The North Otago Rugby Football Union (NORFU) is a New Zealand rugby union province based in Oamaru and compete in the

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 ...

. They are one of the strongest teams in The Heartland Championship, winning 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 ...

section of the competition in its second year, 2007 as well as 2010. Their home ground is Whitestone Contracting Stadium, formerly Centennial Park. The North Otago Rugby Football Union was founded in 1927 and over the years they have had many highs and lows. In 1930 they hosted the All Blacks before the first test against the British and Irish Lions, In 1962 they hosted and beat Australia during their tour of New Zealand. In the NPC they had sat near the bottom of the third division table until they beat

Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Football Union The Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Horowhenua and Kapiti Coast districts in the Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington regions. The union was established in 1893 as the ''Horowhenua Rugby Football U ...

in the final in 2002 and moved to the second division where they were regular semi-finalists. In the 2006 Heartland Championship they lost the Meads Cup semi-final to

Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union The Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Football Union is the body that regulates rugby union in Masterton, New Zealand. It was formed in 1971 with the amalgamation of the Wairapapa and Bush Unions. The Wairarapa-Bush team play in the Heartland Championship ...

after being pre-tournament favourites. In 2007 they won the Meads Cup after In the 2010 competition they won the Meads Cup final 39–18 at home against Wanganui.

History

The ''North Otago Rugby Football Union'' was formed in 1904 but didn't join the NZRFU until 1927. In 1930 North Otago played 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 ...

at the Oamaru Showgrounds before the

first test against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

, however North Otago lost 6-34. 1946 saw the first

Hanan Shield The Hanan Shield is one of the most prestigious trophies in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1946 after being presented by the Mayor of Timaru, A.E.S. Hanan. The Hanan Shield is based on a challenge system played ...

fixture with a 6–9 loss against

South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Souther ...

. In 1947 North Otago had two

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 ...

challenges but both were unsuccessful. 1962 saw the province record a fantastic win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

14-13 and another win against

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

19-8 but then a narrow loss to

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 ...

14–11. In 1965 North Otago produced some magic rugby to beat

18–11. The highlight of the 1971 season was the selection of Kurow's Phil Gard for the

, fourth test against the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

at Eden Park. The 1980s were unsuccessful years as North Otago won very few games. The highlight of the early 1990s was a

challenge in 1993 when

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

brought the trophy on tour. The crowd went delirious after 5 minutes when Brent McEwan scored a try from a set move to give North Otago a 5–0 lead. However, the talent of

then shone through and they scored 139 unanswered points.

John Kirwan John Kirwan may refer to: * John Óge Kirwan (fl. 1530–1531), mayor of Galway * Sir John Kirwan (1650–1721), Irish entrepreneur * John Kirwan (cricketer) (1816–1899), English cricketer * John Kirwan (politician) (1869–1949), Australian ...

scored eight tries. The 1997 season proved to be a fairytale effort with the team having its best season yet in NPC rugby. The side finished as top qualifier, won its home semi final and went down to in the final. 1998 saw North Otago lose only two of its nine games. North Otago was now winning more games in a season than it used to win in a decade. A lot of the credit for the massive resurgence in North Otago rugby during this period must go to the outstanding coaches, Greg Shipton and Peter Cook. In 2000, Glenn Moore took over the reins with Paddy Stewart. Moore, a former

Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of C ...

representative, had instant success with the side and only narrowly lost the final against

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

21–25. 2001 looked like North Otago's season, winning all of its seven games. However, in the final it was a disappointing four-point loss to South Canterbury 16–20. 2002 saw the North Otago Rugby Union celebrate its 75th jubilee and it indeed appropriate that in the 75th year of its existence the side should take the third division title beating Horowhenua 43-19 before an ecstatic crowd. 2003 and the challenges of Division Two was very much a daunting task. However, the team responded magnificently and finished in the top four but lost the semi final to Hawke's Bay in Napier in controversial circumstances. The highlight of the season was a superb win against Counties-Manukau. 2004 saw North Otago once again playing above its weight making the semi finals before going down to Nelson Bays.

Club Rugby

North Otago Rugby Football Union is made up of six clubs who play against the Otago Metropolitan Premier Division 2 teams in a combined club competition before playing out for the local Citizens Shield: *Excelsior *Athletic *Kurow *Maheno *Old Boys *Valley The North Otago Rugby Football Union clubs used to play against the

club sides in a combined competition before the combined Otago competition. North Otago also have two strong secondary school teams: *Waitaki Boys High School *Saint Kevins College

Representative Rugby

North Otago have handed out some upsets to teams in the past including a win over

14–13 in 1962. The highlight of the early 1990s was a

challenge in 1993 when Auckland brought the trophy on tour. The crowd went delirious after 5 minutes when Brent McEwan scored a try from a set move to give North Otago a 5–0 lead. However, the talent of

then shone through and they scored 139 unanswered points. John Kirwan scored eight tries. 2002 saw the North Otago Rugby Football Union celebrate its 75th anniversary and it indeed appropriate that in the 75th year of its existence the side should take the third division title beating Horowhenua 43-19 before an ecstatic crowd. North Otago are currently the holders of the

. In 2007, North Otago won the Meads Cup trophy in the

, defeating

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 ...

