World’s Largest Junior Rugby Tournament Touches Down Again In Taupō

The central North Island town of Taupō will be brimming with oval-ball excitement this weekend as around 2000 junior rugby players, spread over 107 teams, descend on the holiday hotspot for the New Zealand Junior Rugby Festival – the largest junior rugby tournament to be held globally this year.

First held in 2010, the festival quickly became a much-anticipated annual highlight of the Taupō events calendar, before the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 tournaments.

Tyrone Campbell, Director of Auckland-based sporting events social enterprise and festival organizer Global Games, says the three-year wait has done little to deter interest in the event, with most teams who entered in 2019 returning this year, along with several newcomers.

“The impact of COVID has had a terminal effect on many outstanding events both here in Aotearoa and abroad, so we’re both very grateful and hugely excited to be able to resume the festival this year as an opportunity for teams and their supporters to reconnect and rekindle friendships forged at previous tournaments, and meet new members of our whānau who will be attending for the first time.”

Mr Campbell says - in keeping with the Global Games ethos - the focus of the festival is less about competition and more about enjoyment, sportsmanship and the opportunity to participate in a major sports tournament, which for many will be the biggest stage they have played on so far.

“Regardless of whether players are playing in their very first season of rugby and still learning the ropes, or have played for years and seem destined for the All Blacks, our mission at Global Games is the same: to provide every player with a positive world-class experience that will last them a lifetime,

“The chance to go ‘on tour’ with their teammates will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for some of these kids, as touring is generally reserved for elite players selected for representative duties. For many, just having the experience of being on a bona-fide rugby tour will something they remember forever.”

The New Zealand Junior Rugby Festival will be held at Owen Delaney Park, Taupō, commencing with the opening ceremony at 4.30pm, Thursday 15 September, before games kick off at 9.00am on Friday 16 and run through to 2.30pm Sunday 18.

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