From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wellington Rugby Football Union
Wellington Rugby Football Union
Wellington Rugby Football Union
Team kit
The Wellington Rugby Football Union (WRFU) is the offi-
cial governing body of rugby union in the city of Welling-
ton, the capital of New Zealand. Also the cities of Porirua,
Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt come under WRFU jurisdic-
tion.It was founded in 1879, making it the second oldest
Nickname(s) Wellington Lions
provincial union in New Zealand, with its 125th jubilee
Founded 1879 celebrated in 2004.
Region Hurricanes
Ground(s) Westpac Stadium (Capacity: 36,000)
Super Rugby
Players from Wellington who are eligible to play in the
Chairman Joe Pope
Super 14 generally play for the Hurricanes, and tradition-
Coach(es) Andre Bell ally contribute the core of the Hurricanes squad. This po-
sition is largely due to the Wellington basing of the Hur-
League(s) ITM Cup
ricanes. Further, Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay, two Hur-
2009 2nd - Runners-up ricane provinces and prolific talent producers, had long
been mired in the second half of the National Provincial
Championship, allowing Wellington to lure the better
players of these provinces with ease (Christian Cullen
from Manawatu for example). The reorganisation of
provincial rugby in 2006 brought all three provinces and
Taranaki into the top-level Air New Zealand Cup, now the
ITM Cup, but Wellington have maintained their regional
dominance.
Since Super Rugby’s inaugural season in 1996 the
Hurricanes have had positive results. They first reached
the semi-finals in 1997 where they lost to the Australian
side the ACT Brumbies. After a number of years they
started to gain some consistency reaching the finals in
four of six years, although falling one game short of the
grand-final losing in the semis on both occasions to the
Crusaders in 2003 and 2005. The following year in 2006
the Hurricanes reached their first Super Rugby Grand Fi-
nal where they lost the game 19 - 12 to none other than
the Crusaders. A return to finals rugby came in both 2008
& 2009 but again the Canes couldn’t reach the grand fi-
nal, bowing out in the semis yet again.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wellington Rugby Football Union
National Representative Rugby The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the ’Log o’
Wood’, is perhaps the most prestigious trophy in New
Zealand domestic rugby. First played for in 1904, the Ran-
furly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than
a league or knockout competition as with most football
trophies. The holding union must defend the Shield in
challenge matches, and if a challenger defeats them, they
become the new holder of the Shield.
Wellington won the first ever shield challenge win-
ning it from Auckland in 1904 and defended it for 4
matches before losing it back to Auckland in 1905. It
wouldn’t be until 1914 when Wellington would get the
shield back by winning it off Taranaki. This marked the
longest time Wellington have held the shield successfully
defending it for 15 matches until losing it again to South-
land in 1920. They beat Southland a year later to regain
the shield before promptly losing to Hawkes Bay after
only 2 matches. Wellington held the shield for only one
Wellington Lions logo match in 1930 and after losing it to Canterbury they
would not regain the shield until 1953. Up until the 1980s
The senior Wellington representative team, the Welling- Wellington had short stints defending the shield but after
ton Lions play in the ITM Cup, which replaced the Na- losing it to Canterbury in 1982 it was to prove elusive.
tional Provincial Championship in 2006 as the Air New Wellington suffered 10 unsuccessful challenges for the
Zealand Cup. The Lions have won the provincial compe- Ranfurly Shield until they took it off Auckland in 2008,
tition four times since its inception in 1976. The titles scoring five tries in a 27-0 victory, on the weekend of the
came in 1978, 1981, 1986 and most recently in 2000. Their Auckland Union’s 125th anniversary.
colours are gold and black as shown on the Lions jersey. Wellington lost the shield to Canterbury on the 29th
The Lions play their home games at the Westpac Stadi- of August. Losing 36-14 at the Cake-tin. Canterbury then
um, previously playing at Athletic Park until 1999. Even held the shield for 4 defences (over 8 weeks) before losing
with an All-Star backline in the late 1990s including to Southland on the 22nd of October
Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga, Jonah Lomu and Alama
Ieremia what was a superb team on paper never lived up
to expectations and Wellington became known for its in-
International Matches
consistency. More recently it should be noted however Wellington has played a number of times against touring
that although the Lions have been unable to win another international rugby teams. Wellington drew with the Bri-
national title the Wellington side have made it all the way tish and Irish Lions in 1888 and beat them in 1908, 1930
to the grand final in six out of the last seven years, losing and 1966 . They have also played other international
to Auckland in 2003, to Canterbury in 2004, to Waikato sides such as South Africa on several occasions.
in 2006, Auckland in 2007, Canterbury again in 2008, and
most recently to Canterbury in the 2009 Air New Zealand
Cup.
