With news that a revised 2020 Farah Palmer Cup draw has been released by New Zealand Rugby, Harbour Rugby is extremely pleased to have the fixture list set for our women to represent their province of North Harbour.
Beginning August 22 for the Northern conference pool that North Harbour is included in, the QBE Harbour Hibiscus side opens their 2020 campaign at the Mahurangi RFC club grounds, in Warkworth against Waikato.
Playing home matches spread right across the North Harbour province, the women will feature in a ‘Northern pool’ of teams over a 7-week schedule, with their final regular-season game scheduled for October 3 against the Northland Kauri, at Semenoff Stadium, Whangarei.
6 teams will comprise a ‘Southern pool’ that begins their draw on Saturday, September 5. A total of 13 provinces will compete in the fifth year of the Farah Palmer Cup.
North Harbour chief executive Dave Gibson is delighted for the group. Gibson says “I know Dean and the squad have been working hard to prepare the Farah Palmer Cup, so it will be great to see them out there in the QBE Harbour Hibiscus jersey. It is also great to see so many teams in the competition this year. It is really important that we continue to strengthen the pathways for woman and girls at Provincial Union level”. That sentiment was supported by Dean Watkins, Harbour Rugby's women's pathway manager. “The coaching staff and myself are excited about the opportunity to play against our Northern region rivals. It provides a platform to showcase how our pathways program has developed in 12 months from the previous FPC season.
“Harbour has produced several Black Ferns over the past couple of seasons and I can attribute this to a less congested pathway and the ability for our program to provide opportunities to aspiring players. This renewed format with provide our new crop of talent an opportunity to play against the best talent in the country, as they look to springboard from here to higher honours in the future.
With Harbour women currently participating in the Auckland Rugby Premier 15s and 10s competition, many of the Albany Barbarians will want their performances to contribute to selection into head coach Duncan McGrory’s training squad. With the group due to assemble and play several preseason games before the 2020 season kicks off, fans can look ahead to more first-class women's rugby played by Harbour.
QBE Insurance are again the Harbour Hibiscus principal jersey partner for both the 2020 FPC, and Mitre 10 Cup sides. The North Harbour union is anticipating a strong community feel in this year’s competitions, with games starting at Mahurangi, with a final home fixture scheduled for September 26 at the Kumeu club grounds against perennial FPC title challengers, the Auckland Storm.
QBE HARBOUR HIBISCUS HOME GAMES
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QBE HARBOUR HIBISCUS AWAY GAMES
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Full 2020 Farah Palmer Cup draw available HERE
*North Harbour Membership & Ticketing Offerings will be released next week.
For further comment please contact:
CEO Harbour Rugby, David Gibson
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