Otago Rugby Union eNewsletter

Editorial

Good afternoon Otago supporters & welcome to our weekly newsletter!

It's a week for shouting out excellence in rugby!

We are extremely proud to announce the selection of Nathan Hastie, Fabian Holland & Sean Withy into the NZ Under 20s National Squad for 2021! Congratulations lads, we know you will represent our province with pride. Our NPC Head Coach Tom Donnelly is an Assistant Coach of the side.

Representing for the girls are Eilis Doyle and Kilisitina Moataáne who have been selected to attend the Black Ferns training camp in Tauranga this week. Give them hell girls!!!

Congratulations to all Central Region players selected to play in the Central Lakes clash. To view full team lists check out the pics below.

Grassroots TV are filming a Central Otago fixture – Upper Clutha vs Arrowtown 2:30pm at Upper Clutha RFC in Wanaka. This episode is likely to feature in next weeks show - Thursday, 20 May on Sky Sport 1 at 7:30pm.

It was a great day of junior rugby last weekend at the 60th annual Taieri 7s tournament at Peter Johnstone Park. 75 teams came together to throw the ball around, the weather came to the party and the kids had fun in the sun. Another tremendous effort put in by the folks at The Taieri Rugby Football Club, check out some pics of the day below!

In 2021 the ORFU in co-operation with the Otago Rugby Referees Association - Inc have some new incentives on offer to work together with our rugby community to service our game. Lack of Referees is not a "Referee problem" it is a Rugby problem. So we need... RUGBY HELPING RUGBY. We encourage you to think of someone who has a passion for the game. See the new referee incentive we have on offer in 2021 below!

Our Website has had a makeover and we couldn't be happier about it! Go check it out for yourself, for all things Otago Rugby click here.

Interesting Reads from Otago Daily Times:

This week we have a fantastic young member of our association who loves all things rugby. Craig McLennan has been officiating from a very young age, while playing throughout his time at Kavanagh College. As mentioned earlier, Craig is huge rugby fan and has met some of his favourite rugby personalities through refereeing. Craig is always one to put his hand up to do midweek fixtures and help out wherever and he was a part of great young group of referees who serviced this years Taieri 7’s last Sunday. We are grateful for Craig and his energy and love he has for the game, if you are keen to get out and support him this weekend he will be refereeing an U15 secondary school match at Opoho kicking off at 11.15am. Our Game, Our Referees.

Central Match of the Round - Rams vs Bulls

The Upper Clutha Rams are at home and it's sponsor day to boot. All Upper Clutha teams are at home including the unbeaten colts side. This means it’ll be a bumper, vocal crowd to welcome the Arrowtown Bulls. This should be a ripper of a game as the Bulls have had the wood on the Rams the last couple of years. The Rams coaching staff aren’t giving too much away, apart from the usual clichés, one game at a time and a full eighty-minute effort required. They are awaiting the return of the injured Jaiden MacDonald from a dislocated shoulder and welcomed Matt Ward back from injury last week for his first competition game. Henry Schikker at fullback and Sean Murray at centre have been in good form with Blair Kennedy and Benjamin Carter standing out amongst a hard-working forward pack.

Bulls coach, Daniel Eyles was also giving little away. Saying the team is starting to find their feet but still looking for that consistent performance. Exciting number eight, Nemo Gent is injured but they welcome back hooker, Ben Carr from an elbow injury. Veteran Aidan Winter shows no sign of slowing down at the tender age of thirty-eight. This should be fiery encounter. With rain forecast, it maybe that the team with the stronger forward pack will prevail.

Metro Match of the Round - Otago University vs Taieri

It’s a Bookworm vs Eel affair this weekend at the University of Otago Oval as we kick into Round One of the Gallaway Trophy fixtures for the 2021 season. Both clubs have had five weeks to flex their muscles and test their systems and now it all comes down to this excitement packed nine round spectacle which will most certainly treat the Dunedin public to some absolute classics. These two sides meet tomorrow and will contest the Paul Sapsford Memorial Trophy, Paul played for both clubs between the 1970s and 1980s and then went on to represent Otago and the All Blacks. With some meaningful silverware on the line expect this clash to go down to the wire. Both sides have some key matchups blessed across the paddock, the front row battle of Lea, Jackson and Poilicarpio for University vs Hill, Robertson and O’Sullivan of Taieri will treat the appetite of all those scrum lovers out there. The loose forward battle of Selby-Ricket, Henderson and Ferguson against the youthful trio of Magalogo, Withy and Russell will be one that will also excite many in the stands. Expect this fixture to be won up front, both sets of forwards for either side will look to lay a solid platform to unleash their silky finishers out wide, this has all the makings of a 80 minute buzzer beater. Enjoy your Saturday afternoon code.

Women's Match of the Round - Waitaki Wahine vs Green Island

This Saturday’s clash will see Green Island travel up the road to the mighty North Otago region. These two sides have shown a massive amount of heart in the comp so far. Playing right until the 80th minute. Both sides are coming off the back of a loss, Green Island going down to Pirates and Waitaki going down to Alhambra-Union.

