Savannah Bodman, seen here with ball in hand for the Northland Kauri this year, was the only Northlander to feature in the Condors New Zealand under-18 girls' school team. Photo / Supplied
Savannah Bodman, seen here with ball in hand for the Northland Kauri this year, was the only Northlander to feature in the Condors New Zealand under-18 girls' school team. Photo / Supplied
The most Northland rugby players in recent memory were on show over the weekend at the World Schools Sevens competition in Auckland.
Ten of Northland's brightest rugby talents took to the Pakuranga Rugby Club for the international under-18 sevens rugby event, which ended on Saturday and featured more than 32teams from Japan, Canada, USA, Australia, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand.
Savannah Bodman, a stand-out for the Northland senior women's rugby team in the Farah Palmer Cup this year, was the only Northland player to be picked in the New Zealand under-18 girls' team.
Barbara Kuruleca and Louisa Tubailagi both played for the NZ Fiji schools sevens team, while Andrea Cotton, Manaia Webb, Leilani Erwin, Reiata Phillips-Heihei, Mia Anderson, Georgia Brierly and Phoenix Littin all featured in the NZ Dutch team.
Northland's Barbara Kuruleca (left) and Louisa Tubailagi playing for the NZ Fiji schools sevens team at the World Schools Sevens competition. Photo / Supplied
The group was the most players Northland had ever fielded for the tournament, which highlighted the strides made in women's rugby in the region.
Northland's first ever Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) team this year saw incredible success as they went on a four-game unbeaten run to make the championship semifinals before losing to Hawke's Bay.
This year also saw the return of women's senior club rugby in Northland after about a four-year absence, as well as under-16 and under-18 girls' rugby competitions.
Northland women's rugby development manager Scott Collins said it was a great sign of Northland women's rugby's strength and depth to see so many players take part in the World School Sevens.
"It's pretty exciting considering we've only just started it off so it's just giving them more exposure, more chances to play the game and it is a viable career path," he said.
The future of Northland women's rugby was on show for all to see over the weekend. Photo / Supplied
Collins said all 10 players had featured for Northland at an FPC or under-18 level and he hoped the experience would build their confidence in upcoming seasons.
Northland's senior sevens teams hadn't seen much success in 2019 with both the men's and women's senior teams missing out on qualification for their respective national competitions.
While he accepted not qualifying was disappointing, Collins said the women's team had performed better than previous years with a number of young players.
"It was a big learning curve, we only had three girls who had played last year to know what to expect."
Nevertheless, Collins was excited ahead of another women's rugby season next year, which he hoped to bolster with a new under-14 grade to go with the under-16 and under-18 competitions.
With former Black Ferns Cheryl Smith and Susan Dawson signed on as FPC coaches for another year, Collins hoped to build on the framework developed in women's rugby in 2019.
"Considering the way we are progressing now, it's about the right time to look at those kinds of things, so it'll just be about working on our programme, making sure it's sustainable."
