Auckland Rugby Union

The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since shrunk to include only a portion of the Auckland urban area. The union governs the Auckland representative team, which has won New Zealand's first-tier domestic provincial competition 17 times, more than any other team. Their most recent title was the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup Premiership. The union administers all club rugby within its boundaries, including the Gallaher Shield and other senior club rugby, as well as school rugby. Auckland also acts as a primary feeder to the Blues, who play in the Super Rugby competition.

History

In September 1875 an Auckland team commenced the first organised rugby tour of New Zealand (or the Colony as it was known). At this time players from Thames and Waikato were also included in the team which played five matches between 18 and 28 September 1875 against representative teams from Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson and Picton and Taranaki. They lost all five matches.

In 1876 Canterbury were the first province to make a representative trip to Auckland where they played the match at Graham's Gardens, Ellerslie which Auckland won 7-3. A follow up match against Thames was also won by Auckland. In August 1877 an Otago team first visited Auckland and the match played at Ellerslie ended up a draw 0-0. In September 1880, the first Wellington team to visit Auckland resulted in a 4–0 win for them at the Auckland Domain. Auckland hosted a New South Wales team in September and October 1882, where Auckland won the two matches at the Auckland Domain.

The Early Years (1883 – 1899)

The Auckland Rugby Football Union (ARFU) or Auckland Rugby Union Football Association as it was then known was officially formed on 20 April 1883, in response to the need for a governing body to oversee rugby in Auckland. A preliminary meeting earlier in the year led to the drafting of rules and a constitution, which were finalised at a gathering at the United Service Hotel, Auckland. Mr. H. Croxton was elected President, with Mr. W. H. Gretton as Honorary Treasurer, alongside representatives from affiliated clubs. The Auckland, Grafton, North Shore and Ponsonby clubs belonged to the Association and any other clubs in the Auckland Provincial District could be admitted. The union joined the Canterbury, Wellington and Otago unions in the fledgling New Zealand Rugby Football Union.

The first representative match played by Auckland as a union was against Canterbury at Lancaster Park, Christchurch on 25 August 1883, with Auckland winning 4-1. This match was followed by a drawn match against Otago at the Caledonian Ground, Dunedin on 1 September 1883. A further match against Wellington at Newtown Park on 8 September 1883 resulted in a draw as well.

On 25 April 1884, the first annual meeting was held and included the admittance of the Newton, Gordon and Albert clubs as 'senior clubs. There were no provincial fixtures until 1886 which included a match against Wellington in Auckland and a visit by the New South Wales team for three matches which were all won by Auckland.

In 1887, Auckland began playing their matches at Potters' Paddock which included their first match against Taranaki on 21 June which they lost. Auckland played further home matches against Canterbury (a draw) and Otago (a win).

Auckland has been the most successful union in New Zealand rugby history, having won a record 16 ITM Cup (and predecessor competition) titles. Auckland also holds the record for the most Ranfurly Shield wins (16), successful defences (148), and longest streak of successful defences (61). All Blacks statistics also reveal the extent of Auckland's influence: of the 1071 players to have worn the national jersey from 1888 to 2008, 133 were born in Auckland, compared to Christchurch (74), Wellington (60) and Dunedin (53).

In 1996, with the advent of professional rugby union, Auckland became the host, and primary feeder, to the Blues, known from 1996 to 1999 as the Auckland Blues.

Golden eras

Auckland went undefeated for six seasons from 1897, with victory over the British and Irish Lions in 1904. There was an undefeated run in the early 1920s under Sir Vincent Meredith. The 1960 to 1963 period, known as the Golden Era, was summed up in ''The Golden Years'' written by Don Cameron in 1983. Sir Wilson Whineray, who captained Auckland through those years and the All Blacks in 30 tests from 1957 to 1965, describes the period as one of "excitement, drama and fervor that transformed Eden Park into an oasis of magic during the winters of 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963." The period from 1982 to 2007 is also regarded as a golden period, with Auckland winning more than half (16 out of 26 ) of all NPC titles and five South Pacific Championship titles during the era and winning the team of the year award at the 1992 Halberg Awards.

Ranfurly Shield years

Auckland were the first holders of the Ranfurly Shield in 1902 and have won 153 out of 194 shield matches – the most successful record of any provincial union. Notable periods include from 1905 to 1913, when they defeated 23 successive challenges, 1960 and 1963, when 25 challenges were defeated, 1985 to 1993, when a record 61 were defeated. Auckland most recently held the shield between 2007 and 2008, when 5 challenges were defeated. Players like Andy Haden, Sean Fitzpatrick, John Drake, Olo Brown, Zinzan and Robin Brooke, Gary and Alan Whetton, Michael Jones, Steve McDowall, Grant Fox, Bernie McCahill, Grant Dickson, Mark Carter, Joe Stanley, John Kirwan and Terry Wright were important in Auckland's success in that last period.

In 1993, Auckland defeated the British Lions by 23–18 during their tour to New Zealand.

With six titles in the 1990s and four in the 2000s, Auckland's domination of the New Zealand rugby landscape continued. The 2007 team was the first since the 1990 side to remain unbeaten in a season and win the Ranfurly Shield and the provincial championship. Players like Kees Meeuws, Keven Mealamu, Ali Williams, Justin Collins, Xavier Rush, Steve Devine, Brad Mika, Ben Atiga, Doug Howlett, Daniel Braid, Brent Ward and Angus Macdonald contributed to that success.

Auckland' fortunes collapsed when New Zealand Rugby moved to being a professional sport. It was 2018 before an Auckland side once again won the National Provincial Championship.

