Red in Black and White Season Greetings! Welcome to our first edition of Red in Black and White, the official Counties Manukau quarterly newsletter. Can you believe that 2014 is almost over and we are fast approaching another rugby season. Time seems to go very fast in this sport and with the festive period fast approaching I hope you all get to enjoy some sort of break and get to spend some quality time with your family and friends. To all the players, coaches, volunteers, administrators, sponsors, supporters, schools, clubs, Junior Management Board and CMRFU Staff & Board, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union to thank you for your contribution to rugby and putting so much time and effort into facilitating our great game. Your passion, commitment and endeavors are greatly appreciated. To all our players who achieved high honours recently, we extend our congratulations. There were certainly plenty of those achievements to celebrate post ITM Cup which we will highlight further on in this newsletter. It was great that the Steelers retained their place in the Premiership and that the B’s won the Coronation Shield for the second time in three years. It was also pleasing to see our Women being highly competitive in the WPC, so thank you to all involved. We look forward to an exciting club rugby season which unearths some more talent to pull on the red, black and white jersey. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, be safe and enjoy the summer! Andrew Maddock CMRFU CEO Community Rugby News Speights Club Sevens - well done to Ardmore Marist Red who took out the Vic Hinton Cup for 2014. TransNet TE Connectivity Secondary School U15 Sevens Congratulations to Tuakau College girls and Wesley College boys who won the champion’s title in the competition held at Bruce Pulman Park in November. U16 Development Programme Over twenty U16 Secondary School rugby players have been involved in a development program. The specialist programme incorporated physical components delivered by the Counties Manukau High Performance Unit trainers Tony Burgess, Seb Graham, Academy Manager Nick Leger, Rugby Development Officer’s Dameon Chaney and Jeremy Wara and Chiefs Player Identification Manager Dave Dillon. The players received presentations on: - What it takes to become a “Steeler” - What Metal are you? - Nutrition and Rehabilitation - Pathways - Individual Performance Plan - Mental skills preparation / setting goals - Agents and scouts The program is run over a five week block with the aim of getting young Counties Manukau players into good habits moving forward through for representative programs and potentially into the Steelers. Representative Rugby News Men win Northern Region Sevens Championship Congratulations to our men’s team who won the recent Northern Region Sevens title held at Waikato a few weeks ago and well done to our women’s team who made the semi finals. The National Sevens championship is on 17 & 18 January 2015 in Rotorua. To follow this go to www.facebook.com/ nationalsevens or to buy tickets go to www.ticketmaster.co.nz Women’s Sevens coaches - Lawrence ECO LIGHT December 2014 Lawrence and Cynthia (Monkey) Ta’ala Men’s Sevens Coaches - Semo Sititi and Darryl Suasua Cavaliers and Academy The Counties Manukau Cavaliers and Academy programmes have started with the players training at our High Performance base in Drury. 2014 Steinlager Awards For the first time Counties Manukau had three of our rugby family nominated for awards in one year at the Steinlager Rugby Awards and came away with two. Congratulations to Rawinia Everitt who won the Black Ferns Player of the Year and DJ Forbes who won the All Blacks Sevens player of the year. Well done to Jessica Beard who was nominated for the NZ Rugby Referee of the Year. With such a bright future ahead of her, we are sure Jess will pick up this award in time. Rawinia Everitt Steelers News ITM Cup Crossover matches: The 2015 ITM Cup crossover matches have been announced and the Steelers will play the following: Northland v Counties Manukau North Harbour v Counties Manukau Counties Manukau v Hawkes Bay Counties Manukau v Bay of Plenty The draw will be confirmed in February of 2015. Season Memberships - the ideal Christmas present: 2015 Season Memberships are now on sale, Adult