WOMEN'S GRADE TROPHIES
The Coleman Shield is awarded to the winner of the Women’s Premier competition.
The Coleman Shield has been the symbol of primacy in women’s rugby since 1998, when it was donated by the Coleman family. For most of its life it has found its way to either Marist or College Rifles, but three other clubs have won it (including teams from Counties Manukau and Waikato).
Women’s rugby started in a small way in Auckland in 1986, when a competition was arranged for any clubs that wished to participate. Matches were played on Sundays, players have said the crowd consisted of boyfriends or husbands, children and seagulls, and every few weeks the Auckland sides had to make the trek to Hamilton, as the teams from that city were not asked to travel all the time. When the dust cleared Ponsonby won the title for the first of what proved to be eight seasons; for the first seven the Fillies, as they became known, didn’t lose a match and in the eighth only dropped one, to Marist.
Women’s rugby had always been stronger in Auckland than anywhere else, but a permanent trophy was something missing until 1998, when the Colemans donated the shield that bears their name. By then Auckland had become something of a powerhouse in the New Zealand game, which was the gold standard on the world stage.
Although it is the prize for the Auckland Union, teams from various other Unions have contested and, at times, won the Coleman Shield. Currently (2023), the Shield is decided over one full round and playoffs, with the number of competing teams varying from year to year. There’s something different about seeing international players in a club final if you’ve only watched men’s rugby in the last 20 years, but there are normally plenty involved in the Coleman Shield final and while they are expected to be influential, they won’t necessarily be the game-breakers.
Chris Coleman spoke about the reasons for donating the shield in the 2020 coverage – basically, it came down to wanting to put something into a neglected area of the game at the time – and everything he spoke about wanting to promote has come to fruition in the two decades (and counting) since the shield was first awarded.
This cup is awarded to the winner of the Women’s Premier Round Robin (similar to the Alan McEvoy that is awarded in the Premier Men’s competition).
The Emma Jensen Cup was donated by Andrew ‘Casino’ Peck and first played for in 2024. It was donated in recognition of Black Fern Emma Jensen (#107) who played 49 games and was a 3-time Rugby World Cup champion. She also played 66 games for the Auckland FPC teams, 32 games for Hawkes Bay FPC and over 150 games for the College Rifles Premier Women’s team.
Casino noticed that there was a gap in the women’s competition after his team (College Rifles) went undefeated in round robin section of the 2023 season. They faced a strong Ponsonby side who bet them in the Coleman Shield final and took away the prize. He felt as though the achievement of winning the round-robin portion should be recognised for the significant achievement it is. The Premier Men’s competition already has an equivalent of this award – the Alan McEvoy Memorial Shield. It was only fitting that this space also be filled while recognising a female player who greatly contributed to the sport in Auckland.
The Richards-Martin Shield is awarded to the winner of the Women’s 10s competition.
Despite the fame of the two players whose names are commemorated on this trophy, it is perhaps a fitting monument to two of the trailblazers in New Zealand, and indeed world, women’s rugby. Because by their efforts the game’s spread became faster and wider, opening the way for more women to consider it as a serious sporting option.
The greatest woman player the rugby world has ever seen, Anna Richards is more responsible for the development of the game to the stage it has currently reached in New Zealand than any other person. She was an ever-present in New Zealand teams from the second one, picked in 1990, until she called it a day in 2010 having played a record 58 matches (out of a possible 67) and 49 of the possible 54 tests. She was an extraordinarily dedicated athlete, one who never cut corners.
A halfback or first-five, Richards controlled the game in many ways but always preferred to attack with ball in hand. As a result, the New Zealand teams of her era played at a pace and skill level their opponents could not match; it was little wonder the Black Ferns were unbeaten for more than eight years (2001-09, 24 tests). Auckland teams were even more dominant; since the NPC began in 1999 Auckland has won all but two.
Richards tended to be one of those players who make an ideal first lieutenant rather than being a regular captain; Farah Palmer had that job for most of her New Zealand career with Richards very much the senior pro. It was a sharing of responsibility that worked perfectly and suited the temperaments and styles of both women to a tee. Anna Richards went to five World Cups, despite a seven-year hiatus between the first in 1991 and the next; she was part of four winning teams at this tournament (1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010).
Honours for Richards poured in towards the end of her career; NZRU award for Women’s Player of the Year – in 1994, the first year of the award, was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014 and was awarded the Steinlager Salver, the NZRU award for outstanding lifetime achievement, in 2021.
Rochelle Martin never achieved the fame Richards did, but a lot of that had to do with very limited media coverage, and also the fact she was a loose forward rather than the team’s playmaker in a backline that routinely ripped sides apart. She was, without question, one of the best in the world in her day; the New Zealand forwards (particularly the loosies) were a cut above.
Martin came to prominence in Wellington, from where she played representative rugby in 1993 and made the Black Ferns for the first time in 1994, beginning a 13-year international career. When she retired Martin had played 32 tests and scored 14 test tries, which was tied for seventh on the Black Ferns list at the time and best among the forwards.
Martin was named the New Zealand Women’s Player of the Year in 1995 and then moved to Auckland, she linked up with Richards and a number of other quality players at College Rifles, quickly making that club a force on the Auckland scene.
Her path to three World Cup titles was interrupted by two major injuries, both to her ACL, but each time she rebounded strongly. Those three World Cups were 1998, 2002 and 2006, and Martin was typically one of New Zealand’s best each time.
On the domestic front she never lost a game for Auckland (she played 31 first-class matches from the inception of the NPC in 1999) and was one of the most dominant players of her era.
