Matatū have earned the right to host next weekend’s Super Rugby Aupiki grand final on their own patch, setting up a Christchurch showdown with the Blues that carries an obvious edge of unfinished business.
The Canterbury side finished the six-round regular season on top of the ladder, which under the competition’s format hands them home advantage for the decider. The final will be played at One NZ Stadium at Te Kaha, the city’s new covered arena, on Saturday 25 July with kickoff set for 4.20pm.
Getting there was anything but comfortable. In the final round Matatū were beaten 38-29 by the Blues in Christchurch, a result that briefly threatened to knock them off the summit. The Blues needed a bonus point from that match to leapfrog into first place, and while they got the win, they could not quite close out the extra margin required. That left Matatū clinging to the top of the table by the narrowest of gaps, as RNZ reported.
The final standings underline just how tight the season has been at the sharp end. Matatū finished on 19 competition points, the Blues on 18 and Hurricanes Poua on 17, with only two points separating the top three after six rounds. Chiefs Manawa, champions in the competition’s first season, propped up the table on two points after a winless campaign.
Hurricanes Poua were the hard-luck story of the round. Their 47-33 win over Chiefs Manawa in Upper Hutt kept their own finals hopes alive until the very last, but with the Blues beating Matatū, the Wellington-based side missed the cut for the decider by a single point. In a four-team competition where every match matters, the margins do not get much finer than that.
For Matatū, a home final is both a reward and a chance at redemption. The two sides met in last year’s grand final in 2025, and it was the Blues who walked away with the trophy, winning 26-19 to claim back-to-back titles. That result also denied Matatū a second championship to go with the one they won in 2023, when they edged Chiefs Manawa 33-31 in a memorable final. The Blues have now been the benchmark of the women’s game, taking the title in both 2024 and 2025 after Chiefs Manawa won the inaugural edition in 2022.
Playing the final in Christchurch matters for more than just the scoreline. Matatū draw their players and their support from across the South Island, and the chance to host a title match at Te Kaha, rather than travel north, is a genuine advantage. The new stadium has drawn strong crowds since opening, and a home grand final gives the region’s rugby community a marquee event to rally around in the middle of winter.
The side is coached this season by Blair Baxter, who returned to the role after Whitney Hansen departed to take charge of the Black Ferns at the end of 2025. Baxter has guided a squad built around a core of experienced internationals and rising talent. Kaipo Olsen-Baker has led the way with the ball, finishing the regular season as the competition’s leading try-scorer with eight, while first-five Hannah King has been reliable off the tee and among the top point-scorers. Captain Grace Brooker has led from the front, with Black Ferns and Black Ferns Sevens names such as Amy du Plessis and Alena Saili adding depth and Test-match experience across the backline.
The Blues arrive with their own pedigree and plenty of confidence after that round-six win. Captain Maiakawanakaulani Roos brought up her 100th first-class match during the fixture, a milestone that speaks to how much big-game experience the Auckland side carries. Wingers and outside backs including Taufa Bason and Braxton Sorensen-McGee have been among their most dangerous attackers this season, and Sorensen-McGee has combined try-scoring with goal-kicking duties.
The final also arrives at a moment when Super Rugby Aupiki is trying to grow its audience. The competition shifted its calendar this year, running from June through August rather than earlier in the season, a move designed to give the women’s game a clearer window of its own away from the busiest part of the men’s Super Rugby schedule. Organisers will be hoping a Christchurch grand final between two evenly matched sides delivers the sort of contest that keeps building the competition’s profile, as the details confirmed on the official Super Rugby Aupiki site make clear.
On recent form there is little to separate the two teams. The Blues have won the last two finals and took the most recent meeting between them, but Matatū finished the regular season above them and will have the home crowd. A repeat of the round-six scoreline would suit the visitors, while Matatū will back themselves to turn a narrow defeat into a title if they can tidy up the moments that cost them a fortnight earlier.
Kickoff is Saturday 25 July at 4.20pm in Christchurch, with a first Super Rugby Aupiki crown since 2023 on the line for Matatū and a third straight title within reach for the Blues.
Will Matatū finally get one back over the Blues, or will the defending champions make it three in a row? Have your say in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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