The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union (HBRU) is the governing body of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

in the

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

region of New Zealand. The union is based in Napier. The Hawke's Bay representative team are nicknamed ''The Magpies''.

History

The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union was founded in 1884. This makes it the oldest Provincial Rugby Union outside the four main centres. Hawke's Bay has a very good

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 ...

record with 24 defences from 1922 to 1927, 21 successful defences between 1966 and 1969 as well as 2 defences in 1934. Hawke's Bay won the shield again, claiming it from

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, on 1 September 2013. They lost the shield soon after to Counties-Manukau, before winning it back from them in August 2014. Hawke's Bay's glory days as a rugby union came long before the NPC was founded. As such Hawke's Bay does not have a very flattering record in either that competition or the

Air New Zealand Cup The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. The best position they have managed in either is 3rd. Hawke's Bay dominated the second division of the NPC in the 1990s before the Air New Zealand Cup was set up in 2006. In 1996, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu merged their teams to form the

Central Vikings Central Vikings Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played in the second division of the NPC for two seasons in 1997 and 1998. The team, formed from the merger of the Hawke's Bay and Manawatu unions, featured current and future Al ...

. It was an attempt to elevate the unions back to the then first division. Players including

Mark "Bull" Allen Mark Richard Allen (born 27 July 1967), commonly known as Bull Allen, is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and TV celebrity, reaching iconic status on the New Zealand sports scene in the 1990s. As well as 19 games and 8 test match app ...

Christian Cullen Christian Mathias Cullen (born 12 February 1976) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He played most of his rugby at fullback for New Zealand (the All Blacks), for the Hurricanes in the Super 12, and for Manawatu, Wellington and later ...

Mark Ranby Richard Mark Ranby (born 1 June 1977) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A midfield back, Ranby represented Manawatu, the Central Vikings and Waikato at a provincial level, and the Hurricanes and the Chiefs in Super Rugby. He played ...

, Stephen Bachop and

Roger Randle Roger Quentin Randle (born 15 May 1974 in Hastings, New Zealand) is a New Zealander, New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a Wing (rugby union), wing for the All Blacks. He is currently assistant coach for Chiefs and Maori All Bla ...

featured in the team. The 1997 season saw Central finish overall second with 6 wins, 2 losses and into the semi-finals. In the semi-final, the Vikings avenged their loss to Bay of Plenty in round robin play to face Northland in the final. Northland won the final 63–10. Northland were thus promoted to the First Division. However, had the Vikings won, they would not have been eligible to be promoted. 1998 saw a repeat of form for the Vikings who went unbeaten in the season. They subsequently won the final against Bay of Plenty at McLean Park, Napier and were promoted to First Division. However, due to financial issues, the merger split back to Hawke's Bay and Manawatu. Both unions subsequently became foundation unions of the Air New Zealand Cup which started in 2006. In the past, Hawke's Bay has produced some great All Blacks, including Kel Tremain and

George Nēpia George Nēpia (25 April 1905 – 27 August 1986) was a New Zealand Māori rugby union and rugby league player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand Spor ...

. Hawke's Bay also defeated the

1993 British Lions In 1993 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. This was the last Lions tour in the sport's amateur era. The Lions were managed by Geoff Cooke, coached by Ian McGeechan and Dick Best, and captained by Gavin Hastings. The Lions ...

and in 1994 defeated France (who beat the All Blacks twice in that same tour).

Super Rugby application

In 2009, Hawke's Bay announced they intended to apply to join the

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 ...

competition, when it was announced a fifteenth franchise was to be created. However, in August 2009 the club's chairman Richard Hunt announced they were withdrawing their bid because they had not had sufficient time to present a business plan. He insisted the club remained very serious about joining the club in the future.Hawke's Bay drops Super rugby bid
/ref> Hawke's Bay would be New Zealand's sixth team if they were to join

. With the announcement that New Zealand might receive a 6th Super Franchise in the SANZAAR Super Rugby competition beginning 2016, the Hawke's Bay Union announced its interest in forming this franchise together with Manawatu, therefore effectively resurrecting the

brand as a Super Rugby franchise.

