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The thrills and spills of sevens rugby. Lots of action at Trentham Memorial Park on Saturday. Photo by Andy McArthur. Full gallery here
That’s lights out for the rugby season.
But in just several weeks it starts up again, with the annual Bula Fiji 7s tournament later in January (to be confirmed) and the National Club 7s hosted by Paremata-Plimmerton on 6 and 7 February, heading into the start of the 15s season.
Organisers are anticipating a bumper field for the National Club 7s tournament, which will get a shot in the arm in terms of coverage and publicity by being hosted in the lower North Island.
In the meantime, enjoy the off-season. See below the first of a handful of off-season columns, and we are plotting the subject matter for the return of our Christmas Day article.
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Trentham Memorial Park is a good venue for sevens, and Saturday’s sevens second WRFU club tournament played in fine, breezy conditions went well. There were some quirks in the draw though, with not every team playing each other and others having defaults to them. Running one tournament over two weeks is a good idea, but can not always be ideal. Congratulations to Northern United (women’s) and Hutt Old Boys Marist (men’s) for winning this year.
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News last week that Wellington College are hosting Nelson College in April next year in their 150th match:
“Wellington College Rugby turns 150 next year. In April they are celebrating the anniversary of the world’s first intercollegiate rugby match between Wellington College and Nelson College Three days of events, including: Golf Day – 16 April, Rugby Legends Luncheon – 17 April, 150th Anniversary Match – 18 April Tickets for the Golf Day and Luncheon go on sale mid-December, with more details on the Anniversary Match coming in January.”
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Staying on the Wellington College theme, Old Boys University have announced their coaches for next year. The return of the OBU Impalas Women’s side is also a positive, with Colin Webster coaching that side.
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Former Premier wing and manager Evan Belford has also nominated for Life Membership of Pōneke, as per the club’s post:
“For more than 30 years, Evan has embodied what it means to wear Red & Black. His loyalty, work ethic, team-first attitude, leadership, and mana have earned him the respect of teammates, opponents, and supporters across Wellington.
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Iain Potter was awarded a Life Membership at the Marist St Pat’s AGM last week. Read more at:
https://www.msprugby.co.nz/news-events/latest-news/iain-potter-life-member
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Paremata-Plimmerton named their coaches for 2026, as below.
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Club Rugby is organising much of our content for next year, which includes the continuation of our weekly history profile series. We are up to the 1950s-1960s now, so if there are players you think we should profile on our website – and there is sufficient information about them to document their rugby life and some career highlights – please get in touch!
We also have a large but incomplete set of Rugby Weekly’s from the 1950s-1970s, kindly donated to us last year. If someone has a full set lying around and/or some other rugby memorabilia or programmes from this era please get in touch and we could fill in some blanks or receive gladly.
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Condor Sevens Chat
If the health of rugby is judged on success at both ends of the country then it is not too bad. Southland Boys’ High School won the Top 4 tournament in 2024 and now Whangarei Boys’ High School have won the Condors in 2025. They beat last year’s winners Tauranga Boys’ College 15-14 in the final, after tipping over powerhouse Hamilton BHS 19-14 in their semi-final.
Scott Gregory (seven tournaments), Tony Monaghan (18 tournaments) and All Black Norm Berryman (1 tournament) are notable All Blacks Sevens representatives from Whangārei Boys.’ Northland winger and recent graduate Nathan Salmon has been in the national age-group sevens and 15s systems.
Whangārei is perhaps the most unlikely winner of the Condor Sevens since Aranui High School took out the title in 2003. Aranui remains the only winner from the South Island. Tim Rangihuna was named the Most Valuable Player, while Joe Clarke was chosen for the New Zealand team. Six years earlier, Aranui established a groundbreaking sports academy aimed at strengthening the school’s role and enhancing the achievements of Māori and Pasifika students, which initially met its goal.
Closer to home (for most readers of this website), Manukura did the double, adding the girls Condors title to their national 15s title from three months ago. Manukura beat Howick College 27-17 in the final.
Manukura had previously beaten St Mary’s College 29-10 in the semi-final on Sunday morning, two late tries settling it. Howick had beaten Christchurch GHS 20-7 in their semi-final.
Manukura have won 23 of their last 24 games at the Condor Sevens.
Taukaea Ngatai-Cribb scored two tries from past halfway in the win over three-time champions Howick College in the final. She played with a composure, flair and authority not dissimilar to recent Black Ferns Sevens graduate Maia Davis. Ngatai-Cribb opened the scoring with a wicked right-foot step and a graceful 70 metre stride, but her try from 55 metres out, feasting on a Howick mistake just before halftime, was absolutely pivotal. A 17-5 deficit was reduced by seven, and with momentum and a champion’s killer instinct, Manukura didn’t concede in the second half.
With a minute remaining, a gut-busting burst of 35 metres from Asha-Rose Waerea completed a perfect season for Manukura who has won the top four/Condor double three times in four seasons.
