Hautapu Sports have confirmed their coaching line-up for next year’s Women’s Rugby Championship season.
In only their second season of fielding a women’s team, Hautapu will be led again by head coach Rob Loto.
His assistant coaches will be newcomers Kennedy Tahu and Jarrod Hireme.
Head coach: Rob Loto
Loto joined Hautapu last season after success with Auckland’s Marist club who won the prestigious Coleman Shield in 2022, and reached the Auckland Championship semi-finals in 2023.
His diverse coaching experience includes roles with Auckland University Men’s U-20s and Premier Development, Auckland Marist Women’s Premier, Auckland Reps: Boy’s U-13s, U-14s, and the 2019 Auckland Women’s Development squad.
Additionally, he has coached Auckland Samoa Men’s Prem and the Auckland Māori Boy’s U-15s, demonstrating a strong commitment to nurturing rugby talent across various levels and communities.
A standout achievement in his coaching journey was completing the highly respected Ako Wāhine Performance Coaching Course and contributing to the 2024 Waikato Women’s Development campaign.
A former Head Boy of Cambridge High School, Loto played for Hautapu during his own rugby career and has now returned to the club to focus on developing their women’s program.
In their inaugural season, Hautapu’s women’s team achieved an impressive fourth-place finish in the eight-team Championship.
Loto is excited for the 2025 journey with a new-look coaching crew who are driven to helping establish Hautapu’s women’s team as a competitive force while nurturing talent within the region.
Assistant coach: Kennedy Tahau
Tahau started playing sevens at high school and after making the Condors 7s invitational team, she played for Waikato for three years.
She played for the Hokkaido Barbarians in Japan for six months before joining Hamilton Old Boys where she played the 15-a-side game for four years, helping the club win the Premiership twice.
Tahau debuted for the Waikato FPC team in 2019, playing for three seasons and helping win their first-ever title.
She coached sevens at Cambridge High School in 2019 and was an assistant coach for Hamilton Old Boys Huskies in 2024.
Assistant coach: Jarrod Hireme
As a player, Hireme was a member of the St Paul’s Collegiate first XV (1999-2002) before playing senior rugby for Hautapu (2003-2005). He played for Sydney University Premiers (2006-1008) before moving to Perth in 2010 to play Premier A’s for Kalamunda Bulls.
In 2018, Hireme took up coaching at his home town club in Putaruru, becoming Senior A’s coach, leading the side to the finals in 2019 and a top-four placing in 2020.
He became coach of Putaruru’s Senior B side in 2019, leading them to a competition title for the first time. Under his leadership, the team went close to reaching the finals in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Interested in playing for us?
If you want to learn more about our plans for women’s rugby or to express an interest in joining us, please email Nigel Kewish, Director of Rugby, at seniorrugby@hautapusports.com
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