Kia ora tātou, Tomorrow marks 100 days to go until the greatest celebration of women's rugby the world has ever seen. It is the final countdown until we're all systems go and years of planning and preparation comes to fruition. The last piece to the puzzle is for us to fill our stadiums and ensure Rugby World Cup 2021 has an unforgettable atmosphere for everyone involved. Tomorrow's release of individual tickets for general on-sale represents our final push to the finish line and we're calling for everyone to jump on the waka and help us to achieve sell-out crowds. Not only will that be mission accomplished from a tournament perspective, it will send a massive statement worldwide in terms of how women's rugby is valued and celebrated. In this month's Between The Posts we sound the call marking the final countdown to kick-off on October 8, share our goosebump-enducing Champions video, celebrate Matariki by lighting up the waka, take a trip across the Pacific to Papua New Guinea, get a glimpse inside Northland Events Centre's new changing rooms and join the Trophy Tour on Waiheke Island. Our challenge now to you is, get your team together and book your tickets to secure your place at the greatest celebration of women’s rugby on the planet. Thanks for your continued support and happy reading!   Ngā mihi nui   TICKETS ON SALE NOW!   Individual tickets to Rugby World Cup 2021 are on general sale!  Starting at just $5 for children and $10 for adults, tickets offer fans the chance to witness the very best of women’s rugby, combined with an off-field festival of food, entertainment and fun for the whole whanau. Tickets will be in hot demand with Aotearoa’s borders reopening to international travellers from 31 July and with all games played on double and triple-header match days during weekends from 8 October – 12 November.

'Forget the glass slippers, this wāhine toa wears boots'

Young female poets from Papakura High School are the creative minds behind the powerful spoken word poem that features in our Rugby World Cup 2021 Champions video.

The four young performers, Umisuma (Rosaline) Petelo, Pauline Kaulave, Ilhaam Sheik Freed and Mercy Lauesi, send a powerful message to galvanise Aotearoa to get behind the tournament and supercharge the women’s game.

The video has been shared by Rugby World Cup, MediaWorks, Three, Spark Sport, Black Ferns and All Blacks, many more of our wonderful stakeholders, as well as by our incredible group of Champions urging Aotearoa to stand up for women's rugby.

Read more and watch the video here

Black Ferns legends light up the waka for Matariki

Aucklanders travelling on the Southern Motorway this Matariki long weekend were treated to a spectacular lighting display of women’s rugby player silhouettes on Manukau’s iconic Vodafone Events Centre.

On the eve of Matariki on Thursday 23 June, Black Ferns legends Regina Sheck and Davida Suasua (nee White) flicked the switch lighting up the prominent Pasifika landmark for the final countdown to Rugby World Cup 2021. The projection ran for two nights including during New Zealand's first national public holiday for Matariki on Friday 24 June.

The player silhouettes represented the stars of Matariki and the sisterhood within women's rugby - including the trailblazing wāhine toa throughout history, as well as the new generation of star players set to take the field this Rugby World Cup 2021.

Stay tuned for a video showing the behind the scenes of the activation and shining the light on the bond between Sheck and Suasua, both members of the first officially sanctioned Black Ferns tour to Australia in 1994.

Trophy Tour lands in Papua New Guinea

The Rugby World Cup 2021 Trophy Tour made its way to Papua New Guinea last week on the first of five stops to the Pacific Islands as part of our Championing Oceania programme.

Championing Oceania ambassador Chantal Baker-Smith and NZ Rugby staff member Toni McGregor-Tout took the trophy on a whistle-stop tour to Port Moresby and Lae Island where locals had the opportunity to have their photo taken with the silverware, test their rugby skills and lean more about RWC 2021.

The pair attended girls' and women's rugby tournaments, leadership workshops and events with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT) and Oceania Rugby.

A team of fifteen under-18 girls will be selected to represent Papua New Guinea on a trip to Auckland for a development camp in October, before joining fellow teams from Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands at a Rugby World Cup 2021 match.

The next Pacific Islands Trophy Tour stop is to the Cook Islands from 13 - 17 August.

Click here to read local media coverage on the visit to PNG.

Northland Events Centre unveils refurbished gender-neutral changing rooms

Women’s rugby players in Northland are already benefiting from a multi-million-dollar project to redevelop and upgrade player facilities at a number of stadiums and community grounds in time for Rugby World Cup 2021.

The Accessible Facilities Project has seen $7.4 million funding from Sport NZ dedicated to 11 Northland and Auckland venues that will host the 12 Rugby World Cup 2021 teams. The venues include Whangārei's host stadium Northland Events Centre, as well as training grounds Hora Hora Rugby Union Football Club, and Northland Rugby’s brand new facility at Pohe Island set to officially open next month.

The refurbished gender-neutral changing room facilities at Northland Events Centre were unveiled on Thursday 16th June ahead of the Pacific Four Series double-header where the Black Ferns beat USA to close out the series.

Women's players from Hora Hora Rugby Union Football Club and president Karl Milne attended the opening hosted by Northland Events Centre Trust general manager Carina de Graaf. The group chatted with Northern Advocate reporter Imran Ali and were featured in an article online and in print.

Waiheke Island the default nerve-centre of RWC 2021

The Trophy Tour recently took the ferry across for two days of visits on Waiheke Island - the home of RWC 2021 Tournament Director, Michelle Hooper and a surprising number of other prominent figures in the women's rugby community.

The Trophy Tour was accompanied by Black Ferns Patricia Maliepo, Tafito Lafaele and Maia Roos on its travels to Waiheke Primary School and Waiheke High School, before heading to the Waiheke Rugby Club annual Club Day the following day.

LockerRoom editor Suzanne McFadden joined the tour and spoke to our very own Michelle Hooper, discovering that the tight-knit community is indeed what we like to joke is a default HQ for Rugby World Cup 2021. Not only does Michelle call the island home, but our Team Services Manager Delyth Morgan-Coghlan and World Rugby's Commercial Operations Manager Kenzo Pannell. And it's no secret, the Black Ferns newest supporting coach Sir Graham Henry also lives on Waiheke.

Click here to read the full article and here to see the Kea Kids News video on the Trophy Tour.

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Article added: Monday 04 July 2022