Local Club Rugby
The Wellington Lions’ 2009 Air New Zealand Cup sea- Club rugby is a large part of Wellington rugby. 18 clubs
son went well, with the side finishing 2nd on the table. comprise the Wellington union and all contribute at least
They beat Ranfurly Shield holders Southland in their se- one team to the club competitions. The premier trophy
mi final, but lost to Canterbury in the final at AMI Stadi- in Wellington club rugby is the Jubilee Cup, which was
um on the 7th of November won in 2010 by Northern United. Petone are the club with
the most Jubilee Cup successes having won the title 22
times.
Ranfurly Shield Years in parenthesis are when the current club was
Ranfurly Shield formed, though many are amalgamations of previously
extant clubs. Wellington FC has the longest continuous
Current holder Canterbury existence of any club in New Zealand.
• Avalon RFC (1980) (Lower • Petone Rugby Club
Defences 0
Hutt) (1885) (Lower
Next Challenge 2010 Hutt)
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wellington Rugby Football Union
• College Old Boys-Victoria
University (1991)
• Poneke FC (1883)
(Wellington)
Squad
(Wellington) • Rimutaka RFC Squad for the 2011 ITM Cup: The 2011 Vodafone Welling-
• Eastbourne RFC (Lower (1982) (Upper ton Lions squad is as follows:[1]
Hutt) Hutt) Props Loose For- Centres
• Hutt Old Boys-Marist RFC • Stokes Valley RFC • Arden wards • Alapati
(Lower Hutt) (1949) (Lower David- • Dean Leiua
• Johnsonville RFC (1900) Hutt) Perrot Brunsdon • Charlie
(Wellington) • Tawa RFC (1947) • Jacob • Scott Ngatai
• Marist-St Pat’s RFC (1971) (Wellington) Ellison Fuglistaller • Conrad
(Wellington) • Upper Hutt RFC • Reggie • Faifili Smith
• Northern United RFC (1920) (Upper Goodes Levave • Shaun
(1990) (Porirua) Hutt) • Neemia • Serge Lilo Treeby
• Oriental-Rongotai FC • Wainuiomata RFC Tialata • Brad Wings
(1969) (Wellington) (1946) (Lower • Jeffery Shields • Hosea
• Paremata-Plimmerton Hutt) Toomaga- • Victor Vito Gear
RFC (1959 (Porirua) • Wellington FC Allen Half Backs • Julian
(1871) Hookers • TJ Savea
(Wellington) • Dane Perenara • Apoua
• Western Suburbs Coles • Piri Weepu Stewart
RFC (1983) • Motu • Frae Full Backs
(Wellington) Matu’u Wilson • Cory Jane
Wellington club rugby is contested over the following Locks Fly Halfs • Jason
grades: • Api • Hayden Woodward
• Premier - 12 teams contest the Swindale Shield over Naikatini Cripps
the first round. Top 8 go through to the Jubilee Cup • Mark • Michael
round. Bottom 4 go to the Hardham cup round. Reddish Hobbs
• Senior 1 - 12 teams contest the Harper Lock Shield. • Jeremy • Lima
Top 4 go through to the Hardham Cup. Remaining 8 Thrush Sopoaga
contest the Ed Chaney Cup (C)
• Senior 2 - 12 teams contest the National Mutual Cup.
Top 2 go through to the Ed Chaney Cup. Remaining
10 contest the HD Morgan Memorial.
Notable players
The proviso with all these grades is that no club can have • Jerry Collins
more than one team in each grade. • Christian Cullen
• Senior 3 • Lome Fa’atau
• Under 21 • Ross Filipo
• Under 19 • Roy Kinikinilau
• Under 85 kilogram restricted • Jonah Lomu
• Reserves • Ma’a Nonu
• Presidents (over 35’s) • Kristian Ormsby
• Women’s Premier • Shannon Paku
• Semo Sititi
• Elvis Seveali’i
Jersey • Sireli Bobo
Main sponsor is Vodafone. Apparel is supplied by Canter- • Conrad Smith
bury of New Zealand. Other sponsors include: • Rodney So’oialo
• Dunlop • Neemia Tialata
• Ricoh • Tana Umaga
• Tui • Piri Weepu
• Interislander • David Holwell
• Cory Jane
• Victor Vito
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wellington Rugby Football Union
References External links
[1] http://www.wellingtonlions.co.nz/news/ • Official site
499-vodafone-wellington-lions-2011-squad- • Wellington Lions
announced • Wellington rugby (NZHistory.net.nz)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington_Rugby_Football_Union"
Categories: Wellington Rugby Football Union, New Zealand rugby union teams, New Zealand rugby union governing
bodies, Sport in Wellington
This page was last modified on 14 July 2011 at 23:44. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Mobile view
4