The 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season was the second season of Super Rugby Aupiki (known as Sky Super Rugby Aupiki for sponsorship reasons), a professional women's rugby union club competition organised by New Zealand Rugby. The competition ran from 25 February 2023when Hurricanes Poua and Chiefs Manawa played the opening match in Levinto 25 March 2023.

The tournament was won by Matatū, who defeated Chiefs Manawa 33–31 in the final in Hamilton, earning them their first Super Rugby Aupiki title. That match also resulted in the Chiefs Manawa's first-ever loss in the two-year-old competition.

Competition format The competition featured four teams, who each played three regular season matches and two play-off matches. A total of ten matches were played over five weeks. The semi-finals were played on Sunday 19 March 2023 and the finalswhich also included a third place play-offon Saturday 25 March 2023.

Standings The standings at the end of the round-robin of the 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season were:

2023 Super Rugby Aupiki standings Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 Chiefs Manawa 3300149925723141013 2 Matatū 310295102–71516015 3 Blues Women 310295105–101515015 4 Hurricanes Poua 310268108–401018004 Legend P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TF = Tries for, TA = Tries against, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Competition points Source: Sky Super Rugby Aupiki – Team standings

Matches

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Finals

Chiefs Manawa finished top of the table after winning all their matches during the regular season. In their semi-final, they faced fourth-placed Hurricanes Poua. Second-placed Matatū, who recorded their first-ever Super Rugby Aupiki win this season, took on Blues Women in the other semi-final. Both semifinal matches were played at the North Harbour Stadium in Albany on 19 March 2023.

Chiefs Manawa continued their winning streak in the semi-final by defeating Hurricanes Poua 43–21, while Matatū reached the final after a narrow 26–23 win over Blues Women. The final between Chiefs Manawa and Matatū, as well as the third-place play-off between Blues Women and Hurricanes Poua, were played at FMG Stadium Waikato on 25 March 2023.

The 2023 final was the first Super Rugby Aupiki final in the young competition's history, after the competition was reformatted to a round robin tournament in 2022, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Matatū were crowned as the new Super Rugby Aupiki champions after defeating Chiefs Manawa 33–31 in the final. It was Matatū's first title win and Chiefs Manawa's first-ever loss in Super Rugby Aupiki.

Semifinals

Third place play-off

Final

Chiefs Manawa:LP1 Kate HenwoodHK2 Luka ConnorTP3 Tanya KalounivaleLL4 Kelsie ThwaitesRL5 Chelsea BremnerBF6 Charmaine SmithOF7 Tynealle FitzgeraldN88 Kennedy Simon (c)SH9 Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu (vc)FH10 Hazel TubicLW11 Georgia DaalsIC12 Azalleyah MaakaOC13 Carla HohepaRW14 Mererangi PaulFB15 Tenika WillisonReplacements:HK16 Grace Houpapa-BarrettPR17 Angel MuluPR18 Te Urupounamu McGarveyLK19 Dhys FaleafagaLF20 Victoria MakeaSH21 Violet Hapi-WiseBK22 Abigail RoacheCE23 Olive WatherstonCoach: Crystal KauaMatatū:LP1 Pip LoveHK2 Georgia PonsonbyTP3 Amy RuleLL4 Emma DermodyRL5 Cindy NellesBF6 Lucy JenkinsOF7 Kendra ReynoldsN88 Alana Bremner (c)SH9 Di HiiniFH10 Rosie KellyLW11 Martha MataeleIC12 Grace BrookerOC13 Amy du PlessisRW14 Chey Robins-RetiFB15 Renee HolmesReplacements:HK16 Nat DelamerePR17 Mo'omo'oga PaluPR18 Steph Te Ohaere-FoxLK19 Sera NaiqamaLF20 Marcelle ParkesSH21 Georgia CormickBK22 Atlanta LoloheaBK23 Charntay PokoCoach: Blair Baxter

Assistant Referees: Scott McKenzie (New Zealand) Cassie Watt (New Zealand) Television match official: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)

Statistics

Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Details 1 Renee Holmes Matatū 59 4 , 15 , 3 , 0 2 Luka Connor Chiefs Manawa 35 7 , 0 , 0 , 0 3 Tenika Willison Chiefs Manawa 34 2 , 12 , 0 , 0 4 Mererangi Paul Chiefs Manawa 30 6 , 0 , 0 , 0 5 Hazel Tubic Chiefs Manawa 29 0 , 10 , 3 , 0 6 Isabella Waterman Hurricanes Poua 26 1 , 6 , 3 , 0 7 Georgia Daals Chiefs Manawa 25 5 , 0 , 0 , 0 Jaymie Kolose Blues Women 25 5 , 0 , 0 , 0 Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly Hurricanes Poua 25 5 , 0 , 0 , 0 10 Krysten Cottrell Blues Women 23 1 , 6 , 2 , 0 Source: Sky Super Rugby Aupiki: Player Stats

