Plenty of rugby coming up in early 2017

After a refreshing break, fans can look forward to a cascade of community and big-time rugby over the first few months of 2017.

The regional and provincial sevens season picks up pace soon, ahead of pre-season and the early rounds of Super Rugby, pre-season and the start of club rugby and then the much anticipated British and Irish Lions tour hitting New Zealand.

The rugby resumes this coming Saturday with the one-day Bay of Plenty Provincial Sevens tournament at Blake Park, Mt Maunganui. Details and draw to come here later this week.

The National provincial Sevens tournament is being played down the road in Rotorua the following weekend, 14 and 15 January. Counties Manukau (men’s) and Manawatu (women’s) are the defending champions.

The annual Ulalei Sevens tournament at the end of January will be the first taste of local rugby in Wellington for 2017. Day and venue for this to be confirmed. There’s also the New Zealand Marist Federation Sevens tournament in Island Bay in Wellington, which is being played in parallel to the HSBC World Sevens tournament at Westpac Stadium on Saturday and Sunday 28 and 29 January.

Wellington’s Marist St Pat’s are the men’s defending champions of both the Ulalei and New Zealand Marist tournaments. Their fifteens team also won last year’s New Zealand Marist Spillane Cup tournament, which is being hosted by Palmerston North Marist this year in early March.

Moving into February and the Upper Hutt Rams and Wainuiomata will be focusing on the National Club Sevens Championship, being hosted by Hamilton club Melville. The tournament is an invitational one, with many of New Zealand’s leading club sides in action. Melville won this at Wainuiomata last year, pipping the Upper Hutt Rams in the final. Melville went on to sweep all before them in Waikato club rugby.

The annual Hawke’s Bay Club Sevens tournament is being played at Waipukurau on Saturday 18 February, featuring all of Hawke’s Bay’s leading clubs and several more from Manawatu, Wairarapa Bush, Horowhenua-Kapiti and Wellington. Petone have won the Colts section of this tournament in recent years.

The 2017 secondary school rugby season kicks off in the first weekend of March at the Sport and Rugby Institute in Palmerston North with the Sir Gordon Tietjens tournament. St Mary's College, Wellington (girls) and Tauranga Boys' College (boys) are the defending champions. St Mary’s used this is as a Launchpad towards winning the national Condor 7s in December. For Manawatu’s secondary schools, their 2017 Condor 7s qualifiers are held later in March.

Moving into March and the focus turns to the start of the 2017 club rugby season. The 2017 Wellington club rugby season kicks off some time over the back end of March. The WRFU is expected to release the Swindale Shield draw by Mid-January.

Pre-season fifteens rugby gets underway in early March. As well as MSP and Hutt Old Boys Marist being involved in the Spillane tournament, Old Boys University will join other university clubs from around the North Island in a pre-season tournament in Taupo.

By this stage, Super Rugby will be well underway. In confirmed pre-season matches, the Hurricanes meet the Blues in Auckland on 4 February and Crusaders in Waverley on 17 February and compete in the inaugural Brisbane Tens on the weekend of 10/11 February.

The defending Super Rugby champions kick-off their 2017 Super Rugby campaign proper on February 25 in Japan against the Sunwolves, before returning home to Wellington to host the Rebels on 4 March.

It’s then just a short skip to the second biggest rugby event of the year (after the Jubilee Cup final), the British and Irish Lions tour, which will dominate the rugby and sporting landscape throughout its duration from 3 June to 8 July.

There are two Lions matches in Wellington, against the Hurricanes on Wednesday 27 June and the second Test on Saturday 1 July.

'Booming Tries' series. What have been some of the memorable tries scored in Wellington club rugby over the past several years? We're compiling a series of upcoming pre-season articles recapping some of the memorable Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup tries scored in recent seasons. 

For your input in this or to assist in our summer of rugby coverage with news, stories, photos and videos please email editor@clubrugby.co.nz

2017 summer of rugby confirmed matches/tournaments and dates:

• 8 January: Bay of Plenty Provincial 7s at Mt Maunganui
• 14/15 January: National Provincial 7s at Rotorua 
• Date TBC: 2017 Ulalei Sevens tournament in Wellington 
• 28/29 January: HSBC Sevens World Series at Westpac Stadium
• 28/29 January: New Zealand Marist Federation 7s at Wakefield Park, Wellington 
• 4/5 February: National Club Sevens at Melville RFC in Hamilton 
• 4 February: Hurricanes pre-season match v the Blues at Auckland 
• 17 February: Hurricanes pre-season match v the Crusaders at Waverley
• 18 February: Hawke’s Bay Sevens at Waipukarau  
• 3/4 March: Sir Gordon Tietjens Invitational 7s at Palmerston North
• 4 March: Hurricanes v Rebels, at Wellington 
• 11/12 March: NZ Marist Spillane Cup at Palmerston North
• 18 March: Hurricanes v Highlanders at Wellington
• 18 March or 25 March (TBC): First weekend of 2017 Wellington club rugby

Please email editor@clubrugby.co.nz if we've missed anything above and it can be added in.