Otago Rugby Union eNewsletter

Editorial

Good Afternoon Otago supporters. With club rugby well and truly underway we hope you've managed to get out on the sidelines to support your teams, if not, check out this weekend's draw here and head on down to cheer them on!

This week saw the announcement of the Highlanders U20s Squad named to compete in the U20s Tournament over the next week up in Taupo. The tournament kicks off this Sunday 22 May and will showcase plenty of Otago talent! The team will be coached by our very own Player Development Manger Ryan Bambry. Check out the full article below.

Speaking of the U20s Tournament, the World Rugby U20 Championship won't be taking place in 2022, it's been on a 3 year hiatus due to Covid-19 and will not return until 2023. It's not all bad news though, our NZ U20 boys will have the opportunity to play against Australia, Fiji and Argentina in July this year and leading the charge will be Otago's NPC Head Coach Tom Donnelly after being named as the 2022 New Zealand U20s Head Coach!!! Best of luck Tom.

This week both the NPC and FPC draws were announced which means you can lock in the dates and make sure your calendars are clear to come support our guys and girls. You can check out our home games and full draw below.

2022 Bunnings NPC Otago Season Memberships are on sale now click here to lock your membership in!

Scroll down for more rugby news and announcements like, Match Day Programmes, development opportunities, weekly happenings, rugby courses and more…

ODT Interesting Reads

We are super excited to be gearing up for the 2022 rugby season and have created a little tool box to help get you started. Check out our links below for all things Community Rugby!

TOOLS FOR YOUR 2022 RUGBY SEASON

Want to see the latest Community Rugby Updates
Or looking for those Forms and Documents
Check out all you need to know for Junior Rugby
What about brushing up on Laws & Education
And to find your nearest club and contacts head to our Club Directory

We are stoked to announce our Otago NPC home fixtures for 2022!

We have even have a double header first up, with our Otago Spirit ladies taking on Tasman at 11:35am on Saturday 13 August, following by our Otago Men who will also be taking on the Tasman Mako at 2:05pm.

The Bunnings Warehouse competition was previously divided into a Premiership and Championship pools. However now under the new format, all teams will get a chance at winning the trophy. This is an exciting concept for all NPC teams this year and we look forward to playing teams that we haven't faced in a number of years.

The Bunnings Warehouse NPC sees teams seeded into two conferences based on the previous season’s standings following the round-robin matches and quarterfinals. Teams placed 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 will play in the Odds conference and teams placed 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 will play in the Evens conference in 2022. The round-robin includes four crossover matches per team, where teams from the Odds conference will play teams from the Evens conference.

Odds teams this season are Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Otago, Southland, and Counties Manukau. Evens teams this season include Tasman, Canterbury, Auckland, Taranaki, Manawatū, North Harbour and Northland.

To view all NPC fixtures click here: https://bit.ly/3yFU8nt

We are stoked to announce our Otago Spirit FPC home fixtures for 2022!

We even have a double header with our Otago Spirit ladies taking on Tasman at 11:35am on Saturday 13 August, following by our Otago Men who will also be taking on the Tasman Mako at 2:05pm.

To view all FPC & NPC fixtures click here: https://bit.ly/3yFU8nt

The Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse, sees a seven-week round robin, with the top four Premiership teams and top four Championship teams playing in semi-finals on 2 - 4 September. The following weekend will see the respective finalists play off for the Premiership and Championship titles.

Premiership teams this season are Waikato, Canterbury, Auckland, Wellington, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty and Manawatū. The Championship teams are Otago, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, North Harbour, Northland, and Tasman.

CLICK HERE

LIAM COLTMAN

Otago: 2010-2021

It has been a real honour to have had Liam (Colty) play for Otago for over a decade. He is such a humble, genuine, loyal man with the biggest smile around.

Colty is a team player who doesn’t say a heck of a lot but when he does, he's bang on the money. Nothing is ever a problem and he is always there to offer a helping hand.

We wish him and his family all the very best for their next chapter overseas in France.

We thank you Liam for your loyalty and service to Otago Rugby. Your presence and infectious grin on and off the field will be missed.

Otago Rugby Football Union is proud to announce the 2022 Otago High Performance Training Squad! Congratulations to all of the players named in the image attached.

Head Coach Tom Donnelly said, “We are really excited to be able to pull this young group of local men together. They will now be putting in the time and training to prepare for an upcoming game against North Otago, which will give these players a good first taste of Otago rugby at this high-performance level. We are proud of the fact that we have been able to select this squad from a decent cross section of our local clubs. It will be interesting to see who makes the most of this opportunity and stands out in this environment.”

From this training squad, Otago will name a side to have a hit out against North Otago on Wednesday night 15th of June. More details to come!

Kane is a valued member of our association and has recently taken over our socials meaning he runs our social events and does a lot of our Social Media when not refereeing. Kane was happy enough to answer some questions we had for him.

Off the field, Kane also is a Student while working at the University.

How were you involved in the game before refereeing? I've played rugby since I was 5 in Auckland then moved to Dunedin for university and joined Harbour where I played Colts for 2 years and then helped coach Colts for the last 2 seasons.

What made you come to refereeing? In my last year of high school a mate twisted my arm to join up north and carried on when I got to university around my playing/coaching commitments. This is my first season where I will be able to referee full time and make it a priority.

