Annual Under 15 Boys' Tournament

As part of Winter Tournament Week, the annual Under 15 Tournament comprises sixteen teams from secondary schools (on an invitational basis) who compete in a Cup and Plate section for the Rex Kerr Trophy.

Annual Under 16 Boys' Tournament

Every year in the third term school holidays, the Council holds New Zealand's premier tournament for Under 16 players, comprising teams from all member Provincial Unions, competing in two divisions for the Don Broughton Shield, the Saracens Cup and the Manaaki Tangata Trophy.

Annual Under 18 Boys' Competition

Every year in September, the Council holds a competition for Under 18 teams from member Provincial Unions, competing for the TrustBank Central Secondary Schools Shield first competed for in the 1990's.

Annual Under 19 Tournament

This competition comprises teams from Wellington, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu, and a Hurricanes Heartland Team (comprising players from the Council's member Heartland Provincial Unions), competing for the Central Region Shield on a home and away basis.

Annual Under 20 Heartland Development Series

Comprising teams from the regions Heartland Provincial Unions, the Heartland Development Series is held annually over two weeks, with teams competing for the Hurricanes Under 20 Cup.

Girls' Rugby Development Programmes

Every year, with the support of New Zealand Rugby, the Council provides Development Days, an Under 15 Tournament and an Under 18 Development Camp for young women within the Hurricanes Region.

Annual Hurricanes Sevens Tournament

The best secondary school Sevens players in the region (in Boys and Girls divisions) compete for the Hurricanes Secondary Schools Sevens Cup, hosted by Wairarapa-Bush.

2023 Council Programme Expands To Over 100 Fixtures

July sees the start of the Hurricanes Youth Rugby Council’s programme for 2023, with a series of programmes and events scheduled to continue through to the annual Hurricanes Secondary Schools Sevens Tournament in October. This year’s programme sees a number of changes and developments, including a residential Development Camp for Under 18 girls in Napier in September, with participating teams representing all eight Provincial Unions in the region.

The season gets underway with the Under 20 Series for Heartland Provincial Union members on 29 July, with the Hurricanes Heartland Under 20 team selected from the Series to compete in the competition for the Central Region Shield and to play against their Chiefs counterparts for the Glen Osborne Cup. This year the finale of the Series will be hosted by the Bulls Rugby Football Club, given the unavailability of the Sport & Rugby Institute owing to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Central Region Shield competition will again feature the top Under 19 players from Hawkes Bay, Manawatu and Wellington, with the competition also including a team comprising players selected from the Heartland Under 20 Series.

The annual Under 16 Tournament for boys is being hosted by the Hawkes Bay Rugby Football Union at Lindisfarne College this year. With ten participating teams from all eight Hurricanes Provincial Unions, this is the only event of its kind for teenage boys in New Zealand, with Division A teams competing for the coveted Don Broughton Shield and Division B teams for the equally sought after Saracens Cup.

Winter Tournament Week sees three events for younger secondary school players, with Under 15 Tournaments for boys and girls being hosted by College Sport Wellington (in Wellington) and Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Football Union (in Levin). College Sport Wellington will also be hosting the Under 14 Festival for boys in the Capital at this time.

August will again see the champion secondary school teams in the Hurricanes region compete for the Hurricanes Cup (boys) and Rex Kerr Cup (girls), with the winners going on to compete in the national secondary school finals in September.

At the end of the college rugby season, the Council will once again be arranging for inter-provincial matches between Under 18 boys teams, although this year (given the disruptions to transport infrastructure in the region caused by Cyclone Gabrielle), it has been decided to not put the Trustbank Central Secondary Shield up for competition. A series of one-off fixtures are also planned for Under 18 girls in the Wellington and neighbouring Provincial Unions.

In total, the Council will be arranging or supporting over 100 secondary school and Provincial Union representative fixtures for teenage players over the coming months, with the support of match officials appointed by the Council’s Referee Selection Panel. Further updates will be available on this website.

You can see the full programme, here.

(Published: 09/07/21)