2024 Club Finals Programme – DOWNLOAD

2024 Club Finals Programme
– CLICK to DOWNLOAD –

JASON CARRUTHERS
WBRU Chairman

On behalf of the WBRU we would like to welcome you to the 2024 WBRU Club Rugby Finals day.

We have a great line up of games for the day. Greytown v Carterton in the Senior Reserve President’s Cup, Eketahuna v East Coast in the Hodder-Steffert Cup, Gladstone v Tuhirangi in the ‘Whataboutu’ Ryan Cup, and Marist v Carterton in the Chris “Moose” Kapene Memorial Cup final.

We wish all the clubs well for your respective finals.

Congratulations, also, to Martinborough for claiming the 2024 Lane Penn Cup (First round winners).

Every year brings its own dramas and twists and 2024 certainly delivered again.

I would also like to welcome all the Life Members of the clubs, referees and WBRU to the prematch luncheon.

Our rugby numbers have increased again by another 5% in 2024. The love of the game remains strong in our young ones. The challenge is to keep them engaged throughout their whole life with good coaching, great club environments, opportunities to participate and making every Saturday a good experience.

This must be an attainable goal for all of us.

Finally, to all our major sponsors, I want to acknowledge and thank you, on behalf of the WBRU, for supporting us.. Your generous contributions ensured WBRU and club rugby was able to continue through 2024 and flourish again in 2025.

STEVE THOMPSON
Presidents WBRU

It gives me great pleasure as my first official duty as President to welcome everyone to this great occasion, celebrating the 2024 Wairarapa Bush Grand finals day. It is a day for those teams who made it to the finals to put their hard work and dedication and to the test and proudly represent their club. Congratulation to all eight teams and I wish you all the best for your games today.

Defending Champions Carterton are back again hoping to achieve a third consecutive title, which is no mean feat. Their season has moved along steadily at the top end of the table and now they have made it through to the final. Marist have grown as a team and earnt a place in the premier final and have an a well drilled forward pack and some notable players in their back line. It will be a big task for either team on the day and I wish them both luck on today’s game.

To the reserve grade Gladstone have earned their way into the final with lots of hard work and will play defending champions, Tuhirangi. These are two country clubs both only fielding a Reserves team and there was only 2 points separating them in their last game. This should produce an entertaining encounter. Tuhirangi have been the leading light over recent seasons, while the Gladstone have adjusted their goals and are looking to rebuild their club and club spirit.

Eketahuna and East Coast play off for for the Hodder-Steffert Cup, Carterton and Greytown Senior Reserves play for the President’s Cup. Good luck to all teams as they try and finish their season on a high.

Wairarapa Wahine Toa Senior women’s team played in the 2024 Manawatu competition recording a 24-21 win over Freyberg Old Boys in their final game at home. The club now has three JAB teams playing in U8, U11 and U13 grades. The club is in its 2nd year of being an affiliated rugby club of the Wairarapa Bush Union.

I would like to thank Graham Resima and his team of referees for their contribution to the season. With a big congratulations to Chris Jefferies reaching for his 200th game which is a huge commitment so well done Chris. It is great to see three new referees have joined the ranks and growing with experience, as we know this is a very important part to the game, keep up the good work team.

I would like to wish Reece Robinson and his management team all the best for their Heartland campaign for 2024. The naming of the team early next week will be eagerly awaited, with some outside selections added to boost the team and current players. We look forward as a region to giving our support to the team.

Finally, I would like to thank the front office team of Tony, Stacey, Cameron, Thomas and Ray for their time in running the day to day events of the union. Working as a team in developing the games future has been a major improvement, along with the increase of playing numbers registered, including down though the JAB grade.

I wish to congratulate all teams and their clubs for the season and especially those teams participating in today’s final.