A couple of their players had also tuned up for this tournament by being part of Manawatu’s 7UP team that played in leg one of the WRFU club tournament at Mary Crowther Park last weekend.
St Mary’s lost their last game of the tournament to Christchurch GHS 5-19 (after also losing to them in their pool match on Saturday). In finishing fourth in the girls section, Wellington’s St Mary’s were clearly the best performing of the six Wellington and Wairarapa schools there.
Sunday’s results at a glance:
Stream Lost 12-22 to Feilding; Lost 17-22 to Kings College; Beat New Plymouth 19-12 Finished 15th.
Wellington College Lost 7-12 to Gisborne; Beat Francis Douglas 19-17; Lost 7-17 to MAGS. Finished 22nd (note that they played both finalists in pool play).
HIBS Beat Condor Baabaas 26-12; Lost 12-20 to Southland; Lost 0-36 to Liston. Finished 28th.
Rathkeale Lost 19-22 to Southland; Lost 19-27 to Condor Baabaas; Beat Papamoa 31-5 in the wooden spoon game. Finished 31st.
Much better for Manawatu schools, with Palmerston North BHS finishing fifth and Feilding High School ninth.
Napier BHS beat Hastings BHS for 17th. Lindisfarne and Gisborne BHS were too, so 10 Hurricanes schools were in the boys competition this year.
Boys top half finishers: 1. Whangarei 2. Tauranga 3. Hamilton 4. Kelston 5. Palmy 6. Christchurch 7. Westlake 8. Marlborough 9. Feilding 10. Rotorua 11. Lindisfarne 12. Kings HS 13. Sacred Heart 14. Kings College 15. Silverstream 16. New Plymouth.
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The Black Ferns Sevens have won in Dubai six times and hold an impressive record of 43-11 in SVNS finals, along with a 21-9 record against Australia.
In the opening round, they defeated France 24-21, making history as the first country in SVNS to win 350 games. However, their 22-game winning streak was unexpectedly halted by a loss to the USA in the following match. The Black Ferns lost focus while leading 17-7, and the American team’s winning try was questionable due to a clear forward pass in the build-up.
This setback may have ignited their performance on day two, which was as imperious as anything seen during the 2024/25 season, where the record was 35 wins and just two defeats.
The All Black Sevens beat Australia 26-22 in the men’s final, as New Zealand did the men’s-women’s double to start the new season.
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If they weren’t recognized as such already, the Springboks ended the 2025 on top of the rugby world after their 73-0 win over Wales this past weekend. Ten players scored 11 tries and first-five Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored 28 points. It was the second worst loss in Wales’ history behind the 96-13 defeat to South Africa in Pretoria in 1998. It was the first time Wales have not scored a point in a home match since they lost 51-0 to France at Wembley in 1998.
The win was marred by a 79th minute red card to veteran South Africa lock Eben Eztebeth, and a long stint on the sidelines awaits him.
David Attoub (Stade Français) vs. Stephen Ferris (Ulster), 2009: Attoub received a 70-week ban for poking Ferris in the eye during a Heineken Cup match. A photograph from the event became infamous, capturing Ferris’s reaction to the “poking and gouging motion”. Schalk Burger (South Africa) vs. Luke Fitzgerald (British and Irish Lions), 2009: Burger was banned for 8 weeks for an eye-gouge incident. Dylan Hartley: Hartley received two bans for eye-gouging. All Black Troy Flavell was another to indulge in the sick act of foul play.
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R360, the proposed global rugby series targeting the game’s top stars, has pushed back its launch date two years to 2028, raising doubts over the project’s viability.
“The decision to shift our launch to 2028 is a strategic decision based on timing,” said R360 board member and former England centre Mike Tindall.
“Launching under compressed timelines would not meet the standards we set for R360, nor would it deliver the long-term commercial impact that the sport deserves.”
Eight leading Test nations, along with the British and Irish Lions, have banned any R360 recruits from combining the new venture with their international careers.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/articles/cg5myyrm9nyo
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“The five New Zealand Super Rugby clubs* have today launched a special range of jerseys, in partnership with Classic Sportswear, to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Super Rugby.
The five New Zealand Super Rugby clubs have today launched a special range of jerseys, in partnership with Classic Sportswear, to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Super Rugby.
The Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders collaborated closely with Classic to bring their 2026 collections to life for DHL Super Rugby Pacific, blending iconic design elements, inspired by the last 30 years of the competition.”
*Clubs – what they call themselves.
Read more here: https://www.superrugby.co.nz/news/new-zealand-super-rugby-pacific-clubs-unveil-jerseys-and-2026-kits-to-celebrate-30-years-2
It’s all lipstick on a pig though isn’t?
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Who would be in your all-time Wellington club rugby legends XV selected from players that didn’t or barely played any representative rugby? That could be a good article. Any other article ideas like this for early next year let us know!