Club rugby

Clubs

Format

After the 2019 club rugby season, changes to the two highest divisions of men's club rugby in Hawke's Bay were announced. Because the first round of the club rugby season of 2020 was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, these changes only took effect in 2021. The new format is as follows. In the first round of the season, ten Premier teams play for the Nash Cup. Only the top eight sides from the Nash Cup will play in the second round for the Maddison Trophy. The two lowest ranked Nash Cup teams will play in a modified Division 1 competition for the new Hepa Paewai Memorial Trophy, along with the six best teams of the round 1 Town & Country competition (two of five Country teams, four of 12 Town teams). At the end of the second round, the two clubs that reach the Division 1 final will earn promotion to the following year's Nash Cup, unless those clubs already have a Premier team in the Nash Cup competition. In that situation, the promotion goes to one or both of the beaten semi-finalists (if eligible themselves). In case two beaten semi-finalists are in contention for one spot in the Nash Cup competition, the winner of the earlier round-robin match between the two clubs will earn the promotion. The new format doesn't only introduce the new Hepa Paewai Memorial Trophy for Division 1, but also sees the introduction of a new trophy for Division 2, the Tom Mulligan Cup. There are no changes to the format of the women's, division 3 and colts' competitions.

2022 Format variation

Due to the ongoing effects of the

, the start of the 2022 club rugby season was delayed by almost a month. As a result, for the 2022 season, some changes were made to the new club rugby format introduced in 2021. In the premiers grade, there is only one round in which eleven teams play 5 home and 5 away matches over 12 weeks of round robin, including one bye-weekend. The highest ranked team at the end of the round robin wins the Nash Cup. The round robin will be followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final to be played by the eight highest ranked teams after the round robin. The winner of the final wins the Maddison Trophy. The club finishing last after the round robin, will be relegated to the Town & Country grade for the 2023 season. There are some less significant changes to other grades of club rugby.

Competition winners

Round one champions: *2022 Nash Cup (Premier): Napier Tech Old Boys Rugby Club *2022 Town & Country: Bridge Pa Rugby (Town grade - Jack Swain Cup) and Otane Sports Club (Country grade - Arthur Bowman Cup) *2022 Maury Cody Cup (Division 3): Clive Rugby and Sports Club *2022 Marsh Cup (Women's grade): Taratech (Taradale and Napier Tech combination team) *2022 Arthur Brown Cup (Colts): Clive Rugby and Sports Club Round two champions: *2022 Maddison Trophy (Premier): Taradale Rugby & Sports Club *2022 Hepa Paewai Memorial Trophy (Division 1): Maori Agricultural College (MAC) Sports Association *2022 Tom Mulligan Cup (Division 2): Hastings Rugby and Sports Club *2022 Ron Parker Memorial Cup (Division 3): not played for *2022 Championship Cup (Women's grade): Taratech (Taradale and Napier Tech combination team) *2022 Pat Ryan Memorial Trophy (Colts): Napier Tech Old Boys Rugby Club U85kg *2022 (inaugural) U85kg club competition winners: Havelock North Rugby Club

School rugby

The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union administers a secondary schools rugby competition, consisting of several boys' grades and two girls' grades. The strongest boys' schools teams, however, compete in interregional competitions. The two best Hawke's Bay rugby schools,

Hastings Boys' High School Hastings Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hastings, New Zealand. The school is part of the Super 8. The school was founded in 1904 as Hastings High School. In 1922, it became Hastings Technical School under the leadership of Wi ...

and

Napier Boys' High School Napier Boys' High School is a secondary boys' school in, Napier, New Zealand. It currently has a school roll of approximately pupils. The school provides education from Year 9 to Year 13. Notable alumni Business * Rod Drury – chief execu ...

