Three “good buggars” have been selected to lead the Bay of Plenty Ngawha (Mens Development) team for the Northern Regions Rugby Mens Development competition for 2024. 

Te Puke Sports Stalwart Craig “Piglot” Jeffries returns from his stint as King Country Rams Heartland Coach to lead the team of three and he’s joined by two former Steamers players, Johan “Yogi” Bardoul and last years Baywide Premiership winning coach from Te Puna, Barry Ririnui as his assistants. 

Craig played for Te Puke Sports for eight seasons before taking over the coaching reigns at Te Puke Sports between 2011-2017 winning two Baywide Premier mens titles in 2011 and 2012. 

Barry is born and bred Te Puna. He played for four games for the Steamers while still at Tauranga Boys College and 29 in total.  He headed offshore for a number of years before returning to finish his playing career in the Blue and Black.  Barry spent 15 years coaching within the Te Puna JMC ranks, 6 years coaching the Roller Mills team and has been part of the Premier coaching group at Te Puna since 2018, winning two premierships. 

Yogi played 29 games for the Steamers, 11 for the Chiefs before heading offshore.  He returned to our shores to start his coaching career and gets the opportunity to learn from a couple of experienced coaches. 

Bay of Plenty Rugby’s GM of Performance Rodney Gibbs comments, “The Ngawha Mens Development team plays a crucial role in the talent identification of future Steamers players.  With the gap between premier club rugby and the national provincial championship getting wider and wider, the Ngawha team goes a long way in providing our future steamers players a campaign to bridge that gap. 

Head coach Craig Jeffries comments, “I’m really excited to be part of a coaching group to lead some fine young men.  With Yogi and Baz, we are looking forward to getting stuck in.” 

The Ngawha’s five week Northern Regions Rugby Council campaign kicks off Saturday 24th August.  A draw is yet to be confirmed but the other five provinces include Northland, North Harbour, Auckland, Counties Manukau and Taranaki, with only Waikato not fielding a development team this year.   

Article added: Monday 26 February 2024