Allen to play for Canterbury in Farah Palmer Cup

Exeter Chiefs Women’s back-rower Maisy Allen has flown to New Zealand to play for Canterbury in the Farah Palmer Cup in New Zealand.

Chiefs Women’s flanker will take part in the 12-team provincial rugby competition which kicks off in a fortnight’s time with Canterbury facing Auckland Storm at Christchurch Rugby Park in round one. She will return to Chiefs duty for the start of the JAECOO PWR season.

Allen said: “I’m excited for the opportunity to head to New Zealand and experience a new environment that will take me out of my comfort zone.

“I’ll get to be part of a different style of play, learn from new teams, teammates, coaches and a new club, while also experiencing a different culture.

“I’m looking forward to growing as both a player and a person, exploring another side of the world, and bringing back what I learn to put into the season with Chiefs when I get back.”

The provincial championship, which was renamed in 2016 after the former Black Ferns captain Professor Dame Farah Palmer, dates back to 1999 and is a cross-division competition which pits Premiership sides against Championship opposition.

The competition begins with a round robin stage split into divisions before the two divisions meet in the semi-finals and final for the Premiership and Championship title respectively.

Exeter Chiefs Women’s assistant coach Oli Bishop said: “I’m a huge believer in giving players opportunities to develop and grow, to experience new things. For this pre-season, Maisy has this great opportunity to go and play with Canterbury, who are an extremely well-established side and a very successful side down in New Zealand.

“I believe it’ll give Maisy another view on rugby and it should help to develop her tactical and technical game. It’ll also give her the opportunity to see how other culture and countries play on pitch but also how they person off pitch.

“This is a great life experience for her, and we wish her all the best during her time over there. The hope is that she will come back a more developed player and with a broader mind of the game, which is going to help us in our PWR quest this season.”

The new JAECOO PWR kicks off for Chiefs with a south west derby against Bristol Bears Women on Saturday, 28 November - KO 15:00.