After a long overdue hiatus, Te Whare Ako finally got their first taste of the College Sport AWD (Athletes with Disabilities) programme for 2022. On a blustery and sometimes wet day, 5 schools braved the elements to compete in the Rippa Rugby Tournament. Mana are the proud defending champions from 2020 (the event in 2021 was cancelled).

As many of the schools couldn't make it and others only managed to get a few players, the tournament morphed into a chance to manaaki each other and have a go at rippa rugby. Our Mana students displayed their well-known friendly welcoming culture to all they played against. A highlight was seeing Eli Ahern-Garrett in his first event as a new year 9, finding his way to the tryline again and again. Lawrence Malaulau was a rock on defence, collecting tag after tag.

It was nice to see some old new faces mixing it up together. Thank you to College Sport Wellington and Wellington Rugby for putting on the event - we hope to host the tournament at Mana in 2023.