North Shore Times (New Zealand)
All Blacks join rippa players
Budding rugby stars got to meet some of the best in the game at this year’s National Rippa Rugby Championship.
The All Blacks, fresh off their Bledisloe Cup defeat of the Wallabies, were surprise visitors to the primary school-aged competition on Monday.
St Joseph’s Catholic School Takapuna represented North Harbour at the twoday Rippa Rugby Championship in Wellington.
Rippa Rugby is a non-contact form of the game where girls and boys participate together in mixed teams.
Teams are made up of five boys and five girls, aged 10 and 11 years old.
This was St Joseph’s first time taking part in the tournament.
The school’s sports coordinator Paula Vitali says her team were very keen and enthusiastic and had a positive team culture.
‘‘All the attention and special treatment is exciting for the kids,’’ she says.
‘‘Most of them will not have experienced this kind of organisation with their sports team before.’’
The championship started in 2011 and has grown to the point where more than 600 schools play in regional tournaments across the country to qualify to represent their province.
Two hundred Rippa Rugby players, representing 20 schools from around New Zealand, took part this week.
General manager community and provincial rugby, Brent Anderson says the tournament is a special opportunity for kids to represent not only their school, but also their province.
‘‘All the teams in the tournament have worked really hard all season and this is their reward. It’s their chance to test their skills against kids from around the country,’’ Anderson says.
On the opening day of competition North Harbour beat South Canterbury 40-25, then beat Otago 30-25 and Taranaki 60-25.
On day two they lost in the quarterfinals to Waikato 30-15 and in their last game of the tournament beat Southland 45-25.
The 2016 winners of the national title were Waikato after defeating Auckland in the grand final by 25-15.
Previous North Harbour representatives at the national tournament have been Browns Bay Primary, Marina View Primary, Whangaparaoa Primary and Willow Park Primary.