METRO JUNIOR & TEENAGE COMPETITION DATES 2019

(UNDER 6 - UNDER 18)

6 April - Grading Day (U6 – U18)

13 April - School Holidays (First Weekend) - Grading Day (U6 – U18)

20 April - School Holidays (Middle Weekend) - No Games

27 April - School Holidays (Last Weekend) - No Games

4 May – Game 1 – (U6 – U18)

11 May – Game 2 – (U6 – U18)

18 May - Game 3 – (U6 – U18)

25 May - Game 4 – (U6 – U18)

1 June - Game 5 – (U6 – U18)

8 June - Game 6 – (U6 – U18)

15 June - Game 7 – (U6 – U18)

22 June - Game 8 – (U6 – U18)

29 June - Game 9 – (U6 – U18)

6 July - School Holidays (First Weekend) - Game 10 – (U6 – U18) 

13 July - School Holidays (Middle Week) - No Games

20 July - School Holidays (Last Week) – Game 11 (U6 – U18)

27 July - Game 12 – (U6 – U18) 

3 August - Game 13 – (U6 – U10), Semi Finals (U11 – U18), non-semi-finalists in U11 – U13 play last game.

10 August – Game 14 – (U6 – U10), Finals (U11 – U18), only actual finals played. 

Notes:

• U14 – U18 teams will have an optional grading days on 6^th April
• Teams that were unable to play in the first grading round would need to provide accurate grading information

METRO RUGBY FORMS & INFORMATION​​​​​​​

Club Reminder

Please could all clubs remind their coaches and parents that they must go through their Club Captain before raising issues with the Metro Grade Adviosr.

METRO COMMITTEE

METRO TEENAGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

METRO JUNIOR ADVISORY COMMITTEE

RAPID RUGBY

In 2019 the Under 8 Metro grades the season will start off with Rapid Rugby.  The playing condiditons of Rapid Rugby are here and the field layouts here. 

This will take place of the original grading games and will run for six weeks before the teams will break away into fully fledged games.

Rapid Rugby has the following benefits:

By making the field smaller and taking away set piece it will improve the game in the following ways

• More touches on the ball as the fastest kid cannot just run sideways and score all the tries. They have to pass the ball as there isn’t enough space to just run around everyone.
• More opportunities for kids to make tackles in a smaller area so the impact at collision is less as the big kid doesn’t have the chance to get up to full speed or a 10-15m run up against a small kid.
• Smaller space means kids can tackle together and work in 2’s more.
• Allows for more continuity as the space is smaller, so kids actually have to run straight draw defenders in, increases off loads as well.

Coach Educators and Canterbury Metro Grade Advisors will be in attendance for the first rounds to ensure that everyone understands the rules and give a briefing.

Field Closure FAQ's

Where is this field?

Click here for a list of abbreviations and fields. You can also click on the field in the draw via the app or website and you should see the location on google maps. If you find a link that is incorrect or not working, please email [email protected] with the details so we can correct it. ​​​​​​​

Why are NC and Ellesmere still playing?

These grounds are owned by either Selwyn District Council or Waimakariri Council, or the clubs themselves. The clubs tend to manage the use of these grounds themselves so are able to play more rugby.

Why do Div 1, UC Champs and Women’s get priority?

There are only six games in Premier Men's and four games in Premier Women’s to accommodate and the UC Championship games are played on school-owned fields.

What if the weather gets worse?

We have some contingency plans in place which will mean that some grades may be temporarily moved to alternative days. Eg. Sunday mornings or afternoons.

For any other questions, please contact a member of the community team and we will respond as soon as possible.

Thanks everyone and stay dry,

Christchurch City Council Ground Locations

Please Click here for the Winter Sports Fields viewed in Google Maps:

Christchurch City Council Ground Closures

Hawkins Premier (Division One) - Draws/Results/Standings 

HAWKINS METRO MVP MEDAL

As at 21st July                                                Total

CANTERBURY WOMEN'S MVP MEDAL

As at 23^rd June                                                   Total

Images From ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Ken Baker Photography

HAWKINS LEADING POINTS SCORER

HAWKINS LEADING TRY SCORER

Field Closure Update - Monday 18 June

You may have seen the recent news about ground closures throughout Christchurch. Christchurch City Council have informed us that a significant number of fields in the city have been limited to either 1 or 2 full-sized games per day, and in about a third of fields, one game per month. This is due to unprecedented rainfall and clearly raises concerns around investment in Council assets longer term. The immediate focus is minimising the impact on our competitions for the remainder of the season - for all grades.

We have been working over the last few days to develop a plan to ensure rugby goes ahead this weekend, and also to provide you with some clarity about the state of the fields over the coming weeks in anticipation of further rainfall in the next month or so. Below is an update on the current situation as it stands this afternoon, but the key message is that RUGBY IS ON this weekend. 

The numbers

• Currently we have over 189 scheduled games each Saturday as part of the Metro Senior, Teenage and Junior competitions.
• We usually have 106 fields allocated to rugby by the Christchurch City Council, however 34 of these fields have been deemed unplayable for the foreseeable future by the Council.
• The remainder of our fields are restricted to either one or two games per day.

Open Grade

• Div 1, Women’s & UC Championship will continue to play as per current schedule.
• Div 2, Colts S1 and Colts S2 will continue to play as per current schedule subject to further ground closures.
• Senior, Senior Reserve & Classics will play as scheduled this week, with the following week subject to further ground closures.

Teenage Grades (U13-U18)

• Teenage grades (U14-U18) have been extended into the first week of the school holidays and will be scheduled to play on 7/07/2018.
• The U14, U15, U16 and U18 seasons will be extended with finals to be scheduled for 1 September. We will consult directly with those schools that are attending the U15 tournament weeks to identify any clashes.
• U16 girls’ grade has been moved to Friday nights at South Hagley under lights for the next three weeks, kick off 6pm.

Junior Grades (U6-U12)

• Change of playing conditions (U6-U10): 20mins each way (max), 2mins half time, no on field presentations. At the final whistle, both teams must move off the field to shake hands. This will enable more games of rugby to be played at this level on a Saturday.
• Half field games will go ahead as normal but will be played at a variety of different venues and will not follow a home and away format.
• Parents and supporters are NOT ALLOWED to stand in the middle of the field between the two games as this causes further damage to the full-sized fields.
• U6-U10 games will go ahead as planned however are subject to further ground closures; we are looking at back up plans and welcome any further suggestions.

General Information

• Games will go ahead as normal but will be played at a variety of different venues and will NOT follow a home and away format.
• Draws will be dependent on further weather cancellations so will be published later than usual. Please check the CRFU website and app for the latest information. 
• Council ask that NO vehicles are to be driven on to the fields; this includes those used to set up the pads and flags
• This clearly impacts training as well – please work with your nearby schools and clubs to arrange training times where possible. Contact the CRFU if you require assistance with this and we will work with other codes where possible.
• For those of you that are lucky enough to have fields still available, you will find that these will be used by other teams. We thank you in advance for helping set these up and helping rugby all over the city.
• Football has reallocated a field to Rugby at Hospital Corner so some games will be scheduled there in the coming weeks.
• There are some privately owned fields and we are working closely with these groups to maximise game time throughout the coming weeks and thank them for accommodating rugby.