News

Two Counties Manukau players have been included in a 70-strong list of the country’s brightest women’s talent for the 2023 New Zealand Under 20 women’s rugby development camps.

Margaret Manase (Pukekohe) and Nasareta Seumanutafu (Manurewa) have both been chosen as part of the group.

Manase made her Counties Energy Heat debut in 2022 while Seumanutafu played for the Heat Development side this year.

Introduced to identify and develop young players with the potential to wear the black jersey, two camps will bring together young talent from Northland through to Southland.

New Zealand Rugby’s Women’s High Performance Player Development Manager Joe Payton said the future is looking bright for the women’s game.

“This is another exciting step in building the pathway for players who have an aspiration to play for the Black Ferns or Black Ferns Sevens teams and we look forward to working with selected players.

“We have worked closely with our talent identification network to select athletes and we are confident that we have named the best talent in their respective positions for these camps,” said Payton.

The focus of the camps will be education and personal development, with ongoing development set to continue in provincial union academies and throughout Sky Super Rugby Aupiki and the Farah Palmer Cup, presented by Bunnings Warehouse.

The camps will take place later this month in Wellington and Christchurch with players split into two groups, no team will be selected at the conclusion, with emphasis on development.