Rippa World Cup in Rotorua (+pics&video)

Muddy fields did not stop 40 primary school rippa rugby teams from having fun in the Rotorua Rippa Rugby World Cup today.

Twenty Rotorua schools took part at Westbrook Park, with two teams from each school.

Central Bay of Plenty Rugby regional manager Brendon Webby said St Mary's Catholic School were the winners of both the Year 3 to 4 and Year 5 to 6 sections with Otonga Road Primary School the runners up in both.

Mr Webby said the the kids had a lot of fun and enjoyed the day, even though it was muddy underfoot.

Image 1 of 10: Ngongotaha player Noah Fisher, 8, with ball, and Reporoa Primary School player Tyler Phillips, 9,.

"It was an awesome day."

He said the competition ran every year, and the winners would go on to play against other sub-regions in the Baywide competition.

From the Baywide competition, winning teams continued on to the national tournament.

Noah Fisher, 8, from Ngongotaha School's Year 3 to 4 team, said he liked the mud and scoring tries.

He said it was his first year playing rippa rugby and the competition had been pretty good.

Even after his fifth game he had not been worn out and was fine, he said.

Nine-year-old Douglas Monk from Reporoa Primary School said it was his second year playing rippa rugby, and he liked it because he got to run with the ball, do lots of passing and rip the tags off people.

He said he got into the sport through school and decided to join "because I like playing rugby and watching the All Blacks".

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu's Dani Irihei, 7, said she enjoyed ripping the tags and running with the ball.

Dani's father Kopae Irihei said she had started off with rippa rugby and now played tackle rugby for the Ngongotaha JAB under 8s team.