Annual Under 15 Boys' Tournament

As part of Winter Tournament Week, the annual Under 15 Tournament comprises sixteen teams from secondary schools (on an invitational basis) who compete in a Cup and Plate section for the Rex Kerr Trophy.

Annual Under 16 Boys' Tournament

Every year in the third term school holidays, the Council holds New Zealand's premier tournament for Under 16 players, comprising teams from all member Provincial Unions, competing in two divisions for the Don Broughton Shield, the Saracens Cup and the Manaaki Tangata Trophy.

Annual Under 18 Boys' Competition

Every year in September, the Council holds a competition for Under 18 teams from member Provincial Unions, competing for the TrustBank Central Secondary Schools Shield first competed for in the 1990's.

Annual Under 19 Tournament

This competition comprises teams from Wellington, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu, and a Hurricanes Heartland Team (comprising players from the Council's member Heartland Provincial Unions), competing for the Central Region Shield on a home and away basis.

Annual Under 20 Heartland Development Series

Comprising teams from the regions Heartland Provincial Unions, the Heartland Development Series is held annually over two weeks, with teams competing for the Hurricanes Under 20 Cup.

Girls' Rugby Development Programmes

Every year, with the support of New Zealand Rugby, the Council provides Development Days, an Under 15 Tournament and an Under 18 Development Camp for young women within the Hurricanes Region.

Annual Hurricanes Sevens Tournament

The best secondary school Sevens players in the region (in Boys and Girls divisions) compete for the Hurricanes Secondary Schools Sevens Cup, hosted by Wairarapa-Bush.

2021 Secondary School Sevens Tournament Cancelled

On 19 October, Sport New Zealand (as the Government’s crown agency for sport and recreation) outlined the requirements for community sport in accordance with the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Alert Level Requirements) Order (No 9) 2021. At Alert Level 2, community sport is considered a “social gathering” and is therefore limited to groups of 100 people When playing contact sport, no physical distancing is needed as long as groups do not exceed 100.

Multiple groups of 100 can take part in indoor facilities and outdoor locations as long as they are contained to “defined spaces”. “Defined spaces” indoors must be divided by walls and not share airflow. “Defined spaces” outdoors are classified as being at least 2 metres apart from other defined spaces, or having walls or dividers to separate groups. In addition, public hygiene and contact-tracing requirements apply. Following the Government’s COVID-19 announcements on Friday, 22 October, we understand that there is no immediate plan to lower the current COVID-19 Alert Level (2) for our region.

With an expected 216 players (18 teams were registered) plus coaching, support staff and spectators, there was the possibility of around 400 people being present at the Tournament venue, which simply could not be managed in accordance with current Sport New Zealand requirements (as described above) in an uncontrolled outdoor space. This means the cancellation of the 2021 Hurricanes Youth Rugby Council Secondary School Sevens Tournament scheduled for Saturday, 30 October.

(Published : 25/10/21)