25–8.

Ranfurly Shield

Since North Otago were founded they have played in 15

matches but are yet to win. North Otago played its first challenge on 27 August 1938 going down to Otago at Carisbrook by 12–0. Their most recent Shield challenge was on 28 August 2020 against

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. *27 August 1938, Otago 12 North Otago 0 *28 September 1946, Southland 15 North Otago 3 (halfback Viv Wright kicked a penalty) *27 September 1947, Otago 42 North Otago 3 (70 metre try to winger Mort Fountain) *21 August 1971, Canterbury 14 North Otago 0 *1 September 1973, Marlborough 26 North Otago 9 (Paddy Ford kicked two penalties and Jeff Gardiner a 55-metre field goal) *31 August 1974, South Canterbury 9 North Otago 3 (Paddy Ford kicked a penalty) *20 July 1983, Canterbury 88 North Otago 0 *1 September 1993, Auckland 139 North Otago 5 (Brent McEwan, 1 try) *8 July 2000, Waikato 95 North Otago 17 (Dean Paterson 1 try, Simon Porter 4 penalties ) *2003, Canterbury 85 North Otago 24 (Campbell Mackenzie, Pila Fifita, Scott Mayhew and Mike Mavor scoring tries, Michael Ruthven and Tevita Asi kicking conversions) *2008, Auckland 113 North Otago 3 (Nathan Cunningham penalty) *9 July 2010, Southland 48 North Otago 3 *2 July 2011, Canterbury 52 North Otago 8 *26 July 2019, North Otago 14 Otago 49 *28 August 2020, Canterbury 71 North Otago 7

Hanan Shield

The

is one of the most prestigious trophies 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 ...

's domestic

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 ...

competition. First played for in 1946, the Hanan Shield is based on a challenge system played between North Otago,

and

. North Otago's best win was in 1997 when they defeated

20–17 to bring the

back to North Otago for the first time in 30 years.

North Otago in Super Rugby

North Otago, along with

and

, make up the Highlanders team that competes in 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 against other New Zealand teams, as well as Australian and South African teams.

North Otago 2002 Season

Still getting over the loss of the 2001 Division 3 NPC final against

, North Otago set out to play harder, faster, and more superb rugby in 2002, And that is exactly what they did. Starting their season off with a

match against

, winning the game 43–16. For the first match of the NPC season they played

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. North Otago hardly let the coasters have the ball and eased to a 60–6 victory.

had the home advantage for the next match but North Otago were still haunted by the memories of 2001 and it showed, North Otago sealing the game 39-9 and also taking the Lochore Cup off them. Back home with the shields and cups, North Otago showed Buller who was boss and a 38–15 win was created. A trip up to Waikanae to play Horowhenua-Kapiti was good for the boys and even better was the 40–0 at the end of the 80 minutes. Back home for their next two games and sitting nicely at the top of the standings they had nothing to worry about. Wanganui tried but failed to win, North Otago running away with the game 73–7.

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 ...

came and went with nothing, scoring five tries but still not good enough losing to North Otago 49–32. Masterton was the next venue for North Otago against Wairarapa-Bush But the locals were unable to cause an upset North Otago winning 27–14. A Quick trip to Taupo to play

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 ...

and almost repeating their last game's score winning 27–16. So North Otago were into the semi finals. And again having to play

in a final. But North Otago provided way to strong winning the match 58–10. So North Otago secured a home final and had to play Horowhenua-Kapiti. With conditions not quite what players and fans had hoped for, North Otago started pulling. Horowhenua-Kapiti tried to get back in the game but North Otago were playing a higher grade of rugby and when the referee blew his whistle to end the match, North Otago had won the title they had been waiting more than four years to get, winning the match 43–19.