What have you enjoyed the most about refereeing? Being able to give back to the game without being sore every Saturday night/Sunday.

What's your greatest refereeing moment to date? Sub/Sideline Managing for FPC and NPC last season

What do you want to get out of refereeing for the future? Trying to crack into the premier development group and then see where I go from there.

What would be your advice to someone who's thinking of taking up the whistle? Get amongst it. We need referees at all levels so get in touch with Brandon through the union or the Otago Rugby Referees Association on social media and just give it a crack.

Thanks Kane for helping our game!

OUR Game, OUR Referees.

"The Highlanders have named a 27-man squad to play in the Bunnings Warehouse U20 Tournament in Taupo which runs from Sunday 22 to Saturday 28.

This is the second year of the tournament which was delayed from its normal March window due to the COVID 19 outbreak. The tournament brings together the top young rugby talent from around the country.

The Highlanders squad will be captained by halfback Noah Hotham who has already had game time for Tasman in last years Bunnings Cup competition, he will be joined by vice-captain Fabian Holland who made his Highlanders debut this year.

Altogether there are six players returning from last year but essentially it is a young squad with an impressive 13 players still being age eligible next year.

The team will be well served in the backs with Hotham and the well performed Cam Millar steering the ship. They will be ably supported by Ajay Faleafaga and Finn Hurley both of whom were selected for NZ Secondary Schools.

There is experience in the forwards with both Holland (Otago) and flanker Hayden Michaels (Southland) having played Bunnings Cup last season and props Rohan Wingham, Oscar Cowley-Andrea and lock/loosie Oliver Haig featured at last years’ tournament.

The draw has all teams playing a demanding three games in a week the Highlanders will take on the NZ Barbarians, Blues and Chiefs.

The team will be led by Head Coach Ryan Bambry and assisted by Will Henry, Dean Moeahu and Jason Forrest.

2022 Highlanders U20 Squad

Backs: Jeremiah Asi, Cameron Burgess, Bradley Campbell, Ajay Faleafaga, Oliver Foote, Noah Hotham, Finn Hurley, Bradley McPate, Cameron Millar, Jake Te Hiwi, Filipo Whitehouse-Opetaia Tovio

Forwards: Mahonri Auva’a, Oscar Cowley-Andrea, Taylor Dale, Oliver Haig, Fabian Holland, Heath MacEwan, Liam McIntosh, Hayden Michaels, Isileli Otunuku, Will Stodart, Michael Strydom, Jack Taylor, Konrad Toleafoa, Semisi Tupou-Taeiloa, Edward Whyte, Rohan Wingham "

The Otago Rugby High Performance programmes are an exciting opportunity for local and domestic talented young rugby athletes to discover a pathway in the game while upskilling themselves on all aspects off and on the field. The programme supports all accepted athletes whether they are studying or in the work force and also offers multiple avenues of support while these athletes take in the demands of possible professional rugby.

The benefits we have at Otago Rugby is the support of Otago University and Otago Polytech with wide range of educational opportunities within a stone's throw of the academy which is based at Forsyth Barr Stadium. The facilities and services that are available are a High-Performance gym facility, access to Bunnings NPC & Farah Palmer Cup coaches & staff, medical personnel, Sportscode video review facilities and also the pathway opportunity with the Highlanders.

While at the academy all athletes will be guided on their personal development through the six pillars of NZ Rugby; technical, tactical, physical, nutrition, mental skills, personal life skills, and will be assisted by multiple qualified staff within Otago Rugby.

In 2023, Otago High Performance department wishes to guarantee a place for a male and female player in the Men's Academy & Women's HP Groups respectively for country based players. Please note these players must be Year 13 to apply for a 2023 place.

All enquiries to Otago High Performance Development Manager:

Ryan Bambry - ryan.bambry@orfu.co.nz

Application form link: https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/199074

Otago Rugby Premier Competition Applicable Law Changes for 2022 (WRLV/EDSLVs)

As previously advised last year, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is enhancing the safety and appeal of the sport in 2022, with an expansive range of Experimental Domestic Safety Law Variations (EDSLVs) being rolled out in school and club rugby next season.

The changes, which were approved by the NZR Board in late August, were developed following a series of trials and workshops in 2021, and are part of NZR’s ongoing commitment to improving participant’s experiences, safety, and the appeal of the game.

Click here and scroll down to see the Otago Rugby Premier Competition Applicable Law Changes for 2022 (WRLV/EDSLVs) that will be used in Metro, Southern and Central Premier Competitions from 1 January 2022.

New Zealand Rugby's 2022 community rugby volunteer recruitment campaign "Reffing Rewards" focusses primarily on referee recruitment but also with a secondary focus on coaches and volunteers.

This campaign aligns with the “Big Little Moments” theme that carries through all NZRs Community Rugby campaigns, and has a goal of getting new referees, coaches, and managers to register for the 2022 season, and encouraging people to ‘put their hand up’ to support their club or school. This ‘Rewards’ campaign celebrates the contribution of referee’s/coaches/volunteers by showing how rewarding it is both for the individual, and for the community.

To find out more click here: https://bit.ly/3wbAkY6