Stratford womens rugby taking on Samoa

The future of women's rugby in Taranaki is looking bright with the Stratford women's team showing they mean

business.

The team was established this year with the help of the Stratford Rugby Club to allow women who have left high

school or those who wish to put on some boots, an opportunity to play one of New Zealand's favourite sports.

The team  was approached by a member of the Taranaki Rugby Union and  asked if they would like to be the team they sent to Samoa and since then the team has been fundraising like crazy to make sure they get over there.

``The team is amped up and they are really looking forward to it,'' says team manager Kerri McBride.

The girls have already sold raffle tickets, ran a speed dating night, shovelled sheep poo for gardens, held

barbecues, worked at Peggy Gordon's over the Rugby World Cup, and still have more events in the pipe line.''

At the A& P show held in Stratford over the weekend, the team cleared the wood chip from the wood chopping

arena and chopped up the remaining blocks and sold eight loads of firewood.

The team flies to Samoa next March where they will play teams from different towns.

The season improved for the team this year so Kerri is confident the girls will be ready for the competition waiting

for them at the other end. ``Like any new team, they started out slowly, but by the end of the season their talent really showed and they were playing great rugby,'' she says.

Kerri says the support from the Stratford Rugby Club has been fantastic as it was a huge risk for them,

introducing a women's team who hadn't played together before, and says it's been awesome to have a team for

Taranaki women to play in.

``It's been really good having the team this year and we hope to have a really strong team next season. A lot of

the girls who have played at high school or have returned from study never had a team to play for, but now they do and it's awesome to be able to keep the girls local and keep the interest in rugby up.''

If you are interested in joining the team or  to help fund the team's trip contact Kerri on 06 762 7866.