Matatū is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

women's professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team that competes in the

Super Rugby Aupiki Super Rugby Aupiki is a professional women's rugby union club competition in New Zealand. Its inaugural season was held in March 2022. It is a stepping stone between the Farah Palmer Cup and the Black Ferns. Aupiki translates as ‘''the asce ...

competition. Matatū represents the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, specifically the regions covered by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

and the Highlanders. They were crowned the champions of the

2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season The 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki season was the second season of Super Rugby Aupiki (known as Sky Super Rugby Aupiki for sponsorship reasons), a professional women's rugby union club competition organised by New Zealand Rugby. The competition ran from ...

History

Name, logo and colours

The team's name, logo and colours were officially unveiled on 12 October 2021. The name, logo and colours were created by a local artist and designer Morgan Mathews-Hale in partnership with Te Whaka Ako Limited. Matatū is a name gifted by Ngāi Tūāhuriri, which is one of five primary hapū of the Ngai Tahu iwi. The name Matatū, literally meaning "alert or vigilant", has been gifted to symbolise the teams tūmanawa (determined sacrifice), tūaho (legacy), tūhono (connections) and tūtira (unity) in representing Te Waka o Aoraki (the South Island).

Inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season

2022

Matatū played their first game against the

Chiefs Manawa The Chiefs Manawa are a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand, that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Chiefs Manawa won the inaugural season of the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. They w ...

in a pre-season match ahead of the inaugural

season at the

Owen Delany Park Owen Delany Park is a multi-purpose sports stadium in Taupō, New Zealand. The main sports played there are Rugby and cricket, though several other sports are accommodated on a permanent basis and numerous other events on a one-off basis. Hist ...

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...

. Liv McGoverne kicked the teams first-ever points and Julia Gorinski scored their first try. The Chiefs Manawa won the match 28–20. Matatū and the Chiefs Manawa met five days later to play the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki match on 10 March 2022. It was a historical moment for Matatū as this was their first team to take the field. It was a tense match but the Chiefs Manawa edged Matatū 17–15 to win the second match between the teams. Matatū next played the Blues Women in round 2 of the competition, but lost the game 10–21. In the final round, they faced the

Hurricanes Poua Hurricanes Poua are a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team based in Wellington, New Zealand that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Hurricanes Poua cover the same catchment area as the Hurricanes including the Farah Palm ...

FMG Stadium Waikato FMG Stadium Waikato is a major sporting and cultural events venue in Hamilton, New Zealand, with a total capacity of 25,800. Four areas contribute to this capacity: The Brian Perry Stand holding 12,000, the WEL Networks Stand holding 8,000, th ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, and were defeated 8–16 to finish last overall.

2023

Matatū recorded their first Super Rugby Aupiki win after defeating the Blues Women 33–31 in the opening round of the competition. In round 2 and 3, they lost to the

24–25 and the

38–46. They met the Blues again, but this time in the semi-finals. They defeated them 26–23. They claimed their first title after defeating the Chiefs Manawa 33–31 in the Grand final in Hamilton at

2024

Matatū's 2024 title defense started off with a 17–24 loss to the Blues Women in Invercargill. It was followed by two more defeats to the

29–36 in Wellington and

22–38 in Hamilton. They lost again to the eventual champions Blues Women in Auckland 17–27, before defeating the Hurricanes Poua 37–17, and Chiefs Manawa 22–20 in both rematches.

2025

In 2025, Matatū defeated the

(31–25) in

to kickstart their campaign. They then went on to defeat the

with a (29–7) bonus point victory in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. Matatū suffered their first loss of the season with a (7–28) defeat to the defending champions Blues Women in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. They defeated the

again with a (43–24) win in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. They defeated the Blues Women (37–29) in

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

to hand them their first loss of the season. Matatū were defeated by the

(22–28) in

in the last game of the regular season. Matatū were defeated by the Blues Women (19–26) in the Final at

Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Overall record

Notes:

Official

competition matches only, including finals.

Season standings

A summary of Matatu's results in the regular season is shown below: :

Current squad

On 31 October 2024, the squad for the 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki season was announced.

Coaching staff

In 2021, Blair Baxter was announced as Head Coach, with Whitney Hansen and Tony Christie appointed as the two assistant coaches. Baxter stepped down from head coach after the 2023 season. Whitney Hansen was named as Matatū's Head coach for the 2024 season. * Head Coach: Whitney Hansen * Assistant Coach: Simon Kneebone * Assistant Coach: Jason Kjestrup * Assistant Coach: Blair Baxter

Captain

Coaching record

Notes:

Official

competition matches only, including finals.

References

External links

Official website
{{Matatū squad 2021 establishments in New Zealand Super Rugby Aupiki Rugby union teams in New Zealand Rugby clubs established in 2021 Sport in the Canterbury Region Women's rugby union teams Women's rugby union teams in New Zealand Crusaders (rugby union)