, compete in the Super 8 competition in multiple grades, while Lindisfarne College and St John's College, Hastings currently participate in the Central North Island 1st XV competition. Napier Boys High School 1st XV won the Super 8 in 2000, 2002, 2003 and most recently made the Final in 2018. Hastings Boys High School 1st XV won the competition in 2004, 2016, shared the title with

Hamilton Boys' High School Hamilton Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was established as Hamilton High School in 1911 but was later split into separate boys' and gir ...

in 2017, and most recently reached the Final in 2021. Both schools also regularly feature in the (seeded) semi-finals to be played against the winner and runner-up of the Wellington Premiership school rugby competition for the Hurricanes Cup. The winner of the Hurricanes Cup represents the Hurricanes region in the National First XV Championship or Top 4. In the most recent years, the Hurricanes Cup was won by a Hawke's Bay 1st XV team: in 2016, 2017 and 2019 by Hastings Boys High School and in 2018 and 2021 by Napier Boys High School. Due to the

, the Hurricanes Cup and Top 4 were not played for in 2020; the Top 4 has also been cancelled for 2021.

Hawke's Bay in Air New Zealand Cup

Hawke's Bay made their debut, along with Tasman, Manawatu and Counties-Manukau, in the

2006 Air New Zealand Cup The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the inaugural season of the Air New Zealand Cup, contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top team from ''Repechage A'' and ''B'' joine ...

which had 14 teams. Hawkes Bay made their best effort to date in the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup, winning many games even against bigger unions such as Wellington and Waikato. They were the fairytale story of the competition, surprising everyone to reach the semi-finals where they were beaten by Auckland. They repeated this form in the 2008 and 2009 seasons where they were again beaten semi-finalists. This form in back to back seasons attracted warranted attention and many Hawke's Bay players were awarded with Super 14 contracts, both for the Hurricanes and elsewhere.

Bunnings NPC

Hawke's Bay All Black players 2010s

Israel Dagg Israel Jamahl Akuhata Dagg (born 6 June 1988) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby. He has also played for the New Zealand Sevens team, and represents Hawkes Bay in the ITM Cup. Dagg played in ...

2010-2017 * Gareth Evans 2018- *

Zac Guildford Zachary Robert Guildford (born 8 February 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for Waikato in the Mitre 10 Cup. A wing, he has won 11 caps for the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, including during their victorious 201 ...

2009-2012 *

Brodie Retallick Brodie Allan Retallick (born 31 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, who plays as a lock for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and is part of the squad for New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition. Retallick ...

2012- *

Brad Weber Brad McCormick Weber (born 17 January 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a halfback for in the National Provincial Championship and the in Super Rugby. Early life Brother of Napier Marist rugby player Sam Webe ...

2015, 2019- * Folau Fakatava 2022-

Records

Most appearances

*158 –

Neil Thimbleby Neil William Thimbleby (19 June 1939 – 19 March 2024) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A prop, Thimbleby represented Hawke's Bay at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks The New Zeala ...

1959–71 *147 – Hunt R.J. (Richard) 1967–83 *125 – Hunter R.P. (Robbie) 1971–82 *120 – Stuart R.L. (Robbie) 1967–80 *111 – Crawford O. (Orcades) 1988–2000 *108 – Davis W.L. (Bill) 1961–71 *100 – Crawford K.K. (Karaan) 1964–71 *100 – Paewai M.R. (Murdoch) 1991–2003 *100 - Ahipene V.C (Victim) 1960 - 1972

Most points

*1007 – J.B. (Jarod) Cunningham 1990–98 *631 – Bishop I.R. (Ian) 1963–72 *628 - Ihaia West 2012-2017 *435 – Small A.G. (Tony) 1957–65 *386 – O'Shaughnessy P.G. (Peter) 1981–90 *343 – Cooper M.J.A (Matthew) 1985–89 *339 –

Bert Grenside Bertram Arthur Grenside (9 April 1899 – 2 October 1989) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A winger, Grenside represented at a provincial level. He was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks The New Zealand nation ...

