Cook Islands Rugby Union (CIRU) was pleased with the age group holiday training programme which focused on educating upcoming players the basics of becoming the stars of the game.

The Union held a session with the Under 15s age group a fortnight ago and welcomed the Under 17s to their training programme at Raemaru Park in Arorangi last week.

Ben Koteka, rugby development manager for CIRU, said that the aim of the week was to get the players to understand the importance of being more self-sufficient as they progressed up the ladder to becoming more serious rugby players.

“They all did well, and tried their best in the programme,” Koteka said.

About 15 participants showed up to Raemaru Park on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

Koteka said this was a good number as CIRU was trying to keep numbers short and sweet to ensure everybody got attention to detail in training and that they all got game time.

“We hoped to empower them, and encourage them to do all those essential things like eat properly, drink water, and take care of themselves. All those key building blocks of rugby, including the World Rugby values; Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship.

“They also worked on essential skills such as tackling, attack and defence and precision when it comes to passing. Fitness levels and beating personal best times were also a key focus of the programme.”

Cook Islands Rugby Union is building towards the second edition of the Rugby Tri-Nations Competition set to take place next month.

Samoa Residents will defend the Tri Nations title against Fiji and Cook Islands Residents.