The Bush Rugby Football Union is a former provincial

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 ...

team from

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 ...

, existing between 1890 and 1971. The union was formed on 19 April 1890 at

Pahiatua , image_skyline = Market day pahiatua 1st dec 2007 1.JPG , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shi ...

by the Pahiatua, Woodville and Eketahuna rugby football clubs. The original plan was to include Dannevirke and name the team "70 Mile Bush", but the Dannevirke club instead opted to remain part of

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 ...

In 1971 Bush amalgamated with the

Wairarapa Rugby Football Union The Wairarapa Rugby Football Union was formed in 1886 and played until 1971, when they amalgamated with the Bush Rugby Football Union to form Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union The Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Football Union is the body that regula ...

to form

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 Champions ...

. In 1950 the Wairarapa and Bush unions put up a combined team to play the touring British Lions, losing 13–27

Ranfurly Shield

Bush had seven unsuccessful challenges for the Ranfurly Shield between 1927 and 1968: * 1927: Wairarapa 53 vs Bush 3, at Masterton * 1928: Wairarapa 57 vs Bush 11, at Masterton * 1939: Southland 38 vs Bush 0, at Invercargill * 1957: Wellington 22 vs Bush 9, at Wellington * 1962: Auckland 46 vs Bush 6, at Auckland * 1965: Taranaki 33 vs Bush 6, at New Plymouth * 1968: Hawke's Bay 36 vs Bush 6, at Napier

All Blacks

Bush had only one All Black during their existence, Athol "Tonk" Mahoney who represented

in 26 matches between 1929 and 1936. Mahoney also played 36 matches for the Bush union between 1927 and 1939.

References

{{reflist Defunct New Zealand rugby union teams Defunct New Zealand rugby union governing bodies 1890 establishments in New Zealand 1971 disestablishments in New Zealand