 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Northland Region |
| Abbreviation | NRU |
| Founded | 1920; 105 years ago (1920) |
| Affiliation | New Zealand Rugby |
| Headquarters | Whangārei |
| CEO | Cameron Bell |
| Men's coach | Dale MacLeod |
| Women's coach | Janna Vaughan |
| Official website | |
| www | |
 | |
TheNorthland Rugby Union is the governing body forrugby union inNorthland,New Zealand; Northland is aregion of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts ofFar North,Kaipara, andWhangārei. Established in 1920, they represent theBunnings NPC side, Northland Taniwha, andFarah Palmer Cup side, Northland Kauri.[1] It is also affiliated with theBluesSuper Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are sky blue and they play their home games atSemenoff Stadium inMorningside.
There are currently 39 registered clubs incorporated and secondary schools affiliated with the Northland Rugby Union, most of which have teams at both senior and junior levels.
Northland Rugby Union was known as North Auckland Rugby Union following the amalgamation ofWhangārei, NorthernWairoa,Bay of Islands, and Otamatea initially and then followed byMangonui,Kaipara,Hokianga,Whangaroa, andRodney in 1925.Rugby union was first played inNorthland in late 1880, and the first union was set up in the province in 1895, known as the Marsden Football Union.[34] In 1994, North Auckland changed its name to the Northland Rugby Football Union. They played their first ever match as a union on 3 August 1920, in an 11-0 victory over South Island Country. However, they did not play their first inter-union match until 27 July 1922, an 8-6 loss toAuckland. Their first inter-union win came in August 1923, when they beatKing Country[35]
The Auckland Rugby Union and Northland Rugby Union became regular rivals. They hadRanfurly Shield victories over them in 1960 and 1971. Northland won the Ranfurly Shield on two further occasions. 1950, when they defeatedSouth Canterbury and 1978, when they defeatedManawatu. In the 1971 challenge Northland won 17-12 in a narrow match played in front of 47,000 people atEden Park,Auckland. The following season 40,000 spectators packed WhangāreiOkara Park to watch the rematch. With the city's population only 34,000, this showcased the significance of both the shield and the rivalry with Auckland. However they lost 15-16.[35]
The reputation of Northland rugby took a downfall following its controversial victory over Manawatu in 1978. After what seemed to be an excessive amount of stoppage time, Northland kicked a winning penalty. What followed was the refusal that the union wouldn’t put the shield on the line for its final home matches of the season againstSouthland andOtago. However no rules were broken.[35]
Northland began their professional era playing in the inauguralAir New Zealand Cup competition. They are known as the Taniwha, a reference to the mascot adopted in the professional era. Along with Auckland andNorth Harbour, Northland is part of theBluesSuper Rugby franchise.[35]
The following is a summary of every season for the Northland Taniwha since 2006. Position indicates the teams overall finish.
| Year | Position | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | Captain | Head Coach | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 10th | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | David Holwell | Mark Anscombe | |
| 2007 | 10th | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 19 | Justin Collins | ||
| 2008 | 9th | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 22 | |||
| 2009 | 13th | 13 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 16 | Jared Payne | Bryce Woodward | |
| 2010 | 10th | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 29 | |||
| 2011 | 5th | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 19 | Adriaan Ferris | ||
| 2012 | 5th | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 | Rene Ranger | ||
| 2013 | 6th | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 13 | Derren Witcombe | ||
| 2014 | 3rd | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 25 | Cameron Eyre | Lost toHawke's Bay in semi final | |
| 2015 | 7th | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | Matt Moulds | Richie Harris | |
| 2016 | 6th | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 | |||
| 2017 | 4th | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 25 | Derren Witcombe | Lost toWellington in semi final | |
| 2018 | 4th | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 24 | Lost toWaikato in semi final | ||
| 2019 | 6th | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 11 | Jordan Olsen | ||
| 2020 | 2nd | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 24 | George Konia | Lost toHawke's Bay in final | |
| 2021 | 5th | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 12 |
Key:
Blue bar denotes Championship division
Northland has produced 32All Blacks to date.[36] Below is a list of NorthlandNew Zealand national rugby union players along with their All Black number, year of debut and number of All Black games.
| # | Player | Debut | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 240 | Charles Fletcher | 1921 | 1 |
| 305 | Innes Finlayson | 1925 | 36 |
| 364 | Bill Heke | 1929 | 6 |
| 367 | Alf Waterman | 1929 | 7 |
| 461 | Johnny Smith | 1946 | 9 |
| 482 | Peter Smith | 1947 | 3 |
| 518 | Nau Cherrington | 1950 | 7 |
| 541 | Ian Irvine | 1952 | 1 |
| 556 | Peter Jones | 1953 | 37 |
| 605 | Des Webb | 1959 | 1 |
| 621 | Victor Yates | 1961 | 9 |
| 655 | Sid Going | 1967 | 86 |
| 681 | Bevan Holmes | 1970 | 31 |
| 682 | Richie Guy | 1971 | 9 |
| 700 | Hamish Macdonald | 1972 | 48 |
| 723 | Murray Jones | 1973 | 5 |
| 726 | Peter Sloane | 1973 | 16 |
| 733 | Joe Morgan | 1974 | 22 |
| 742 | Ken Going | 1974 | 3 |
| 790 | Eddie Dunn | 1978 | 20 |
| 800 | Mike Burgoyne | 1979 | 6 |
| 822 | Fred Woodman | 1980 | 14 |
| 829 | Wayne Neville | 1981 | 4 |
| 835 | Ian Dunn | 1983 | 13 |
| 844 | Alastair Robinson | 1983 | 4 |
| 855 | Kawhena Woodman | 1984 | 6 |
| 877 | Michael Speight | 1986 | 5 |
| 902 | Ian Jones | 1989 | 105 |
| 930 | Glenn Taylor | 1992 | 6 |
| 976 | Norm Berryman | 1998 | 1 |
| 1106 | Rene Ranger | 2010 | 6 |
| 1165 | Jack Goodhue | 2017 | 19 |