Black Ferns clashes dominate opening round of Super Rugby Aupiki - Alice Soper

Jaymie Kolose of the Blues takes on the Chiefs Manawa defence in last year's final. Photo / SmartFrame

Super Rugby Aupiki season four kicks off this weekend marking the beginning of a huge year of women’s rugby. The clock is now officially ticking for those making their case for inclusion in the Black Ferns title defence at the Women’s Rugby World Cup. With no time to waste, round one presents many tasty match-ups for the selectors to mull over. The Chiefs Manawa are hosting Matatū before the Blues Women head down to Wellington to face the Hurricanes Poua.

The first game has a fight up front with two Black Ferns front rows packing down. The tried-and-true combination of Pip Love, Georgina Ponsonby and Amy Rule will be up against a pick and mix of Black Fern options within Manawa. Hooker, Luka Connor, was one of the competition’s top try scorers in 2024. She’ll be pushing for a start over the 2024 Farah Palmer Cup top try-scorer, Grace Houpapa-Barrett. While Black Fern-capped Kate Henwood, Tanya Kalounivale, Krystal Murray and Santo Taumata will all compete to be the starting props alongside them.

In the pivots, it’s going to be a showdown between the new school and old guard as Maia Joseph and Hannah King combine for Matatū against Ariana Bayler and either Hazel Tubic or Kelly Brazier. Either way, the breakthrough Black Ferns of 2024 will be playing against experienced Black Ferns hunting one last dance. Brazier has stated her desire to finish her career where she started, playing in the long format for our team in black. Meanwhile, Tubic, ever versatile, will want to prove her form still carries beyond her home province of Counties Manukau.

In the second match, it’s a battle of the edges. With eyes trained on the side of the scrum and on the wings. Both the Blues’ Liana Mikaele-Tu’u and Hurricanes Poua’s Layla Sae, are known for their immense work rate. They will be running each other off the park on Saturday to firmly establish their place in the Black Ferns starting lineup. Meanwhile, out wide, Ayesha Leti-I’iga makes her return to Super Rugby Aupiki after she was sidelined by injury last season. No matter the Blues final team sheet, we will be in for a blockbuster with either Katelyn Vahaakolo, Jaymie Kolose or even Portia Woodman-Wickliffe named as her opposite.

These are the names we know, but last season showed us there’s still plenty of opportunity for new players to break through. When Hannah King ran out for the Hurricanes Poua in game one last season, no one would have predicted her for a start at Twickenham just six months later. Fewer still would have placed a bet on Maia Joseph to be named alongside her. It was last season, too, that Maama Mo’onia Vaipulu stormed into our consciousness and the Black Ferns starting lineup. The Blues lock topping the Aupiki charts for lineout takes while also being in the top five for ball carries and tackles won.

There’s plenty of emerging talent to choose from with at least five Aupiki debutants named in each squad. Players like Hollyrae Mete, Charlotte Va’afusaga, Veisinia Fakalelu, Kiriana Nolan and Braxton Sorensen-McGee will all be hopeful their star power in the Farah Palmer Cup ascends with them to Aupiki. Alongside them, players like Krysten Cottrell, Joanah Ngan-Woo and Grace Gago will be ready to prove they still have more to give.

So, New Zealand’s top domestic women’s rugby competition begins with an air of anticipation. The chase is on to lift the Aupiki trophy and defend our world title. The performance over the next six weeks, setting the stage for the key players of the next six months. It’s all there to play for, so you best be tuning in.