Leading try scorers No. Player Team Tries 1 Luka Connor Chiefs Manawa 7 2 Mererangi Paul Chiefs Manawa 6 3 Georgia Daals Chiefs Manawa 5 Jaymie Kolose Blues Women 5 Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly Hurricanes Poua 5 6 Renee Holmes Matatū 4 Chey Robins-Reti Matatū 4 8 5 players 3 Source: Sky Super Rugby Aupiki: Player Stats

Discipline PlayerTeam Red Yellow Round (vs. Opponent) Alana Bremner Matatū 0 1 Round 1 (vs. Blues Women) Ayesha Leti-I'iga Hurricanes Poua 0 1 Round 3 (vs. Blues Women) Krystal Murray Hurricanes Poua 0 1 Round 1 (vs. Chiefs Manawa) Joanah Ngan-Woo Hurricanes Poua 0 1 Semi-final (vs. Chiefs Manawa) Katelyn Vaha'akolo Blues Women 0 1 Third place play-off (vs. Hurricanes Poua)

Players

Squads The following squads have been named for the 2023 season. Players listed in italics denote non-original squad members:

+ Blues Women squadForwards Eloise Blackwell • Dajian Brown • Joanna Fanene Lolo • Esther Faiaoga-Tilo • Sophie Fisher • Grace Gago • Tafito Lafaele • Letelemalanuola Lavea • Shannon Leota • Charmaine McMenamin • Liana Mikaele-Tu'u • Toka Natua • Alakoka Po'oi • Maia Roos • Cheyenne Tuli-Fale • Ma'ama Vaipulu • Chryss VilikoBacks Ariana Bayler • Sylvia Brunt • Krysten Cottrell • Kiritapu Demant • Ruahei Demant • Hayley Hutana • Jaymie Kolose • Patricia Maliepo • Melanie Puckett • Tara Turner • Katelyn Vaha'akolo • Holly WilliamsCoach Willie Walker

+ Chiefs Manawa squadForwards Chelsea Bremner • Luka Connor • Dhys Faleafaga • Tynealle Fitzgerald • Kate Henwood • Chyna Hohepa • Grace Houpapa-Barrett • Tanya Kalounivale • Victoria Makea • Te Urupounamu McGarvey • Angel Mulu • Kennedy Simon • Charmaine Smith • Awhina Tangen-Wainohu • Santo Taumata • Harono Te Iringa • Kelsie WillsBacks Georgia Daals • Violet Hapi-Wise • Carla Hohepa • Azalleyah Maaka • Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu • Apii Nicholls-Pualau • Mererangi Paul • Amanda Rasch • Abigail Roache • Hazel Tubic • Langi Veainu • Olive Watherston • Tenika WillisonCoach Crystal Kaua

+ Hurricanes Poua squadForwards Saphire Abraham • Maddie Fe'aunati • Rhiarna Ferris • Baye Jacob • Krystal Murray • Joanah Ngan-Woo • Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate • Kaipo Olsen-Baker • Jackie Patea-Fereti • Leilani Perese • Cilia-Marie Po'e-Tofaeono • Rachel Rakatau • Layla Sae • Aroha Savage • Kahurangi Sturmey • Sosoli Talawadua • Cristo TofaBacks Kahlia Awa • Shakira Baker • Carys Dallinger • Teilah Ferguson • Iritana Hohaia • Ayesha Leti-I'iga • Milly Mackey • Crystal Mayes • Bernadette Robertson • Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly • Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali • Monica Tagoai • Isabella WatermanCoach Victoria Grant

+ Matatū squadForwards Alana Bremner • Natalie Delamere • Emma Dermody • Eilis Doyle • Lucy Jenkins • Atlanta Lolohea • Phillipa Love • Leah Miles • Sera Naiqama • Cindy Nelles • Mo'omo'oga Palu • Marcelle Parkes • Georgia Ponsonby • Kendra Reynolds • Amy Rule • Stephanie Te Ohaere-FoxBacks Grace Brooker • Georgia Cormick • Cheyenne Cunningham • Te Rauoriwa Gapper • Di Hiini • Renee Holmes • Rosie Kelly • Martha Mataele • Amy du Plessis • Charntay Poko • Chey Robins-Reti • Grace SteinmetzCoach Blair Baxter

References

External links Official website