Three children’s rugby teams have been disqualified from competing in their semifinal matches tomorrow over an error with player registrations.

Days before their semifinals on Saturday, the Central Bay of Plenty Junior Rugby Committee sent a letter to parents saying three under-11 grade sides would be disqualified because of unregistered players competing throughout the season.

The decision has caused outrage in the local community, with one parent saying their child was in tears on the eve of their big game this weekend.

One parent has placed the blame on a new registration platform rolled out by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) for the 2025 club rugby season. NZR denied there was a problem with the system.

The Bay of Plenty Rugby sub-union told the Herald it’s been left with no choice but to follow the rules to ensure the integrity of the competition and the onus lay with parents, club delegates and managers to ensure players were fully registered.

“During the recent review of player registrations, it has come to our attention that three teams, despite demonstrating potential and enthusiasm, did not fully adhere to the registration rules outlined for our competition,” the letter sent on Tuesday night read.

After an emergency meeting on Tuesday, the Central Bay of Plenty Junior Rugby Committee sent a letter to parents, saying three under-11 grade sides would be blocked from competing in their semifinals on Saturday.

“Regrettably, this means these teams are not eligible to compete in the semifinals this coming weekend. We understand how disappointing and upsetting this news is, especially when children’s passion and effort are involved, and it is never our wish to make such difficult decisions.”

The three affected teams, Reporoa, Ngongotahā and Eastern Pirates, were all due to play their semifinal games tomorrow but had their competition points stripped when the registration error was noticed.

Celeste Wills, the mother of a young Reporoa player, told the Herald the kids were “all really gutted” after being told their season was over.

She claimed the issue stemmed from a new player registration platform introduced by NZR this season, called Rugby Xplorer, which is also used across Australia, the Pacific and the United States.

Wills said one Reporoa player’s registration failed to link to the club, despite him being registered in the Rugby Xplorer system.

“This technical glitch made him appear as an ‘unregistered player’.”

The error went undetected, allowing the boy to play unregistered the entire season. It was only picked up when the sub-union requested team lists from all clubs in the U11 competition on Monday while undertaking an eligibility check for minimum matches played – as players must have played four games to be eligible for semifinal games.

NZR told the Herald it was unaware of any instances of system issues that had negatively impacted players in competitions this year.

An emergency meeting was called by the Central Bay of Plenty Junior Rugby Committee, with delegates from every club taking a vote on the matter and moving to strip three teams of their season points, blocking them from the semifinals.

“The whole point of bloody junior rugby is to get kids to play rugby ... They’ve gotten in a position where they’ve got to the semifinal and you’re ending their season on a technicality on a crap registration platform,” Wills said.

“You’ve now got two teams that were bottom of the table in the semis for third and fourth position.”

Wills said it was “nonsense” to have administration issues and politics stopping kids from playing rugby.

“We’re all disgusted, we’re all appalled, but what can we do? Because they’ve also left it to the very last minute to make a decision we can’t even appeal.

“It was a glitch in the system, which should have been picked up sooner. It’s gone undetected. But it was an honest glitch. We weren’t playing an unregistered player knowingly. He’s not a star player from an under-13s team that’s playing down, he’s just an average player who plays because he loves it.

“Reporoa is a proud rugby town, home to former All Blacks captain Sam Cane, and our kids dream of following in those footsteps. Instead, they are being denied the chance to compete.”

Former All Blacks captain Sam Cane grew up playing rugby in Reporoa. Photo / Photosport

Another parent told the Herald their son “burst into tears” when he was told the news.

“He’s had a pretty tough time with being bullied at school, so he didn’t believe in himself to play, but he loves rugby so he decided he would give it one more chance.

“With the support of his coaches and the team he really flourished and he was loving rugby, loving being active and was really looking forward to getting through to the semis.

“I told him yesterday after school and he just looked at me and burst into tears. He said, ‘It’s not fair, Mama, I’ve been trying really hard’.”

The Bay of Plenty Rugby sub-union told the Herald it considered all options and hours were spent looking through the scenarios.

“The placing of the teams was no longer reliable given the games were played with unregistered players. Playing unregistered players is a health and safety rule.

“After lengthy discussion, we have moved the teams under the three in question and after checking the registrations and game eligibility they were named to play with the two pre-qualified teams.

“We are a committee made up of parents who have or have had children who play in this competition and we understand more than most the dedication of the players and the disappointment. However, we were left with no choice but to follow the rules to ensure the integrity of the competition remained.

“The system is difficult, but a majority of the others managed to use it accurately. That does not take away from the fact that it has been a difficult lesson to learn for those club managers.”

NZR’s head of rugby participation Mike Hester said Rugby Xplorer was introduced nationwide this year to future-proof rugby’s membership and competition management system – as well as a new learning management system being introduced next year.

“NZR is unaware of any instances whereby there has been system issues [that] have negatively impacted players for competitions in 2025,” Hester said.

“As with any new system in the community space, it always brings about change management issues, but provincial unions, clubs and schools have done an excellent job in getting their communities integrated into the new system.”

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers sport and breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.