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TeamTalk 44

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 02:05

 

TeamTalk #44 is now available.

For the Trivia Fan

Ben Franks scored a try on his All Blacks test debut against Ireland on 12 June this year. Name three props, who have been associated with the Vodafone Wellington Lions, who also achieved this feat in an All Black test debut - in 1991, 2002, and 2007 respectively.

Important Fixture Dates

Have you noted these dates in your calendar or diary?


Saturday 31 July - Womens Final Day
Sunday 1 August - Vodafone Wellington Lions fixtures start with the Tasman game. A full list is available here.
Saturday 7 August - Semi-finals Jubilee and Hardham Cups
Sunday 15 August - Finals Jubilee and Hardham Cups, Westpac Stadium
Monday 16 August - Premier Finals Secondary Schools (Girls and Boys)
 

Vodafone Wellington Lions player availability

With Vodafone Wellington Lions training about to start, clubs have been advised of representative player availability for their clubs. There are only two weekends when representative players are not available, namely:
Saturday 31 July - Round 7 Jubilee Cup (Sunday 1 August, Vodafone Wellington Lions v Tasman)
Saturday 7 August - Semi-finals Jubilee Cup (Sunday 8 August, Vodafone Wellington Lions v Counties Manukau)
 

Jubilee Cup Marketing

This year will see some exciting new initiatives around Jubilee Cup marketing. First, each Jubilee Cup club has had a customised poster of all its fixtures that will be distributed. The second is the 'Festival Fixtures' that will be run across the season. These four fixtures cover all the clubs in the Jubilee Cup, and all of the four Wellington regions, with the aim of strengthening links between communities and clubs, and also fostering better relationships between senior and junior clubs. The festivals will include; three bouncy castles and other interactives, the Junior Rugby trailer with its Playstation and DVD player, sausage sizzles, and the Tui Girls handing out giveaways (including these fantastic Jubilee Cup posters).

Unfortunately the first of the Festival Fixtures was postponed due to inclement weather, however the following dates are in place:
3 July at Maidstone Park with Upper Hutt playing HOBM.
24 July at Petone Recreation with Petone v Oriental-Rongotai.
1 July at Porirua Park with Norths v OBU.

Artificial Turf

Saturday 19 June was historic for Wellington Club Rugby in that it was when competition matches were played for the first time on Artificial Turf. The Wellington City Council’s Te Whaea Park surface is an outstanding facility, following on from the smaller ground that has been open at Nairnville Park for a year now. Moving forward, we will have use of the turf every second weekend, alternating with Capital Football with whom we share the ground at this stage. This will mean the launch of our "Friday Night Lights" programme, with the BNZ U19 and BNZ U21 Rugby being played at the turf. This is a great opportunity to get more of your club rugby fix across the weekend, and we encourage everyone to get along to the turf to support your clubs’ young guns when they are playing there.

As with any new facility, there are some guidelines put in place by WCC to ensure the turf stays at its incredibly high standard;
1) Only water is allowed on the turf – no other form of liquid can be consumed on the playing surface.
2) No food is allowed on the playing surface.
3) The entire facility is smoke and alcohol free.
4) No dogs are allowed on the facility.
5) Car parking is only allowed in the purpose built car park which is accessible from Hutchison Road.
 

Williment Week

100 U16 players have been selected and invited to attend the 2010 Williment Week. This is a development programme run by WRFU CCO’s at Kilbirnie Park from Monday 12 July to Thursday 15 July.

As part of this programme, the Vodafone Wellington Lions squad will chat with the players and offer advice on positional play. Also WRFU Trainers will present nutrition guidelines and an injury awareness session to teach our players how to manage injuries.

The players will be involved in games on the Tuesday and Thursday.

Wellington Maori Rugby

Te Upoko o te Ika Wellington Maori Rugby would like to take this opportunity to thank Don and Ru Rangi for their contributions.

Don had been involved with Wellington Maori as Treasurer. Ru had two spells as secretary, and was also delegate to the Te Tini a Maui Council. In addition Ru was heavily involved with the Women’s Maori team as Manager and organiser.

