Our Players Abroad
We are stoked to see our Matatū girls showing what they’ve got across the ditch in Super Rugby W, the Australian equivalent to Super Rugby Aupiki here in Aotearoa.
Not only do contracts awarded show the strength of the talent we have playing here in New Zealand, it gives our girls much-needed game time outside of what is a short Aupiki season in it’s infancy.
Black Fern Amy Rule signed with the Brumbies for the ’23 season and landed in Canberra within hours of wrapping up Super Rugby Aupiki with a win.
“I had (Aupiki) Final on the Saturday, celebrated with the team and then showed up (in Canberra) on Monday so it’s been epic," she told media at the end of March. The Brumbies chalked up their first win of the season against the Rebels on Friday 14 April.
Amy Rule for the Brumbies. Getty
Martha Mataele and sister Atlanta Lolohea have been carving it up at the Western Force, joined more recently by Matatū teammates Leah Miles and Eilis Doyle.
They’ve been making headlines in a crowded sporting environment, with Mataele and Miles both scoring tries in their Round 4 23-10 victory over the Fijian Drua in Perth on Sunday 16 April.
“I took the opportunity to play for the Force after Aupiki because I want to help grow the game not only in New Zealand but in Aussie too,” Mataele said.
Wallaroo Sera Naiqama returned to the table-topping Waratahs where she’s played since 2019, while Di Hiini signed with the Queensland Reds and is showcasing her continued excellent form at halfback post Aupiki.
Super Rugby W Semi Finals are on the weekend of 29-30 April, with Di Hiini (Reds), Sera Naiqama (Waratahs) and Amy Rule (Brumbies) all taking part in the penultimate round of the competition.
Sarah Munro, Matatū General Manager, said it was fantastic to see so many girls heading over to Australia.
“We want our players to get as much experience and game time as possible, and to be immersed within a professional rugby environment in order to lift the quality of rugby on both sides of the ditch,” Munro said.
“It’s fantastic that the opportunity exists for them to head across to Australia to play for an extended time, but ideally we’d love our players to be able to get that game time here in Aotearoa.”
The women’s game has taken huge strides since Super Rugby Aupiki launched in 2022. The Black Ferns win at Rugby World Cup 2021 shifted public perception and opinion, and the second season of Aupiki built on that momentum, crowned by Matatū’s eventual victory.
Munro said she and the wider Matatū management group were hugely supportive of an expanded trans-Tasman competition where each team plays each other more than once in the near future.
In December, New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia set a mandate to explore the creation of an integrated women’s competition structure, to build on the success of Super W in Australia and Sky Super Rugby Aupiki in New Zealand.
“We saw the quality of women’s rugby throughout the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and while it is not a case of copy and paste with the men’s structure in Super Rugby Pacific, we believe there are enormous opportunities to build a world class cross border professional women’s club competition in the Pacific region,” said Mark Robinson, New Zealand Rugby CEO.
Munro said there was “a clear appetite from spectators and fans to see more women’s rugby, and we’re looking forward to seeing the outcome of those discussions between New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia”.