Northland meet Hawke’s Bay in the Farah Palmer Cup on Saturday with a former Hawke’s Bay Tui player refereeing.

Kaitlin Bates, a Farmlands technical field officer who came through the Rural Rugby Legends programme, debuted two weekends ago. She says this is her first time refereeing Hawke’s Bay, her old team.

“There are three girls that I played with that are still playing,” she says.

She says she picked up a New Zealand Referee Scholarship as a means to give it a go, and still plays development rugby when she can.

“I think it makes my refereeing game better and it makes me appreciate the game.”

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.

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