The Waitomo Chiefs Manawa squad for the 2023 Sky Super Rugby Aupiki season includes nine Black Ferns and six newcomers who will make their debut in the New Year.
The new squad will defend the team’s title in the Sky Super Rugby Aupiki competition which celebrated its inaugural kick-off lastyear.
Waitomo Chiefs Manawa head coach Crystal Kaua says the 2023 squad was “a great balance of youth and experience”.
“The good human piece is vital in our selection. We want it to be competitive, but with love - the drive to be better, make each other better and make the team better. Our endgame is maximising the uniqueness of every player, creating an environment where people feel they belong and can play with freedom.”
The new rookies are Bay of Plenty’s Azalleyah Maaka and Te Urupounamu McGarvey, Auckland’s Mererangi Paul, as well as Violet Hapi-Wise, Tynealle Fitzgerald and Merania Paraone.
Maaka brings a lot of speed to the team with her previous Sevens experience. She was a part of the gold medal-winning 2018 Youth Olympic Games New Zealand Sevens team and has since solidified herself in the 15s game with outstanding performances during Farah Palmer Cup (FPC).
Her fellow Bay of Plenty Volcanix teammate McGarvey will add depth to the front line, becoming the third hooker in the mix alongside the experienced Luka Connor and Grace Houpapa-Barrett.
Versatile athlete Paul played at first-five for Counties Manukau in FPC. She has also represented Bay of Plenty in Sevens and made her debut for the Northern Mystics in 2017 for the ANZ Netball Premiership. Paul was part of the wider Waitomo Chiefs Manawa squad in 2022 but will make her first start for the side during the 2023 season.
Twenty-three-year-old halfback Hapi-Wise made her FPC debut for Waikato in 2022 against Wellington, previously representing the region in Sevens too. Fitzgerald and Paraone made their debut last season after being called up from the training squad, but received their first fulltime contracts for the 2023 season.
Meanwhile, the Waitomo Chiefs Manawa welcome four players with Super Rugby experience who will transfer to the team for 2023.
Wellington Pride duo Dhys Faleafaga and Amanda Rasch, Matatū's Chelsea Bremner and former Black Fern Charmaine Smith will provide further support to the six rookies in the squad.
Chiefs Manawa head coach Crystal Kaua. Photo / Supplied
Faleafaga and Rasch will make the shift to the Chiefs from Hurricanes Poua. Rasch is a first-five player who was named in the 2016 Black Ferns training squad and was part of the 2019 Black Ferns Development. Both had a limited 2022 season so will be keen to make an impact.
Bremner is a talented lock who put in exceptional performances for the Black Ferns throughout their Rugby World Cup campaign. Another locking talent joining the squad is former Black Fern Charmaine Smith, who played for the Blues in the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season.
The 2023 squad will be led by co-captain of the Black Ferns, Kennedy Simon. The 26-year-old loose forward made her Black Ferns debut in 2019 after touring Japan with the Black Ferns Sevens Development team earlier that year.
Chiefs Rugby Club women’s programme director Kate Rawnsley says the club can’t wait to welcome “our wāhine toa” back in the Chiefs Rugby Club environment.
“The team ... is going to help with continuing the momentum we’ve seen with the success of the Rugby World Cup,” Rawnsley says.
The players in the 2023 Waitomo Chiefs Manawa squad are
Brackets denote players’ provincial union and Waitomo Chiefs Manawa caps, while * denotes a player that is yet to debut for the Waitomo Chiefs Manawa. Bolded players denote those who have signed their first fulltime Sky Super Rugby Aupiki contract.
The Black Ferns Sevens players will shift their focus to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series making them unavailable for selection for the Super Rugby Aupiki competition.
