Farah Palmer is a global women’s rugby icon, having played 35 Test matches for the Black Ferns and represented Otago, Waikato and Manawatu at provincial level. In 2014, Palmer was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame and two years later the National Provincial Championship was named after her. Palmer was initially reluctant to have a trophy bearing her name. “It was in 2016 they convinced me to let that happen. I agreed on the basis that it was all about women and encouraging them to play the game,” Palmer recalls...More

“It was good to get a fresh start.  I got a feeling I wasn’t wanted by the Lions so going to Auckland where nobody knew me was a good way to regain my confidence and drive,” Salesi Rayasi reflects on his shift from Wellington to Auckland. The former Upper Hutt Rams wing left the capital in 2017 and has since earned a place in the New Zealand Sevens team and is presently the second equal leading try scorer in the National Provincial Championship with nine forays over the whitewash...More

Above: Monica Tagoai (top), Joanah Ngan-Woo (bottom left) and Ayesha Leti'L'iga in action recently against Otago, whom they meet in this coming weekend's WNPC Championship semi-final.  Four uncapped Black Ferns from the Wellington Pride, Oriental-Rongotai players Ayesha Leti-L’iga and Joanah Ngan-Woo and Marist St Pat’s players Monica Tagoai and Marcelle Parkes are in the Black Ferns squad for their upcoming tour of the USA and France. The four players join Petone’s Jackie Patea-Fereti in the 29-strong squad that will play an historic triple header Test against the USA in Chicago and two Tests against France next month...More

Graham Williams played 174 matches for Wellington and is Wellington's most capped player. He sadly passed away earlier this year. In his honour the Graham Williams Cup Memorial Cup has been presented and the inagural name engraved on the silverware is James Blackwell's. The Petone lock has been named Wellington Player of the Year at the WRFU's awards on Monday night. Last year's Player of the Year, Jackson Garden-Bachop (Northern United) has been recognised as the Wellington Rugby Supporter’s Club Player of the Year in 2018, after another impressive season which has seen his game mature even more...More

Above: Sevens scenes at Maoribank Park in the first of the American Ambassador's tournaments on Saturday. Off the Ball is in association with Rob Law Max, Lovelocks Sports Bar,  Motor Doctors and Sarah Kilner Real Estate  Looking at some of the news in briefs, milestones, happenings, statistics and observations from the weekend of rugby just gone and what’s coming up this week. A final and a semi-final for local rugby supporters to look forward to this coming Saturday. On Saturday afternoon the Wellington Pride host the Otago Spirit in their Farah Palmer Cup Women’s NPC Championship final...More

Above: Luke Taulupe scores a clutch try for the Wellington Development team this afternoon in their win over Auckland B. Account of the game below.  The Wellington Pride will host a final next Saturday while the Men’s Development squad ended 2018 with a third consecutive victory on a successful afternoon for local sides at Jerry Collins Stadium, Porirua this afternoon. Meanwhile, Northern United won the first leg of the American Ambassador's Sevens at Maoribank Park. Norths beat Marist St Pat's in the Cup final...More

It’s the final big afternoon of the year at Jerry Collins Stadium at Porirua Park tomorrow, with the Wellington Pride and Wellington Development teams playing back-to-back at 12pm and 2pm.  First up, the Pride host the North Harbour Hibiscus side in their Farah Palmer Cup Championship 1 v 4 semi-final. This is followed by the Wellington Development hosting Auckland B in the final hit-out of the year for both teams. The Wellington Development side enters its concluding match of the year looking for a third consecutive win, after being tipped over by Tasman B (39-46) in the opening contest of the campaign...More

Above: The American Ambassador's Trophy is on the line over the next few weeks. The Wellingtn club rugby sevens series gets underway at Maoribank Park, Upper Hutt.  It’s a transition day this Saturday between the two rugby formats, with the final double-header afternoon of 15s rugby at Porirua Park, the first of the three official WRFU sevens tournaments at Maoribank Park and the Hurricanes secondary schools sevens tournament in Masterton. The first leg of the WRFU American Ambassador’s Wellington club rugby sevens tournament takes place all day at Maoribank Park in Upper Hutt...More

Proctor and Proctor. Lions captain Matt watches on as Billy takes on the defence against North Harbour recently. This 35-23 win could prove crucual with both teams sitting on 29 points in fourth on the NPC table Still my beating heart. It now looks like the plan to create an annual super season for test rugby has real legs. According to the Aussie Telegraph newspaper, and quoting World Rugby head Brent Gosper, itwould see the 12 top teams play each other once during the year, with a playoffs at the end...More

When the Wellington Lions meet Taranaki in New Plymouth in the last round they will be playing for a NPC semi-finals spot.  Last year the Lions reclaimed the John F Henning Trophy with a 42-26 win at Westpac Stadium. One of the most thrilling matches played at Westpac Stadium was Wellington’s win over Taranaki in 2004 in front of a full house. The following recount of this match previously appeared in a Lions match-day programme in 2010. The Lions have enjoyed several large wins over Taranaki...More