Coaching

From the beginning coaching has played a huge part in what is a hugely successful progamme. In the 1980’s Laurie O’Reilly coached was was then called the Crusadette’s, our Women’s Premier team, before they toured the USA and Europe. A year later he selected the first women’s team to represent New Zealand. Since then we have had a number of highly respected coaches take the reins and continue to build on the legacy of this team.

Players

Because UC was early adopters of the women’s game and providing good coaching, we’ve always attracted quality players. To date we’ve had 21 Black Ferns play for us, including No.001 Jacqui Apiata and the only women’s player to receive the Kel Tremain trophy (NZ’s best rugby player) Kendra Cocksedge. Today the future looks strong with numerous players in the Canterbury team, Matatu and NZ Seven’s (development).

Training

Our Women’s team takes things just as seriously as our Men’s team, so they train just as hard. The coaches and management set a style of play that is conducive to running rugby and the team trains in UC High Performance gym on alternative nights.

Support

UC Rugby is proud to have such a successful women’s programme. We ensure that we provide the same level of resource to our women’s team as we do our men’s. We are looking to continually build this space and provide opportunities for players, coaches and managers to develop and grow.