Honours

*National Provincial Championship/Air New Zealand Cup/ITM Cup/Mitre 10 Cup (17):
1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2018

*South Pacific Championship/Super 6/Super 10 (4):
1987 (shared with Canterbury), 1988, 1989, 1990

*Ranfurly Shield
1902–04 (0), 1905–13 (23), 1934–35 (1), 1952 (0), 1959 (2), 1960–63 (25), 1965 (3), 1971 (1), 1972 (0), 1974–76 (10), 1979 (6), 1985–93 (61), 1995–96 (3), 1996–97 (6), 2003–04 (2), 2007–08 (5)

List of Auckland Senior Representative Players (1883 - tbc)

Other representative teams

In addition to the Men's 1st XV, the ARU has a number of other representative teams for both Men and Women. Their women's team, known as the Auckland Storm, are the most successful women's team in New Zealand.

Club rugby

The earliest senior foundation clubs in the union were Auckland (1871), North Shore (1873), Grafton (1874), Ponsonby (1874), Newton (1884), Gordon (1884), Albert (1884), College Rifles (1897), University (1888), Marist (1908), Grammar (1914) and Suburbs (1918). The following teams all field teams in the Auckland Rugby Union senior rugby competition in its various forms:

Gallaher Shield

The premier competition's championship round was renamed the Gallaher Shield in 1922, in memory of Ponsonby, Auckland and New Zealand player Dave Gallaher who captained the 1905 All Blacks, known as The Originals, before retiring after the tour. He became the sole selector to the Auckland team, leading the side to eight successive Ranfurly Shield wins, before he served on the All Blacks selection committee from 1907 to 1914. He then joined the army at a relatively late age, and was killed in the Passchendaele offensive in 1917 aged 43. His Ponsonby side has dominated the Gallaher Shield, winning it 33 times.

Structure

The Auckland Rugby Football Union currently consists of 20 senior representative clubs from the Auckland isthmus and wider region. The premier competition runs from March to August and is split into three segments: the Waka Nathan Challenge Cup from March to May (primarily a pre-season tournament), the Alan McEvoy Round-Robin, and the Championship Round (finals series).

* The Waka Nathan Challenge Cup and Pollard Cup

The Waka Nathan Challenge Cup is contested at the beginning of the season in a knockout style competition. Teams play for the cup and a winners prize of $2500. Eight teams compete for the Waka Nathan Cup while the bottom seven teams from the previous year's competition contest the Pollard Cup.

* The Alan McEvoy Round-Robin

The 15 teams entered into the Premier Competition play a 15-week round-robin, played on Saturdays. The team with the highest competition points at the end of this round will be awarded the Alan McEvoy Memorial Trophy which commemorates Alan McEvoy an Auckland rep and All Black Trialist who drowned tragically at Baylys Beach in the early 1950s. To determine this, the bonus points system is used. Teams will be seeded 1–16 after this round. The Fred Allen Trophy is also played for during the round-robin phase. It is similar to the Ranfurly Shield, where it is only up for grabs at home games of the trophy holder. It is not contested in the Championship Round.

* Championship Round

In the Championship Round the sixteen teams are split into the top and bottom eight. It is played over three weeks. The top eight compete for the Gallaher Shield, named after former Auckland and All Blacks player Dave Gallaher, while the bottom eight compete for the Portola Trophy.
The first week is a quarter-finals style format where the top seeded team play the bottom seeded team and the second seeded team play the second to last seeded team etc. The four losers from each group of eight go on to play for the Jubilee Trophy (Gallaher Shield Losers) and the President's Cup (Portola Trophy Losers). The next week is semi-finals and the two winners compete for the four trophies mentioned, with the overall champion being the winner of the Gallaher Shield Final.

Affiliated clubs

Gallaher Shield

The Gallaher Shield is awarded to the winner of the senior premier club rugby competition, for overall club records see Gallaher Shield page.

School competition

The union are one of three organisations (the others bein
Collegesport
and the Secondary Schools Executive Committee) responsible for administering the local secondary school competitions. Notable rugby schools in Auckland include Auckland Grammar School, De La Salle College, Kelston Boys High School, King's College, Mount Albert Grammar School, Sacred Heart College and St Kentigern College. The 1st XV competition is split across three divisions, these being 1A, 1B and 1C. In addition to the 1st XV competition there a number of lower-grade (non-1st XV) and girls competitions.

Supporters

The Auckland Rugby Union Supporters Club (ARUSC) was established in 1976 after a meeting between ARFU administration and a group of supporters. The club's emblem is the "Flying Elephant", which was agreed upon after a competition to find a mascot was found. The winner of the competition was Mr J.E. Hannan. The supporters club is currently located under the North (ASB) Stand at Eden Park.

The ARUSC also has the Junior Rugby Foundation (JRF) to provide education, assistant and support for the promotion and development of participation by young people in rugby within the areas governed by the ARFU. Recent JRF bursary recipients include Liaki Moli, Sean Polwart and Tyrone Ngaluafe.

Stadium

Auckland play their home matches at Eden Park, and have done so since 1925. The ground opened in 1900 and also is used for cricket. Eden Park has the largest crowd capacity of any New Zealand sporting venue, with a capacity of 50,000 for rugby matches.

Bunnings NPC

All Blacks

This is a list of players who were selected for the New Zealand All Blacks when they were a member of the Auckland senior provincial representative rugby union team. Players are listed by the decade they were first selected in and players in bold are current All Blacks.

1880–1899

1900–1919

1920–1939

1940–1959

1960–1979

1980–1989

1990–1999

2000–

References

External links

Official SiteSupporters ClubAuckland Rugby
(NZHistory.net.nz)

{{Authority control

Rugby union teams in New Zealand
New Zealand rugby union governing bodies
Sports organizations established in 1883
Rugby union in the Auckland Region