The King Country 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 in the central North Island of

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 an area known as the

King Country The King Country (Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from the Kawhia Harbour and the town of Otorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of ...

. It was formed in 1922 when the South Auckland Rugby Union was split into three (the other two Unions formed were

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

and

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

). The King Country team play from Owen Delany Park, Taupo, Rugby Park, Te Kuiti and Taumarunui Domain,

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of T ...

. King Country, like many other heartland unions, have struggled since the start of professional era. In 1996, King Country were in the first division of the NPC and in just 6 years were in the third division.

History

The original

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 it ...

was formed in 1905 by the Manunui, Matapuna, Oio and Kakahi rugby clubs. In 1907, the newly formed

rugby club replaced Oio. The current

Rugby Football Union was formed in 1922, by the amalgamation of the first

Rugby Union (which was renamed as the

Sub-union in 1922) along with the Ruapehu Sub-union in

Ohakune Ohakune is a small town at the southern end of Tongariro National Park, close to the southwestern slopes of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu, in the North Island of New Zealand. A rural service town known as New Zealand's Carrot Capital, Ohak ...

(founded 1908),

Maniapoto Maniapoto was a Māori '' rangatira'' (chieftain) of Ngāti Raukawa in the Tainui tribal confederation from the Waikato region, New Zealand, and the founding ancestor of the Ngāti Maniapoto iwi. Initially, he based himself at Waiponga in the M ...

Sub-union in Te Kuiti (1907) and Ohura Valley Sub-union (1920). These were joined by Otorohanga Sub-union in 1927,

Kawhia Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southw ...

in 1926 and Kaitieke in 1933 with the Taupo Sub-union transferring from the Hawkes Bay Rugby Union in 1987. The Ruapehu Sub-union returned to its original parent union the Wanganui Rugby Union in 1970. This was the second attempt to establish a

in the middle of the North Island, as in 1920 the Rangatiki,

Taihape Taihape is in the Rangitikei District of the North Island of New Zealand. It serves a large rural community. State Highway 1, which runs North to South through the centre of the North Island, passes through the town. History and culture Early ...

, Ruapehu sub-unions (all affiliated to the Wanganui Rugby Union), and the King Country Union (affiliated to South

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

) had applied for affiliation as the Main Trunk Union. However, this was declined after the Wanganui Rugby Union objected to the loss of their country players. In those early years

representative games were held in Te Kuiti,

and

Raetihi Raetihi, a small town in the center of New Zealand's North Island, is located at the junction of State Highways 4 and 49 in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. It lies in a valley between Tongariro and Whanganui National Parks, 11 kilometres west ...

Ōtorohanga Ōtorohanga is a north King Country town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located south of Hamilton and north of Te Kūiti, on the Waipā River. It is a service town for the surrounding dairy-farming distri ...

was first used for a representative game in 1939 with representative games also being hosted in Tokaanu (1966) and

Tūrangi Tūrangi is a small town on the west bank of the Tongariro River, 50 kilometres south-west of Taupō on the North Island Volcanic Plateau of New Zealand. It was built to accommodate the workers associated with the Tongariro hydro-electric pow ...

(1967).

played in light

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

and

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

until 1949 when it switched to maroon and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

hoops. In 1980, a maroon jersey with gold collar and cuffs was adopted. The current strip has been used since 1994.

has made 19 challenges 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 ...

over the years without success but having come close at times, going down to

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

in a hard fought game 11-15 in 1958. In 1969 they came even closer when good mates

Colin Meads Sir Colin Earl Meads (3 June 1936 – 20 August 2017) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He played 55 test matches (133 games), most frequently in the lock forward position, for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks, from 1957 until 19 ...

and Kel Tremain were the respective captains,

storming back from 6-19 at half time in a torrid second half before going down 16–19. A well known and amusing challenge in 1988 against

at Rugby Park in Te Kuiti when “Boris the Boar” mysteriously got onto the field and camped in the

25 for much of the second half. With the 2020 Heartland Championship cancelled due to Covid-19 the Rams played three First-Class Fixtures against their traditional Heartland Rivals. King Country lost their first match against Wairarapa-Bush in the inaugural Mead-Lochore Scroll Fixture (18-22). The won their second fixture versus East Coast (34-22) and in their final game they became holders of the Sir Colin Meads Memorial log beating Wanganui 16-11 in Taumarunui. This game was also Carl Carmichaels 100th first-class game.

Championships

Heartland Championship placings

Ranfurly Shield

King Country have never held the

King Country in Super Rugby

King Country along with

, Counties Manukau,

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

and

make up the Chiefs region.

All Blacks

There have had 8 players selected 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, ...

whilst playing for King Country. The most famous King Country

All Black 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, ...

is All Black of the century, Sir Colin Meads. * Kevin Boroevich * Ronald Bryers * Phil Coffin * Jack McLean * Sir Colin Meads * Stanley Meads * Bill Phillips * Graham Whiting Additionally, former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

captain and coach Martin Johnson played for King Country, during his early career. Further former Welsh hooker Garin Jenkins spent a spell playing for the province in his younger years.

Player records

Clubs

King Country Rugby Football Union is made up of 11 clubs. * Bush United Rugby Football Club, Benneydale * Kio Kio United Sports Club, Maihiihi * Piopio Rugby Football Club, Piopio * Taumarunui Districts Rugby Football Club,

* Taumarunui Rugby & Sports Club,

* Taupo Marist, Taupo * Taupo Rugby & Sports Club, Taupo * Taupo United Inc. Taupo * Tongariro Sports Club Inc. Turangi * Waitete Rugby Football Club, Te Kuiti * Waitomo Rugby Sports & Recreation Club,

Waitomo Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred i ...

Secondary schools

King Country is geographically is a large union covering a wide area, however the population is very small, as a result there are only a few secondary schools within the region. As a result King Country Rugby Union doesn't have a consolidated Secondary Schools competition, rather the schools play their rugby in over provinces such as

and

Rugby Unions. These schools are still eligible for the King Country Secondary Schools and U19 Rugby Representative teams however. * Ōtorohanga College * Piopio College *

Tauhara College Tauhara College is a state coeducational secondary school located in Taupo, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13, the school has approximately 600 students. Tauhara College is one of three high schools in Taupo; the others are Taupo-nui-a-Tia Col ...

Taumarunui High School Taumarunui High School is a state coeducational secondary school located in Taumarunui, New Zealand. There are approximately 300 students. The school was originally located in the township. The school's colours are navy blue and gold. Notable ...

* Taupo-nui-a-Tia College * Te Kuiti High School * Te Kura o Hirangi, Tūrangi * Tongariro School, Tūrangi together these schools are able to challenge for the Sam Te Kaha Shield, which is a challenge shield between all King Country Secondary Schools.

References

External links

Official site

King Country , Rugby Database Profile

Taumarunui Rugby and Sports Reunion Website

King Country rugby
(NZHistory.net.nz) {{Rugby union in New Zealand New Zealand rugby union teams New Zealand rugby union governing bodies Sport in Waikato Sports organizations established in 1922 1922 establishments in New Zealand Sport in Taupō