London New Zealand Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club currently based in Acton, London. They were formed in 1926 as a club for New Zealand expatriates in the United Kingdom and are affiliated to the

Middlesex Rugby Football Union Middlesex Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Middlesex, England; Middlesex is a historic county of England that covers areas in the ceremonial counties of Greater London, Surrey and Hertfordshire. The historic county is still in ...

History

London New Zealand was initially founded in 1926 for visitors from New Zealand to be able to play rugby in England. However the club became inactive during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and remained so until 1962. The club were initially based at Aorangi Park in Wimbledon, leased from the

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon ...

. The lease was terminated by the All England club in 1981 in order for

The Championships, Wimbledon The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is play ...

to be held. Since then the club has been nomadic, moving to

Osterley Osterley () is an affluent district of the historic parish of Isleworth in west London approximately from Charing Cross and is part of the London Borough of Hounslow. Most of its land use is mixed agricultural and aesthetic parkland at Oster ...

and

Greenford Greenford () is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, England, lying west from Charing Cross. It has a population of 46,787 inhabitants, or 62,126 with the inclusion of Perivale. Greenford is served by Greenford Station (L ...

before settling in Acton and playing their matches at

Wasps FC {{Infobox rugby team , teamname = Wasps Football Club , nickname = , image = WaspsFC1867.png , colours = Black and yellow , fullname = , founded = 1867 , ground = Twyford Avenue Sports Ground , capacity = , location = ...

's Twyford Avenue Sports Ground. By 2012, the club had downsized to running only one team.

Privileges

A number of players for the

New Zealand national rugby union team 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 ...

have played for London New Zealand including:

Doug Rollerson Douglas Leslie Rollerson (14 May 1953 – 3 May 2017) was a New Zealand rugby union and rugby league player, and rugby union executive. Rugby union Primarily a fullback and first five-eighth, Rollerson represented Manawatu at a provincial lev ...

, Terry Morrison and

Paul Sapsford Herbert Paul Sapsford (8 September 1949 – 29 December 2009) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A prop, Sapsford represented Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, on the 1976 tour of ...

. In recognition of their history, the club have been granted privileges from both the Rugby Football Union and the

New Zealand Rugby 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 ...

. They are the only rugby team aside of New Zealand national representative teams that wears the

silver fern ''Alsophila dealbata'', synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into New Zealand English as a generic term fo ...

as their crest and the RFU exempted them from the overseas player quotas, prior to their abolition. The club have also taken part in a number of New Zealand government functions, including traditionally playing a rugby match against an invitational national side for commemorations of the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (german: link=no, Dritte Flandernschlacht; french: link=no, Troisième Bataille des Flandres; nl, Derde Slag om Ieper), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele (), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by t ...

. They also represent New Zealand culturally in England by performing the traditional

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em Rugby union clubs in London 1926 establishments in England Rugby clubs established in 1926 English rugby union teams Diaspora sports clubs in the United Kingdom New Zealand diaspora in Europe