Green Island will be hopeful of getting a win on the road. They have been good in the 2021 season they just have not quite been able to get things over the line. Although they went down to Pirates last week spirits are still high in the team. Young half back Crystal Wrigley has been awesome for the side this season helping to string good phases of attack together, she has been outstanding on attack and defence for the side this season. Tash Iti will be one to watch as she dominates with ball in hand and will be looking to make meters for the Green Island team. Lara Smith has been constant, taking huge contact week in and week out. Waitaki are a strong side this season that have welcomed some fresh faces into their side this year. Their midfield combination of Daimel Rongokea and Anjelica Matapo are very impressive. They are solid on both attack and defence. Green Island should look to shut these two down where they can. Number 8 Charlize Tumu-Makra is a dominant force with ball in hand and will look to put on a notable performance on Saturday.

Round 7 Snapshot

Toko vs Crescent

The Eddie Scott Memorial always brings a massive spectacle and this weekend will be no different with both sides positions on the table a definite talking point. Crescent sit in sixth and Toko seventh respectively which will please neither management team. Both teams played well in patches last week but neither could grab maximum points. Toko couldn’t overtake a strong Heriot side and Crescent took a draw at Owaka.

Clutha vs Roxburgh

It’s Club Day at Clutha with the Big River Country ladies playing the curtain raiser. Clutha had the bye last weekend and slipped out of the top four, just by the one point. Roxburgh were beaten by Clinton after leading 16-0 at halftime. Their discipline and decision making were poor. Clutha will be heavy favourites in this match despite having injury problems of their own.

West Taieri vs Heriot

West Taieri lost for the first time since their introduction to the competition last weekend against Clutha Valley, but still remain in first spot. Heriot are also first equal on points, but behind the Pigs on points difference. Both sides are yet to have the bye and will want to add another win to cement their top four position. With Topp Cup selection just around the corner, individuals will be wanting to put their hand up for consideration also.

Clutha Valley vs Owaka

Clutha Valley reigned supreme at Outram last week, dethroning the Pigs and taking the Speight's Jug off their hands. Valley still sit in third place on the table despite not losing a game yet due to Heriot and WT not having the bye yet. Owaka produced a solid second half display to salvage a draw against Crescent at Owaka, the Swamp Hens will have taken more out of that result than their opposition. The Bryan Price trophy and the Speight's Jug are on the line in this match with the home side being obvious favourites.

Person Centred Coaching

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” (Theodore Roosevelt)

The purpose of coaching is to support a player’s journey towards their full potential. Essentially, you are trying to guide a player from point A to point B. Hopefully a collaborative effort by coach and player has determined point A and point B.

Then the fun begins.

It is very rare that this journey follows a straight path of steady progress. It often zigs and zags, one step forward two steps back but eventually over time, through persistence we see improvements in performance and adaptability.

All good in theory, but one of the challenges I often hear from coaches is that they have such a spread of abilities throughout their squad.

The first step to overcoming this obstacle is a shift in mind set. I am going to coach the person as opposed to, I am coaching the team.

If you can get a 1-2% improvement for each player, the incremental gains become significant.

The starting point might look very different for each player, but the coaching process is still the same. Start at point A and progress towards point B.

As a coach you need to meet the player where they need to be met. If you stretch them too far, they will shut down and no learning will occur. If you do not challenge them, they will get bored and of course no learning occurs. You need to find that sweet spot physically and mentally.

The starting point is building an understanding of where your players are at. This will change and evolve as time goes on.

Building a basic profile on each player will help you dial in your coaching to the needs of the individual.

Your profile might include how competent they are in catch pass, tackle technique, contact and position specific skills. You could also include game understanding, fitness and what coaching style works for them. Anything that you feel is going to add value to your ability to connect.

What could this look like in a practical sense?

You have a ten-minute block scheduled for tackle technique. Instead of having one station set up (the one size fits all approach), you could use the same drill but have three stations set up with a slight adjustment to cater for all your players.

Drill set up.

Rectangle grid
Attacker starts at top
Defender on bottom line
Attacker tries to beat defender

Station A could be a narrow channel where players are only allowed to jog. Great for players that tackle tech is a work on.

Station B channel is wider, and players can run harder. A nice progression for players looking comfortable in Station A.

Station C wider channel again and this time it might be 2 v 2. Here we can start to coach game understanding defensive patterns. A good stretch for players that are looking good in Station B.

Same basic drill tweaked to meet your players where they need to be met.

Let me know if there are any specific questions you’d like answered on the coaching front at aaron.callaghan@orfu.co.nz

Keep up the great work!!!

Cheers, Azza

The Otago Rugby Union is acting as an ambassador for Veo. We are using the camera's for developing our representative players and match officials as well as allowing our clubs and schools to borrow the camera's. If a club or a school likes the camera, they can then contact Veo direct and make a purchase of the hardware and a monthly licence to use their software. As a partnership, the Otago Rugby Union receives a small fee, and the club or school receives a discount on the recommended retail price.

For more information about Veo and their camera, click here.

Or, if you would like to book a call from the Veo experts, click here.

HOW DOES MY CLUB OR SCHOOL BOOK A CAMERA?

Email Paul Thompson: paul.thompson@orfu.co.nz

Match Day Programme - Metro, Central & Southern Region

Secondary Schools First XV Match Day Programme