Grandstand $100, Adult South Auckland Motors Embankment $50. Visit www.steelers.co.nz to buy or for more information Adult Steelers Replica jerseys are now on sale for $105 available from CMRFU or by phoning 09 237 0033 until Thursday 18 December. Red in Black and White Tana NZU20s Assistant Coach: Congratulations to Steelers head coach Tana Umaga who has been named as the assistant coach of the NZ U20s. Three former All Blacks and current ITM Cup coaches will lead the 2015 New Zealand Under 20 IRB Junior World Championship campaign, with Canterbury’s Scott Robertson appointed Head Coach and former All Black team mate Leon MacDonald Assistant Coach to Tasman, and Umaga. New Zealand Rugby General Manager, Professional Rugby Neil Sorensen said “Tana has just been magic for Counties Manukau since his very first season when the Steelers earned the coveted Premiership promotion by winning the 2012 ITM Cup Championship.” Sevens All Blacks Sevens: Congratulations to Sam Vaka, Sherwin Stowers and DJ Forbes who have been selected for the HSBC Sevens World Series; Dubai Sevens and South Africa Sevens (13-14 December). Baby News: Congratulations to Prop Sean Bagshaw and his wife on the arrival of their baby boy and Sonny Bill Williams and his wife on the arrival of their little girl - both were born in late November. Samoan Sevens: Congratulations to Tim Nanai-Williams who will be representing the Samoan Seven’s team in an effort to make the World Cup. He will be coinciding this with his Chiefs duties. International Duty: Congratulations to Mike Stanley, Rey Lee-Lo and Ahsee Tuala who represented Samoa on the recent ‘End of Year tour’. Well done Tim Nanai-Williams and Frank Halai who also represented the Barbarians in the Northern Hemisphere tour. December 2014 Back of Steelers Jersey Draw Blacks he said “Going to the game!” When Augustine was called into the All Blacks it was the first time he had ever attended a live All Blacks match. Tana was also in Chicago to see him make his debut which made the Steelers coach extremely proud. If you would like to go into the draw to have your company logo on the bottom of the back of the entire Steelers team playing jersey for the 2015 ITM Cup and have a 1.75mx3m sign at ECOLight Stadium, it is only $1,800+gst. You will have a one in 60 chance of winning as the bottom, back of jersey draw is limited. Super Rugby The Steelers have a good representation in Super Rugby this season with Tim Nanai-Williams, Pauliasi Manu, Augustine Pulu, Sonny Bill Williams, Toni Pulu, Ma’ama Vaipulu and Jarrod Firth with the Chiefs. Their Counties Manukau team mates are scattered around the country with Frank Halai with the Blues, Rey Lee-Lo returning back to the Hurricanes, and Jordan Taufua and Jimmy Tupou with the Crusaders. So get in behind them and support our Counties boys on the Super Rugby stage! Commercial News Sponsors Corner It is expected that PIC Insurance Brokers will open their new branch in Pukekohe before Christmas right beside the town square. There will also be a lovely café which is expected to open early in the New Year. PIC Insurance Brokers have also just launched their facebook page so give them a follow at www.facebook. com/picinsurancebrokers and you could win tickets and giveaways. All Blacks Congratulations to Augustine Pulu on becoming All Black #1139. It is fantastic for Counties Manukau Rugby to have had three All Blacks over the last 12 months with Augustine, Sonny Bill Williams and Frank Halai. When Augustine was asked what was the best thing about being in the All ECO LIGHT If you have already gone into the draw for this last season and your sign is already at the ground it is only $1500 to secure a place in the draw for the upcoming season. Call Phil Kingsley Jones to register today! If anyone is interested in supporting the union through sponsorship please contact Phil Kingsley Jones on 021 80 1111 or email phil.kingsleyjones@ steelers.co.nz You know he will find something that suits your budget. For the latest Counties Manukau Rugby News follow us on facebook/ Counties Manukau Steelers or twitter @CountiesRugby or visit our website www.steelers.co.nz. Office hours CMRFU head office will be closed from Friday 19th December 2014 till Monday 12 January 2015.
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