Ewes excited about first final

The women’s rugby side had a hard-fought semi-final victory over the University of Canterbury, being down to 13 players at one stage, but hanging on for a 30-25 win.

Captain Alana Bremner said it was an exciting week preparing for the final.

“We have an awesome group of girls and management, and with a mix of experienced and exciting new talent, we have continued to grow stronger throughout the season.

“Both university teams went head-to-head in the semi-finals last weekend, and it was a great display of women’s rugby and a nail-biting finish to determine which team was heading into the final. The quality of the women’s competition is growing each year and we have had plenty of really competitive games to get us ready for the final.”

She said Christchurch had been the team to beat for the last few years.

“They have gone unbeaten this year and are a quality team.

“We believe we have the team to do it but will have to play smart and try to get into the game early, as they aren't a team you want to come back from behind against. We showed a lot of heart last weekend, so hopefully more of the same this weekend.”

She said having senior players involved in the Black Ferns camps, which took them away from game time, was challenging, but it had given younger players the chance to step up and gain invaluable experience.

“It has been a true team effort to get us to where we are now.”

The final kicks off at 2.45pm Saturday at Nga Puna Wai Field 1.