East Tamaki Rugby Football Club is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club based in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. The club was established in 1962 and is affiliated with the

Auckland Rugby Football 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 s ...

History

East Tamaki was initially founded as a "branch" of Otahuhu RFC. However, with the influx of Polynesian immigrants to the

Ōtara Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tāmaki River. The area is traditionally part of t ...

and

East Tāmaki East Tāmaki is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is a largely industrial area adjacent to a rapidly growing population. Prior to the 1960s it was largely a dairy farming area. A landmark is Smales Mountain which in 2010 has the remains of ...

area in the 1960s, East Tamaki broke away from Otahuhu, becoming an independent club in 1962. Today, the club has junior and senior teams, with age grades ranging from under-6 to over-60. To date, the club has never won the

Gallaher Shield The Gallaher Shield is awarded to the winner of the Auckland Rugby Union senior premier competition, and was first awarded in 1922. The shield is named in honour of Dave Gallaher, an early stalwart of Ponsonby, Auckland and New Zealand ...

, the premier senior men's trophy in

rugby.

International players

The club has produced a number of players who have gone on to play international rugby:

New Zealand

Eric Rush Eric James Rush (born 11 February 1965) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer and rugby sevens player, and now a supermarket owner. His New Zealand Sevens career began in 1988 and ran until 2004. Rush played in more than 60 tournaments ...

* Pita Alatini

Manu Samoa

Peter Fatialofa Papali'itele Peter Momoe Fatialofa (Samoan language, Samoan: ''Pita Fatialofa'') (26 April 1959 – 6 November 2013) was a Samoan Rugby union, rugby player who captained Samoa in their first Rugby World Cup appearance in 1991. He was among the f ...

* Francis Leilua *

Junior Paramore Peter "Junior" Paramore (born 18 November 1968) is a Samoan former professional rugby union international, who also spent time playing professional rugby league. Paramore was born in Samoa, and raised in New Zealand, playing his rugby in that c ...

* Ngapaku Ngapaku * Mark Luafalealo * Koki Avei * Tupo Fa'amasino

Tonga

Talai Fifita Talai Fifita (born 24 July 1962) is a former Tongan rugby union football player who played for the national team and East Tamaki RFC. His regular playing position was scrum-half. Career Fifita debuted for Tonga in a match against Fiji, in Suva, ...

* Sam Alatini * Tony Alatini

External links

Club websiteAuckland RFU club profile
{{Rugby union in Auckland Rugby union teams in the Auckland Region Rugby union teams in New Zealand