Southland's finest sporting talents were put on display in a special event at Rugby Park in Invercargill yesterday.
Organised by Rugby Southland, three games of town versus country were played between women, colts and men.
Black Fern prop and proud Southlander Amy Rule was on hand to help out from the sidelines and offer a bit of inspiration to her old team-mates and up-and-comers.
"Inspiration’s quite a new feeling for me. I wouldn’t call myself that but it’s awesome to see people love the game and love everything that the girls have done in the rugby space ... Connecting over memories, especially the World Cup, is really cool and it’s awesome to see people happy and get excited about rugby," Rule said.
The skill sets showcased on the field were great to watch, and it was a highlight to see some familiar faces "carving it up", she said.
Rugby Southland women’s and girls’ activator Georgia Bewley said it was great to host a town v country women’s rugby game for the first time in a few years and provide a platform to showcase some of the region’s talents.
"It’s about getting them out there and playing some high-quality rugby, showing their talents, and we have representative teams so there are coaches out there watching as well."
The atmosphere of the day was a highly positive and supportive environment, and it was great to see so many people come together and play the game they loved, she said.
It was great to have a player of Rule’s calibre at the event, providing inspiration and conversation with other players.
"It’s really awesome to have our superstars coming back and giving back to the rugby community in Southland," Bewley said.
"For the younger girls, she’s a role model they can see from the region that they know, that they’ve seen on the big screen, and being able to see her in person and have a conversation with her, seeing where she started right down in Riverton.
"It’s really cool for the women who’ve played with her to see her come back and give back to the clubs."