North Otago 2007 Season

Since winning the third division title in 2002 North Otago has punched well above its weight making the 2nd Division semi finals in 2003,04, and 2005 but losing all three. In 2006 they entered the

but again losing in the semi-final. But 2007 was a new year and north otago were focused on making the final. North Otago's first game was against buller in Oamaru. Buller managed to get 20 points in but North Otago more than doubled their score taking it away 51–20. A trip to Gisbourne and another win north otago beating Poverty Bay 31–11. North Otago went back home for a

defence against South Cantbury, and continued in their winning streak beating SC 26–7. Another home game another win North Otago beating East Coast 38–5. It was then off to play Wanganui. The Wanganui crowd cheered their team on but their cheering could not prevent North Otago's 39–16 win. King Country came down to play but they never got in the game and North Otago cruised out to a 52–5 lead. Wairarapa Bush tried hard and only just bet North Otago 15–7. One more pool match for North Otago to play and another home game. The crowd came to watch North Otago win but the win never came, Mid-Canterbury took the game and earned the 25–22 win. But the season was not over. North Otago had secured a home semi-final and it was against Wairarapa Bush. Last time the teams faced it was Wairarapa who won, but this time (with the help of loyal locals) North Otago showed the public who was stronger and won the match 30–13. So it was into the finals for North Otago. The conditions were perfect and the local Oamaru people had come out in force to wish their team well. North Otago played hard but so did Wanganui. And the game looked like it may have gone Wanganuis way. But North Otago stayed strong and then turned up the heat winning the

Final 25-8

Notable players

All Blacks

There have only been two players selected for the

whilst playing their club rugby in North Otago. In 1965 and 1966 Ian (Spooky) Smith, who played for the Old Boys Club was selected for tests against South Africa and Campbell Lamberton's Lions. Kurow's

Phil Gard Philip Charles Gard (20 November 1947 – 3 June 1990) was a New Zealand rugby union player who played for North Otago Rugby Football Union, North Otago, and New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand. Gard played 85 matches for North Ot ...

was selected for the

in 1971 when he played the fourth and final test against the British Lions and was on the

1972 internal tour.

All Blacks born in the North Otago region

* Ian Hurst *

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...

Other Notable Players

* Mike Mavor * Barry Fox * Pila Fifita (1st person in any NPC Division to score 3 tries in a final),(Heartland squad),(Tongan National Side) * Fepikou Tatafu (Tongan RWC squad 1999) * Campbell Mackenzie (NZ Divisional XV 04,05) * Scott Mayhew (Heartland Squad) * Kilifi Fangupo (Heartland Squad) * Ross Hay (Heartland Squad) * Tom Wood (England National Side) * Hotili Asi (NPC Player of the year, Tongan National Side, First Division England Rugby, Tasman Makos) * Matt Saunders (Highlanders, Otago NPC & Southland NPC) *

Billy Guyton Bill Guyton (born 17 March 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He played at halfback for provincial side Tasman. Guyton spent the previous three years playing for North Otago in the Heartland championship, making 29 appearances for the p ...

(Heartland Squad, Tasman NPC, Hurricanes, Crusaders & Blues Super Rugby teams) *

Matt Faddes Matt Faddes (born 6 November 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a centre, wing or fullback for Otago. Early career Born in the town of Balclutha, located halfway between Dunedin and Invercargill on New Zealand's ...

(Highlanders, Otago ITM Cup, All Black sevens) * Steven Sasagi (U21 Samoa) *

Sekonaia Kalou Sekonaia Kalou (born April 6, 1984) is a Fijian professional rugby union player who is also known by the name Sekonaia Qaranaqio. He has also represented Fiji at Netball. Rugby career Club career Sekonaia played lock for the Kaikorai Rugby Footb ...

(

Flying Fijians The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union competes every four years at the Rugby World Cup, and their best performances were the 1987 and 2007 tournaments when they defeated Argentina and Wales resp ...

rep and also represented Fiji in volleyball, netball & basketball.

Championships

North Otago won the 3rd Division title in 2002 with a 43–19 win against Horowhenua-Kapiti, which took them into the 2nd Division for the 2003 season. And in 2007 North Otago won the Heartland Championship beating Wanganui 25–8, and also beat Wanganui in the 2010 final 39–18. All Finals were played at Centennial Park in Oamaru.

Heartland Championship placings

Club Rugby

Citizens Shield

The Citizens Shield is North Otago's Premier Men's senior club competition. First awarded in 1903, with the Oamaru Football Club the inaugural holders, it has been played for annually ever since with the only brief breaks happening during World War 1 and 2.

References

External links

Official site
* See also North Otago in the 2008 Heartland Championship {{Rugby union in New Zealand New Zealand rugby union teams New Zealand rugby union governing bodies Sport in Otago Sports organizations established in 1904 Sport in Oamaru

History

Club Rugby

Representative Rugby

Ranfurly Shield

Hanan Shield

North Otago in Super Rugby

North Otago 2002 Season

North Otago 2007 Season

Notable players

All Blacks

All Blacks born in the North Otago region

Other Notable Players

Championships

Heartland Championship placings

Club Rugby

Citizens Shield

Sponsors

References

External links