Cowles’s stadium in Christchurch played host for the 2023 New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby Championships. This tournament is open to any athlete that is classifiable into the Paralympic version of wheelchair rugby. The tournament ran from September the 1^st through to the 3^rd.

4 teams took part in the Nationals Canterbury, Auckland and dsport/Waikato from New Zealand and the Australian development team made the trip to Christchurch to take part. Only having 4 teams meant that talent was not spread to thin so all games were to be fairly competitive.

Canterbury tipped off the tournament in the 1^st game v dsport/Waikato. Canterbury came out of the blocks hard and kept the game close before dsport/Waikato spread the gap towards the end of the game to get the win. In day 1s’s other game saw a topsy turvy battle between Auckland and the Australian development team. The lead changed a number of times and there was never more that a 2 try lead to any team. Auckland timed there run home to perfection getting a 2 try win.

Day 2 tipped off with The Australian development team having a comfortable win against Canterbury. In the next game Auckland took on dsport/Waikato in what would be another close match. Both teams traded the lead with dsport/Waikato’s deeper bench proving the difference and saw them get  the win. There was a small break for the dsport/Waikato team before they took on the Australian development team. The Australians made a fast start and never relented as dsport/Waikato ran out of puff and the Australian development team ran away with the win. In day 2’s final game it saw Canterbury take on Auckland in which was a rematch of the WRC final. Just like the WRC final Auckland proved to strong and got thee win. This meant after the pool play the  final standings were 1^st-Australian development, 2^nd-Auckland, 3^rd-dsport/Waikato and 4^th Canterbury. But with everyone still alive under the 1v4 and 2v3 semifinal format there was everything to play for on day 3.

On day 3 semifinal 1 saw Australian Development take on an ever-improving Canterbury team. But the depth of the Australian development team saw them book their place in the final. But who they would play was anyone’s guess. The pool gave between Auckland and dsport/Waikato was a tight encounter and the semifinal proved to be even tighter. The game was high quality with the team’s trading goals and giving away very little turnovers. One turnover was all that was needed for dsport/Waikato to come away with a 1 try win. This lose meant Auckland had to back up to face Canterbury for 3^rd place. A combination of a weary Auckland team and a hugely improved Canterbury team saw the game go right down to late in the 4^th quarter before Auckland finally got some breathing room and took out 3^rd place. Unfortunately, the final was not so close as the Australian development team took their game up a notch and put the hammer down on a tired dsport/Waikato team leading from start to finish and finishing in 1^st place. Due to the Australians being a visiting team they did not qualify to be crowned National Champions This would be the highest finishing NZ team and that was dsport/Waikato.

Full results and individual award winners below.

1^st-Australian Development

2^nd-dsport/Waikato (highest finishing NZ team and 2023 National Champions)

3^rd-Auckland

4^th-Canterbury

Individual awards

Best 0.5 Ben Fawcett (Aus)

Best 1.0 Cody Everson (Cant)

Best 1.5 Tai Martin-Page (Aus)

Best 2.0 Robert Hewitt (Wai)

Best 2.5 Cameron Leslie (Wai)

Best 3.0 Hayden Barton-Cootes (Auk)

Best 3.5 Brayden Foxley-Connolly (Aus)

NZ development player Keenan Alexander (Wai)

MVP Hayden Barton-Cootes (Auk)

Jaimey Leigh Fellows Award- Yvonne Mackie.

The tournament was fantastic and congratulations to all the winners. NZWR would like to thank our sponsors and supporters Canterbury Wheelchair rugby, ParaFed canterbury, Direct Group Uniforms, Christchurch City Council, Lynn River, Four Wind Foundation, Melrose Kiwi Concept Chair and the Small Sports Events Fund.

Article added: Thursday 14 September 2023