The Whanganui side beat the Ngāti Porou East Coast Hamoterangi 25-22 in the 2025 final. Photo / Kate Belsham, Ivy Digital
After the side’s back-to-back North Island Heartland Series title wins, the Longrun Spouting Whanganui Women’s rugby team are ready for more success.
A tight 25-22 win over the Ngāti Porou East Coast Hamoterangi in the final wrapped up an impressive third season, head coach Junior Nepia said.
“Our campaign as a whole was 13 weeks from go to woah, so it’s a small window there. Everything we do is amplified, whether it is connections or training sessions, everything is on turbo mode,” Nepia said.
“I think with the squad we took, the leaders and personnel we had, I put a lot of the how and why we went so well on the people we chose.
“I think we had a great mix of leaders or doers because everything is on turbo, if you can build a squad and a team around a good bunch of leaders, it helps that aspect of that team.”
The side was coached by Nepia, Sosoli Talawadua and Isoa Talawadua.
Nepia said the side had a good balance of youth and experience, crediting the boosts of energy in teenagers Carrie and Teresa Rennie, Armani Martin and Diaz Gabriel.
“They have got all of the energy in the world to be able to go and do the things we need them to do under the guidance of the leaders,” he said.
He said the more seasoned players and returning Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) players were an immense help too. They included veteran Sosoli Talawadua, Manawatū Cyclones’ Taylah Barrett, former Taranaki Whio players Hayley Gabriel and Brooklyn Walker, Fiji’s Akosita Marr and support staff member Lavenia Naura-Grey.
In the North Island Heartland Series’ inaugural season in 2023, the team lost to King Country Trailblazers in the final despite finishing first on points.
The side bounced back in 2024, beating Thames Valley Vixens 32-27 in the final to become champions for the first time.
Nepia said for the first couple of years it was difficult to retain players because of FPC commitments, injuries and unavailability.
The team lost 18 players following the first season, retaining just seven.
In 2025’s final squad of 26, there were an estimated 15 debutants but Nepia was able to retain about nine players from 2024’s campaign.
Nepia said the first year was about implementing the intricate details and how to win games, whereas now it was more about the mentality.
“It’s all about connection now and me understanding people better, me being more aware of my emotional intelligence – do people need a hug, do they need to be left alone, do they need a kick up the bum? Little things like that,” he said.
“Having players go away then come back is big as well because it gives us that experience and they also create excitement during club season to make players want to come in and be a part of the environment.
“They just love playing rugby and even more so when it is for their own city.”
Nepia said the growth of rugby in Whanganui was great and credited the work of Whanganui Rugby Football Union (WRFU) chief executive Bridget Belsham and the union’s women and girls’ game developer, Sosoli Talawadua.
“I know for a fact that our union are doing everything for us to expand, I know Bridget and Sos are doing fantastic jobs trying to promote our game within our city,” he said.
Whanganui Rugby chief executive Bridget Belsham is proud of the efforts from the women’s team and said none of it would have been possible without the help of sponsors like Longrun Spouting, Air Chathams, New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT), Amohia Te Waiora and individual jersey sponsors.
“It was the first year that we have had individual jersey sponsors for the women’s team,” Belsham said.
“We really appreciate the sponsors that have come on board this year.”
The side were able to fly to the last game of the regular season against Ngāti Porou East Coast Hamoterangi in Ruatōria, thanks to the help of Belsham and Air Chathams.
Nepia was optimistic for the future, highlighting the Under-16 and U18 girls’ teams who performed well in their respective tournaments.
“We have a tonne of talent coming through – it’s just, where do you fit them all?”
He thought a strong focus on the club competition would help increase the region’s interest and participation in rugby.
“I think player retention will be a big one for us which will then carry over into the Heartland side of things,” Nepia said.
“I’d love to see each North Island team play a South Island team. That would be great to expand our competition – I think the growth demands for it but, structurally, I’m not too sure.”
Player, coach and WRFU women and girls game developer Sosoli Talawadua said the union was proud of the efforts of all the women’s and girls’ teams, praising the strong attendance.
“We had a lot of girls turning up, we had real good commitment from the girls this year,” she said.
“From the union’s point of view, we were just happy that [Nepia] was able to build that relationship so that they were wanting to come to trainings every week.”
The coaching staff from the age-grade girls teams did “a great job” at organising their respective teams, highlighting the U16 coach’s decision to pick a side that would be unaffected by the Kapa Haka regionals, as that was “smack bang in the middle” of the season, she said.
“For me personally, normally I am reaching out every week but I didn’t really have to this year – they looked after themselves and did a fantastic job.”
Next year’s representative season was already on Nepia’s mind, with a desire to build on the past few years’ success.
“Having fun is at the top of the priority for us. If we can create an environment where the younger ones coming through feel like they can be themselves, then we are on our way to good things.
“Half the time we are chasing them, they are absolute guns, these kids.
“Word spreads pretty quick amongst the ladies’ teams, especially with the club teams, this is something that people may want to be a part of so it makes them want to work that extra bit harder in club pre-season and in the little things.”
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.