Both have given over 12 years voluntary service to this organisation – a big thanks again for their efforts.

CCO Cup

The grand finalists have been found for the CCO Cup with Upper Hutt College beating Porirua College 17–3, and Bishop Viard College beating Taita College 17–10.

The date for this final is still to be advised.
 

 

WRRA and AMI team up to "Kick Referee Abuse to Touch"

You may have heard the radio advertisements that have been playing, or you may have seen the signage at Premier grounds over the weekend. This year the Wellington Rugby Referees’ Association has teamed up with its major sponsor, AMI, to run a campaign to get rid of referee abuse. Everyone should be aware that without referees we would not have a game – so they are an absolutely vital component to the game continuing to grow at the grassroots level. The key message is: 'Scream for your team, not at the Ref'.

As part of this initiative, we will also be distributing posters to clubs about the key messages in the WRFU Code of Conduct which all clubs in Wellington are signatories to.
 

Club Rugby Strategic Plan

The Rugby Board's Working Group, tasked with progressing the development of this plan for the next three year period, has now produced a draft for the Rugby Board and clubs to consider further. This body of work included looking at the vision for amateur rugby in Wellington, and the key areas that would underpin such a vision. The vision promoted is "Strong Healthy Clubs through Vibrancy, Fun and Excellence". The six key areas underpinning this vision include Player Recruitment and Retention; Game/Club Profile; Competitions; Facilities; Referees, Coaches and Volunteers; and Governance and Finance. All clubs are strongly encouraged to provide further input into their plan ahead of the next meeting of the Rugby Board on 13 July.

 

RWC Legacy Plan Update

The Legacy Working Group, chaired by former All Black captain and WRFU/NZRU President Andy Leslie, recently met to further consider the key rugby community initiatives around RWC 2011. Additionally, a very successful meeting held with all interested clubs has led to a series of visits to these clubs to collate a dossier of information. This dossier will be promoted to some of the Official Travel Agents to assist in the co-ordination of scheduled supporters groups’ tours next year. Additionally, other activities such as Golden Oldies and Secondary Schools Rugby Festivals, welcoming functions, and the provision of parking for campervan travellers are being considered, with club involvement in mind. Participation initiatives include promoting registration drives for players, coaches, referees and volunteers, with Rippa Rugby firmly at the heart of junior recruitment planning. More detail on these initiatives will follow in due course.

Your Club’s Most Valuable Asset

Does your club properly look after their most valuable asset? Have a look at Sport Wellington’s feature “Welcome to the Volunteer Mega Special”, as part of Volunteer Awareness Week. This can be found here.

Your Country needs You!

Have you thought about helping out during RWC 2011?

Find out more at: www.rugbyworldcup.com/volunteer
 

 

 

U19 Cook Island Players

Many of you will know Paul Rolton, the ex-HVHS 1st XV coach who has an involvement with Cook Islands rugby. This year there is an U19 FORU (Federation of Oceania Rugby Union) tournament being played in Samoa. The winner of this tournament then has Oceania representation at the World Under 20 "B" tournament next year. Paul is involved with a trial in Auckland and would like it known there is an opportunity for young men with Cook Island heritage to represent their country of origin at this level.

To be eligible you must have at least a grandparent or better (namely, mother or father) who was born in the Cooks, or be born there yourself. You can play for the Cooks at U19 or 20 levels and not jeopardise your chances of going on to play for New Zealand. In fact two boys from the Cook Island U20 side that played in Chile in 2008 at the Junior Under 20 World Cup, were in the New Zealand side that won the U20 World Cup under the coaching of Dave Rennie (also from the Cook Islands) last year.

If you want to find out more contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 0273 538951.
 

 

 

The Answer – for the Trivia Fan

The following props also scored a try on their All Black test debut:

G Purvis 8 October 1991 v USA
J McDonnell 8 June 2002 v Italy
J Schwalger 16 June 2007 v Canada

 

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