Tough rugby draw for Hawke's Bay women
CRIKEY ... talk about a challenging draw for the Hawke's Bay Tui women's rugby team this season.
The new-look Farah Palmer Cup competition draw was announced today and Big Barrel Tui head coach Steve Woods admitted it will be a tough season for his depleted squad.
"It's going to be an opportunity for our province's younger promising players to measure themselves against some of the country's best players," Woods said.
Instead of Premiership and Championship sections like there were last year when Woods troops finished second to Otago in the Championship the 13 teams have been split into two geographical pools.
Hawke's Bay are in the six-team South pool with Manawatu, Wellington, Tasman, Otago and defending Premiership champions Canterbury. The seven-team North pool consists of Northland, North Harbour, Auckland, Counties-Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.
The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semifinals. The availability of several Black Ferns Sevens stars will add spice to this season's competition.
Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini is likely to turn out for Manawatu in the Bay's first match at Park Island on September 5.
Woods won't have the services of both of last year's co-captains and experienced loosies Hanna Brough and Gemma Woods. Brough is playing for Counties-Manukau and Woods is unavailable.
Experienced lock Te Aroha Hunt is also unavailable as is promising lock Liana Mikaele-Tu'u who is Auckland-based with university commitments. On a positive note Woods pointed out Black Ferns fullback-first five-eighth Krysten Cottrell should be available for the campaign after recovering from surgery.
The Hawke's Bay Tui team's draw is:
Saturday, September 5 v Manawatu 2pm at Napier's Park Island; Sunday, September 13 v Otago 12.30pm at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium; Saturday, September 19 v Wellington 12.30pm at Hutt Recreation Ground; Saturday, September 26 v Canterbury 4.35pm at Napier's McLean Park; Saturday, October 3 v Tasman 12noon at Motueka.