1919–31 *311 – Hunter R.P. (Robbie) 1971–82 *304 – Manawatu T.J. (Tim) 2001–03

Most tries

*74 –

1919–31 *68 – Hunter R.P. (RobbieE) 1971–82 *55 – Davis W.L. (Bill) 1961–71 *50 – Tremain K.R. (Kelvin) 1962–70 *45 – Cooke P.J. (Paul) 1985–89 *44 – Smith D.B. (Dennis) 1964–70

Hawke's Bay All Blacks

* Snow Bowman *

Cyril Brownlie Cyril James Brownlie (6 August 1895 – 7 May 1954) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He was educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland, unlike his brothers, Maurice and Laurie, who attended St Patrick's College, Wellington. The brothers ...

* Laurie Brownlie *

Maurice Brownlie Maurice Joseph Brownlie (10 August 1897 – 21 January 1957) was an international New Zealand rugby union player. A loose forward, Brownlie represented at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, f ...

* Jackie Blake * Bill Collins *

Bert Cooke Herbert Michael Cooke was a football manager. He managed Tranmere Rovers from 1912–1935, the longest spell of any manager at the club. He oversaw their first Football League match in 1921. Management career Born in Birkenhead in 1882, Co ...

* Matt Cooper *

Tommy Corkill Thomas George Corkill (9 July 1901 – 9 May 1966) was a New Zealand rugby union player who represented the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks in 1925. His position of choice was preferably a halfback however he was used throughout the b ...

* Doug Dalton *

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

Mark Donaldson Mark Gregor Strang Donaldson, (born 2 April 1979) is an Australian soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia, the highest award in the Australian honours system. Then Trooper Donaldson was a member of the Special Air Service ...

* Mick Duncan * Hika Elliot * David Evans * Bryn Evans * Gareth Evans * Folau Fakatava *

Ben Franks Ben John Franks (born 27 March 1984) is an Australian-born New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He played as a prop. He is one of only 21 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions. Ben Franks along with young ...

Harry Frazer Harry L. Fraser (31 March 1889 – 8 April 1974) was an American film director and screenplay writer. Biography Born in 1889 in San Francisco, Fraser directed over 80 films between 1925 and 1951, including the 1934 John Wayne film ''Randy Rides ...

Blair Furlong Blair Donald Marie Furlong (born 10 March 1945) is a former New Zealand cricketer and rugby union player. Career Rugby At just 18, one year out of Dannevirke High School, Furlong played for Hawke's Bay in their midweek match against the tou ...

* Sam Gemmell *

Norm Hewitt Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...

* Graeme Higginson * Bull Irvine * Everard Jackson *

Alexander Kirkpatrick Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick (25 June 1849 – 22 January 1940) was Regius Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge University (1882–1903) and the third Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge (1898–1907). Life Kirkpatrick was born at Lewes, East Su ...

* Danny Lee *

Ian MacRae Ian Robert MacRae (born 6 April 1943) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A second five-eighth and centre, MacRae represented West Coast, Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand nationa ...

* Hawea Mataira * Jim McCormick * Jack McNab *

Jimmy Mill James Joseph Mill (19 November 1899 – 29 March 1950) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A halfback, Mill represented East Coast, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All B ...

Jack Ormond Tiaki Omana (18 December 1891 – 24 June 1970), also known by the English name Jack Ormond, was a New Zealand rugby union player and politician. He won the Rātana Movement's fourth Maori electorate of Eastern Maori in 1943 from Āpirana Ngata ...

Lui Paewai Lui Paewai (10 August 1906 – 2 January 1970) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A five-eighth and full-back, Paewai represented Hawke's Bay and Auckland at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blac ...

* Tori Reid *

* Pat Ryan * Mark Shaw * Frank Shelford * Dick Steere * Robbie Stuart * Tuna Swain * Ken Taylor * Mark Taylor *

* Hoeroa Tiopira * Kel Tremain *

Notes

References

*. *http://www.espnscrum.com/newzealand/rugby/team/25937.html

External links

*
Hawke's Bay rugby
(NZHistory.net.nz) {{Rugby union in New Zealand

New Zealand rugby union governing bodies Sport in the Hawke's Bay Region Sports organizations established in 1884 1884 establishments in New Zealand