Luisetti Seeds Combined Country Division 1 rugby competition deferred

Dan Carter kicking through the Luisetti Seeds goal posts at Southbridge.

The much anticipated Luisetti Seeds Combined Country Division 1 competition has been deferred in 2020 due to the shortened rugby season. With a truncated season, the country combined committee of Ellesmere, Mid Canterbury and North Canterbury representatives has chosen to run their own localised competitions with Luisetti Seeds continuing to maintain its sponsorship and support of country rugby.

Typically, the final for the Luisetti Seeds Combined Country competition is played in early July and delaying it to later in the season would clash with lambing and calving and other demands in what is a busy time of the year on the farming calendar.

Tony Smail, CEO for the Canterbury Rugby Football Union (CRFU) says “feedback from our players and clubs suggested that by keeping it local in the reduced playing window we have available will make it easier for players to get out on the field in 2020.”

Luisetti Seeds will sponsor this year’s Coleman Shield for the Ellesmere competition, the Watters Cup for Mid Canterbury competition and the Alf Hunnibell Memorial Trophy for the North Canterbury competition and are supportive of the change for 2020.

Tony says the shortened season is just a reality in a post-Covid environment and all competitions have had to look at what’s best for their participants in this challenging year.

“It has affected all rugby, but the most positive aspect is that players are getting some rugby because for a short-time it looked as if there would be no rugby played this year.”

The CRFU are extremely appreciative of the ongoing support from Luisetti Seeds, whose passion for the game is matched by the participants.