Head Coach of new South Island Women’s team appointed | Highlanders Rugby Club Limited Partnership
