‘Free for all’: Super Aupiki coaches reveal scramble to sign stars
New Zealand’s best women rugby players had only three or four weeks to sort out their playing futures after a change to the Super Rugby Aupiki contracting model prompted what coaches have described as a ‘‘free-forall’’ and ‘‘hunting season’’.
Hurricanes Poua coach Victoria Grant and Chiefs Manawa coach Crystal Kaua both told that compiling Super Rugby Aupiki squads for 2023 – they will be announced on Monday – had been a chaotic and stressful period that meant some Black Ferns even entered Rugby World Cup camps without knowing where they would play.
‘‘We had a short window to sign 28 players and it was free-for-all,’’ Kaua said. ‘‘It wasn’t like the previous year when we got to name 15 players from our region.
‘‘This year, that wasn’t the case. This year, you could approach players from any team.’’
The four Super Rugby Aupiki teams this week announced some key signings, with Chiefs Manawa landing Black Ferns and Matutū lock Chelsea Bremner, Matutū re-signing Renee Holmes and Hurricanes Poua re-signing Rugby World Cup final stars Joanah Ngan-Woo and Ayesha Leti-I’iga.
The full extent of player movement won’t be known until Monday, but Grant emphasised the significance of the Poau’s re-signings as each franchise battled to fend off advances from rivals.
‘‘I describe it as hunting season,’’ she said. ‘‘Literally, it was like that.
‘‘Some of our key players had multiple contracts out there in front of them. There was limited rules around local players versus non-local players.
‘‘It was a mad rush on the phone. I was on the phone from sunrise to sunset, and a bit more. It was an interesting time.’’
The contracting scramble reflects Super Rugby Aupiki’s status as a young competition, but Grant hinted that New Zealand Rugby should take some lessons from this year and implement a more orderly process as the competition develops.
‘‘Last year, you had to pick 15 local players who had been playing provincial rugby within your region, or homegrown within the region,’’ she said. ‘‘So, that’s what you started your roster with. But, this is like a work in progress.
‘‘I feel like New Zealand Rugby is putting something out there, reviewing how it goes, and then building on it next year.
‘‘So they changed that ruling [on local players]. I do not know why they changed that ruling. But it was just a free-for-all.’’
Despite the challenges, Kaua said Chiefs Manawa – the reigning Super Rugby Aupiki champions – had emerged in good shape.
‘‘The good thing for the Chiefs is we had 21 players from the Chiefs’ 28 last year who re-signed,’’ she said.
‘‘I think that speaks volumes of the environment that we have within the Chiefs. We can’t take it for granted either. That has to be a space that we need to continue to push and drive and work on.’’