The Rugby League Cup is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand.

History

New Zealand rugby league was born with events such as the All Golds tour of England, and matches in Wellington and Auckland in 1908. John Coffey writes in ''Te Ara'', "The Auckland Rugby League was formed in July 1909, and North Shore played City as the forerunner to an inter-club competition that started in 1910. By this time, league was also being played in Taranaki, Rotorua, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Marlborough and Southland." The Cup was made in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and donated to

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 ...

for inter-provincial competition by the touring 1910 Great Britain Lions.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. , p.39. The Cup was first contested in 1911, when Auckland successfully defended it four times.Bay crowned cup kings
''Hawke's Bay Today'', 17 September 2007 The Cup was held by Auckland until 1922.

are the current holders of the Cup after they defeated

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

History

Past winners

Year by year

See also

References

External links