More women and girls are playing rugby than ever before, and in Southland, that momentum is only growing. The 2025 Go Bus Southland Wide Premier Women’s Club Rugby season is set to kick off with eight teams, up from six last year—the most in Southland’s history.

This year’s competition features Albion, Pioneer, Blues, Star, Marist, Midlands, Wakatipu, and new entrants Lower Mataura Valley. The addition of Lower Mataura Valley reflects the expanding reach of women’s rugby in the region, a testament to club support and dedicated efforts from the rugby community to recruit players, coaches, and managers.

“It takes a lot of work to field a rugby team—not just from the players but from families, coaches, volunteers, and supporters who all make sacrifices. Women are finding their place in the rugby community, and it’s exciting to see Lower Mataura Valley now represented in the competition,” says Georgia Bewley, Rugby Southland’s Pathways Lead for Women and Girls.

Female rugby numbers in Southland are soaring. Between 2019 and 2024:

• Junior girls’ rugby grew by a whopping 69%
• Senior women’s rugby increased by 38%
• 35 female coaches were involved in community rugby in 2024

Bewley credits this surge to strong wahine leaders keen to break into the traditionally male-dominated sport. “Anyone who’s played rugby knows the thrill - the physicality, the skills you learn and develop, the competition. But then there’s also the social side, the teamwork, being there for one another, and it’s just awesome to see more Southland wahine getting involved and playing and coaching rugby for themselves.”

The rise of women’s rugby isn’t just happening at the grassroots level, and Southland players are leading the way on the international stage. The increased exposure given to the Black Ferns and Black Ferns Sevens, and of course the success of our own Black Ferns Amy Rule and Amy du Plessis, and Black Ferns Sevens player Alena Saili, now a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, just shows that there’s solid pathways available in women’s rugby now. “Whether you want to throw on your local colours, or see how far you can go competitively, it’s an exciting time for women’s rugby,” Bewley says. “With the Women’s Rugby World Cup taking place later this year in England, what better platform to highlight the women’s game?”

The Go Bus Southland Wide Premier Women’s Club Rugby season runs from March to June, and after its success in 2024, the Junior Girls Only Monday Night Rugby competition which will run again this year. It’s not too late to get involved! If you’re interested in playing or coaching women’s or girls’ rugby, email Georgia Bewley at Rugby Southland, femalelead@rugbysouthland.co.nz and she can put you in touch with a club.

Article added: Friday 07 March 2025