Women’s and girls rugby continues to go from strength to strength at Pakuranga and we are looking forward to having more girls on the field than ever before this season.

With the continued growth, a women and girls committee has been established to ensure a focus on how to future-proof our programmes, sustaining our growth, and ensure our women and girls have visible pathways in both contact and non-contact rugby.

One area that’s really taken off this year is Rip Rugby. Off the back of rising interest, we’re working hard to launch several new teams including Under 9s, Under 11s, Under 13s and Under 17s.

These teams will join our two existing girls tackle teams – the Under 15 Keas and Under 17 Jadez. In just one year, the club has gone from just one women’s team (our much-loved Belles) to five active teams. And we’re not stopping there - we’re pushing to grow that number to eight or nine in 2025.

To help players get started, we’re running a Skills & Drills session focused on Rip Rugby fundamentals tomorrow night from 5:30–7:00pm at the club. The session is open to 7–8 year old boys and 7–16 year old girls. We’ve already got core groups registered for our new Rip teams — if you’re keen to join, now’s the time! Get in touch with Caitlin at juniors@purc.co.nz.

Beyond the field, we’re also proud to be growing leadership and opportunities for our women in rugby. Eden Mika has been instrumental in promoting the game in schools, supported by John Christie, who’s also a key figure in the women’s rugby space. The club also backed Eden in her recent successful scholarship application with the Fencible Foundation - a testament to our belief in supporting the growth of our leaders, as well as our players.

Article added: Tuesday 22 April 2025