The Ngati Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union is a constituent union in the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

. It is located on the East Coast of the North Island, based in

Ruatoria Ruatoria ( mi, Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the Mā ...

. It is the smallest Union in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the sense of player numbers and population base. Due to the high number of players from the Ngati Porou iwi, the team is often referred to as Ngati Porou East Coast. The Ngati Porou East Coast team home ground is

Whakarua Park Whakarua Park is a sports facility which is located on Whakarua Park Road in Ruatoria, Gisborne, New Zealand. The main sport that is played is rugby union, being the home ground of the East Coast Rugby Football Union, known as Ngāti Porou East Co ...

, Ruatoria. Ngati Porou East Coast were holders of the

Meads Cup The Meads Cup is a rugby union trophy named after King Country and All Blacks player Colin Meads. It is contested during the Heartland Championship. It was first awarded in 2006, when the Heartland Championship format was introduced. Competition ...

, defeating Wanganui 29–27 at Whakarua Park on 27 October 2012.

History

The Ngati Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union was formed in 1922 when they split from the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union.

Ranfurly Shield

Ngati Porou East Coast has challenged for the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

eight times losing heavily on each occasion.

Matches

Ngati Porou East Coast in Super Rugby

Ngati Porou East Coast along with Wellington, Wairarapa Bush,

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the north ...

, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu and Horowhenua-Kapiti make up the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

region.

Reputation

The team is renowned for losing 54 consecutive games. However former all blacks Ma’a Nonu and Hosea Gear were involved in the side when they broke that drought in a 50-26 win over Buller.

All Blacks

They have had 6 players play for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

who have played rugby for the East Coast. * A.C.R Jefferd * G. Nēpia * Z. Guildford * H. Gear * M. Nonu * R. Gear

Clubs

Ngati Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union is made up of 9 clubs: * Hicks Bay * Hikurangi Sports Club * Ruatoria City Sports Club * Tawhiti * Tokararangi * Tokomaru Bay United * Tihirau Victory Club (TVC) * Uawa Sports * Waiapu

Championships

Ngati Porou East Coast won the NPC 3rd Division twice, first in 1999 defeating

18–15 in the final at Ruatoria and secondly and more impressively, defeating

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

in front of their home crowd at

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

in a come-from-behind 25–21 victory to record back to back NPC 3rd Division Championships.

1999 NPC 3rd Division

* Overall Season standing: Champions

2000 NPC 3rd Division

* Overall Season standing: Champions

2012 Heartland Championship The 2012 Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two ...

* Overall Season standing: Champions

Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the countr ...
placings

References

External links

Official Site

East Coast rugby
(NZHistory.net.nz) {{Gisborne District New Zealand rugby union teams New Zealand rugby union governing bodies Sport in the Gisborne District Sports organizations established in 1922

History

Ranfurly Shield

Matches

Ngati Porou East Coast in Super Rugby

Reputation

All Blacks

Clubs

Championships

1999 NPC 3rd Division

2000 NPC 3rd Division

2012 Heartland Championship The 2012 Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two ...

Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the countr ... placings

References

External links

Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the countr ...
placings