News

Since the end of the Mitre 10 Cup and Farah Palmer Cup, our Steelers and Heat players have gone on to achieve higher honours, either on home soil or off shore. The Counties Manukau Rugby Union would like to congratulate these players for all they have achieved and for their selection into National, Super Rugby and Club sides overseas.

Farah Palmer Cup champions, the Counties Manukau Heat, had an incredible nine players selected in the Black Ferns squad who claimed a series sweep over the Australian Wallaroos in Auckland at the end of last month. The Black Ferns thumped Australia 67-3 at Eden Park and claimed the series victory with a 29-3 win in Albany. The players in the squad are:

-      Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali

-      Portia Woodman

-      Renee Wickliffe

-      Hazel Tubic

-      Sharnita Woodman

-      Aroha Savage

-      Aotearoa Matau

-      Rawinia Everitt

-      Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate

The Black Ferns have an End of Year Tour to the Northern Hemisphere starting against England on Saturday 19 November at The Stoop Twickenham, London. They then take on Canada at Donnybrook Stadium in Dublin on Wednesday 23 November followed by Ireland on Sunday 27 November at The Bowl, UCD, Dublin. We wish these ladies all the best for their Northern Tour.

The New Zealand Super Rugby squads were named today, with 11 Steelers players being named in the Chiefs, Blues and Crusaders.

Chiefs:

Nepo Laulala

Hika Elliot

Glen Fisiiahi

Toni Pulu

Blues:

Pauliasi Manu

Jimmy Tupou

Augustine Pulu

Piers Francis

Sonny Bill Williams

Crusaders:

Jordan Taufua

Sione Fifita

Pre-season gets underway in early December, so to these players, enjoy your short break and all the best for the 2017 Super Rugby season.

Breakthrough prop Kalolo Tuiloma has a wonderful opportunity to head over to France and play Top 14 Rugby. Tuiloma has signed a pro contract for seven months to join FC Grenoble as a medical joker, with the potential to re-sign next season. He will head to France later this month, with his partner and young daughter to join him shortly after.

Jordan Taufua is currently in the UK with the Barbarians squad. He is preparing to take on the Springboks this Saturday at Wembley Stadium. The Barbarians then take on Czech Republic in Prague on Tuesday 8 November and Fiji on Friday 11 November in Northern Ireland.

Nathan de Thierry, Joe Ikenasio as well as Josh Dowsing are off to play professional club rugby in Hong Kong. It’s come about through a relationship the Chiefs have with the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union. They depart this weekend and will play until the end of the season in March next year.

Gafatasi Su’a, Sootala Fa’aso’o, Richard Judd and Matt Vaai have been selected to play for the Borneo Eagles in the COBRA 10s tournament in Malaysia on the 12^th and 13^th of November. 16 top teams from around the world compete at the COBRA 10s tournament.  

Richard Spranger – Photo Credit