Wellington Club Finals

First time in a long time that a final won't feature Norths or Ories

Tomorrow is finals day for Wellington women’s club rugby. This year, eight teams competed and now only four remain in the hunt for silverware. Both finals are being played at 11.30am at the NZCIS campus, with the Tia Paasi Memorial Cup final being live streamed on Wellington Rugby social media.

Before we look at these teams, let’s quickly find out about the women that have their names on our club trophies.

Tia Paasi

A babyfaced Aimee Sutorius aka Axe, perches next to Tia Paasi with Amy Farr far right as they are announced as part of the touring Black Ferns squad.

Tia Paasi was one of my rugby mums. She was there when I first started playing club rugby for Johnsonville back in 2002. Paasi had ended up there after running out for Poneke in the early 90s before switching to Petone in 1995. The Johnsonville Eagles were her home though, where she played on and off from 1998 until 2009. Following the collective resignation from that club, she moved with her team to play for Wainuiomata in 2010 before playing her last season in 2011 for MSP.

Paasi was a formidable prop, able to pack down at both loose and tight head. A classic of her era, she would rarely pass but it didn’t matter because she would always make massive metres. Paasi was the first player I had seen in my life that tackled her tacklers. Wrapping a strong arm back around them to control the contact as she carried.

Paasi was also cheeky as hell. Her nickname was Malo and she freely handed out new names to her teammates. She didn’t drink but that just left her in a better position to tease us all.

She was tenacious, running out for the Pride over 50 times, Paasi was Black Fern #102. Like many players of her time, Paasi didn’t get enough opportunities to play for her country with test matches few and far between. She made her debut in 2001 in Rotorua against England. She was cheered on by her proud family, who had travelled from all over the country to support her. Her last match for New Zealand was played in 2007, where Paasi at age 38, was the second oldest on the field alongside Anna Richards.

To me, Malo is the perfect representation of Wellington Rugby. A proud Tongan and a humble player, she always let her performance on the paddock do the talking. She was tough and she was kind. She was a great rugby mum.

We lost her too soon to cancer. I am so pleased that her name is on the top prize in our game.

Izzy Ford

Izzy is all smiles with her Rugby World Cup 2002 medal

Originally a netballer, it took Izzy Ford a while to find her way to rugby. Once she did though, it didn’t take her long to find her way to the top. Ford was part of what I would call the golden era of Norths rugby, winning the top prize six times with the team. She was mentored in her early year’s by the legendary Sue Garden-Bachop.

Garden-Bachop had played at the 91 World Cup and was the first woman in New Zealand to coach a premier men’s side. That was the Norths team that Ford’s husband played in at the time. Garden-Bachop may have coached these men but kept a keen eye on the women as a selector the the Black Ferns. Ford credits her for seeing her international potential and giving her the nudge she needed to chase higher honours.

Ford is Black Fern #95, debuting in 1999 against Canada. She made the 2002 Rugby World Cup team but unfortunately broke her leg. This and childbirth, sidelined Ford for a time but she returned for New Zealand to play her last match in 2005 against England.

Since she stepped off the paddock, Ford has continued to be a high performer. She was the first woman appointed to the Wellington Rugby Board in 2017 (yes that isn’t a typo, that’s really how long it took Wellington to allow women a seat at the table which explains… EVERYTHING). Ford has also been deputy mayor of Porirua City.

Tia Paasi Memorial Cup Final

It has been a long road to the top for both MSP and Petone. The most recent iteration of these teams starting in 2014 for MSP and 2017 for Petone.

In 2014, MSP partnered with neighbouring Poneke to restart their club rugby participation. In 2016, they were able to stand alone. Their intention was to help transition a number of young players from school girls to club, with a large part of their team coming from St Mary’s. That St Mary’s team won the Condor 7s trophy that year and it was by fielding a sevens team that a number of these girls got their first taste of MSP women’s rugby.

So it’s been a long term project to build these high schoolers into women’s contenders. Last year, they were helped along by OBU folding. This meant they picked up some choice talent like Chiefs Manawa’s Georgia Daals and New Zealand cricketer, Thamsyn Newton. This took them all the way to the final against Norths where they came up short. This year, they will be hopeful to go one more.

When I think of MSP, I think of Monica Tagoai, Black Fern #202. Tagoai is one of those classic rugby types who is the sweetest player you’ll ever meet off the pitch and absolutely brutal on it. She is a great ball runner but I would argue an even better defender. It’s her heart though that will lead this team on Saturday.

Petone is another club that has built its way into title contention. This team was formed primarily by a breakaway group from the Wainuiomata club back in 2017. They started with a bang, lifting the division two Izzy Ford Cup that year. Since then, they have been consistent top four performers.

At their core, they have a group of experienced campaigners with Jackie Patea-Fereti, Black Fern #170, chief among them. Such is the nature of the women’s game, that you would name other players who haven’t even met their 30s yet as veterans alongside her. Players like Samoan international Angel Schwenke and her sister Leah as well as Hope Sa’u. This experience is replicated in their coaching line up. Mo Mackey, a former Pride coach and Fred Fereti, a 2016 Tia Paasi Memorial Cup champion.

These two teams drew the first round, sharing the Rebecca Liua’ana Trophy. They traded wins this season. Petone getting up in their first match, 48-17 before MSP took the second 24-19. It’s no wonder then that this game is too close to call. How bloody exciting for Wellington rugby!

Izzy Ford Cup

Full disclosure, I am the forwards coach of Wainuiomata/HOBM so it’s hard for me to open both eyes completely. So I’ll start with the facts and go from there.

Paremata-Plimmerton actually won the first sanctioned women’s competition back in 1990. Since they rejoined the competition they have been a solid division two team. Making the Izzy Ford Cup final in 2019, winning in 2021, making the semi in 2022 and then back in the final this year.

They finished top of the table with two wins and a draw in the second round. They come into this final with two wins over their opponents, Wainuiomata/HOBM, beating them 48-17 and then last week, 36-10.

Paremata-Plimmerton would be foolish to underestimate their opposition though. I can say as one of the coaches that our intention this season was round one - survive, round two - thrive. We are so proud of how far our team has come.

From a starting point that would have seen both Wainuiomata and HOBM unable to field a team and the Wellington competition drop to 7 teams as result, we have today had to let some players know we won’t be selecting them for the final. While some may see that as simply having two pools to choose from, we have in fact introduced over 10 players to their first taste of women’s rugby this year. So regardless of outcome, we have succeeded in growing the game.

What I really want to see from our side tomorrow is for us (and actually for all the teams) to play to their fullest potential. If you do that, the result will take care of itself.

With you,

Alice