Pakuranga United Rugby Club, from East Auckland has beaten out nine other junior rugby clubs to win the grand prize in the nib Little Legends $10k Relay. The relay race, hosted by nib New Zealand (nib) in partnership with The Blues, took place during half-time at the Blues vs Chiefs match on Saturday, 1 May 2021.

The event saw 100 kids (aged 12–13 years) take to the field, running in their club teams and working together to try and secure the $10,000 prize which will support the health and wellbeing of their junior club rugby players and community.

The 10 finalist clubs were as follows:

· Hikurangi Rugby Club (Northland)

· Kumeu Rugby Club

· Northcote/Birkenhead

· Old Boys Marist (Northland)

· Otahuhu Rugby Club

· Pakuranga Rugby Club

· Papatoetoe Rugby Club

· Suburbs Rugby Club

· Takapuna Rugby Club

· Waitakere Rugby Club

nib New Zealand Chief Executive Officer, Rob Hennin, said community sports play a critical role in encouraging an active lifestyle, so helping up and coming Kiwi rugby players was a natural fit for the business.

“Many local and major sporting activities were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, so we wanted to do something special to support the health and wellbeing of our junior rugby players,” Mr Hennin said.

“Congratulations to Pakuranga United Rugby Club and to all the teams who ran a great race! We look forward to seeing how the funding is put to good use in our local sporting community,” he added.

Pakuranga United Rugby Club Operations Manager, Amanda Dyason said the relay race provided a great opportunity for junior players to work together and encouraged healthy competition among the community.

“The team had an amazing night, and it was a real honour to take home the generous prize of $10,000. Our club has grown organically around a male dominated environment, but we’re committed to offering a more inclusive rugby programme to our community. This funding is going to enable us to upgrade our facilities from male only to multigender, so we’re very grateful for that,” Ms Dyason said.

Blues Head Coach, Leon MacDonald added, “As a code more broadly, we’re also working towards being more inclusive. Having hosted our first women’s match between the Blues and Chiefs at Eden Park on Saturday, we’re very pleased to have been able to partner with nib for this initiative and help Pakuranga United upgrade their facilities.”

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