Rare peek behind the scenes at Canterbury Rugby

A rare chance for Cantabrians to peek behind the curtain of local rugby. Rugby Park is the headquarters of the country's oldest union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union.

It opened its doors to the public for the first time this week. The fun rugby festival was sponsored by the union's partner Ray White, and billed as the 'Biggest Open Home'. Around 600 rugby fans took the opportunity to check out the Crusaders' high-performance facility, and the successful Crusaders Academy hub.

Some players from the Crusaders and Canterbury NPC squads were also on hand, manning the barbeque, meeting and greeting fans, and joining in with informal skills and drills sessions with excited youngsters.

Organisers held the one-off event to help foster a stronger connection between the rugby community and its supporters.

Rugby fan Murray Wards took the opportunity to get autographs from some of the female rugby players. "I'm catching up with the young girls here now doing this because I think women's rugby at the moment is far better than the men's rugby because it's more open, it's faster".

Organisers were delighted with the success of the inaugural event, and will consider running it again next year.

 

By Geoff Sloan
- Public Interest Journalism Fund