Northland Rugby Union
# Northland Rugby Union

The Northland Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Northland, New Zealand; Northland is a region of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts of Far North, Kaipara, and Whangārei. Established in 1920, they represent the Bunnings NPC side, Northland Taniwha, and Farah Palmer Cup side, Northland Kauri. It is also affiliated with the Blues Super Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are sky blue and they play their home games at Semenoff Stadium in Morningside.

## Affiliated clubs

There are currently 39 registered clubs incorporated and secondary schools affiliated with the Northland Rugby Union, most of which have teams at both senior and junior levels.

* Awanui Rugby Football Club
* Dargaville High School
* Eastern United Rugby & Sports Club
* The Hora Hora Rugby Union Football Club
* Kaeo Rugby and Sports Club
* Kaihu Valley Rugby Football Club
* Kaikohe Rugby Football and Sports Club
* Kaitaia City Rugby Union Football Club
* Kaitaia College
* Kamo High School
* Kamo Rugby and Squash Club
* Kerikeri High School
* Kerikeri Rugby Union Football Club
* Mangakahia Rugby Club
* Mid-Northern Rugby Football Club
* Midwestern Rugby Union And Squash Club
* Moerewa Rugby Football and Recreation Sports Club
* Northland College
* Old Boys Marist Rugby & Sports Club
* Old Boys Rugby Football & Softball Club
* Onerahi Rugby Football Club
* Otamatea Hawks Rugby Club
* Rodney College
* Taiamai Ohaeawai Rugby Football and Sports Club
* Te Rarawa Rugby Club
* The Aupouri Rugby Football and Sports Club
* The City Rugby Union Football Club
* The Dargaville Rugby and Sports Club
* The Hikurangi Rugby Union Football Club
* The Okaihau Rugby Union Football and Sports Club
* The Otiria Rugby Union Football and Sports Club
* The Southern Football Club
* The Tomarata Rugby Football Club
* Tikipunga Rugby Club
* United Kawakawa Rugby Football Club
* Waipu Rugby Squash Club
* Wellsford Rugby Football Club
* Whangārei Boys' High School
* Whangaruru Rugby Football Club

## History

### Early years

Northland Rugby Union was known as North Auckland Rugby Union following the amalgamation of Whangārei, Northern Wairoa, Bay of Islands, and Otamatea initially and then followed by Mangonui, Kaipara, Hokianga, Whangaroa, and Rodney in 1925. Rugby union was first played in Northland in late 1880, and the first union was set up in the province in 1895, known as the Marsden Football Union. In 1994, North Auckland changed its name to the Northland Rugby Football Union. They played their first ever match as a union on 3 August 1920, in an 11-0 victory over South Island Country. However, they did not play their first inter-union match until 27 July 1922, an 8-6 loss to Auckland. Their first inter-union win came in August 1923, when they beat King Country

The Auckland Rugby Union and Northland Rugby Union became regular rivals. They had Ranfurly Shield victories over them in 1960 and 1971. Northland won the Ranfurly Shield on two further occasions. 1950, when they defeated South Canterbury and 1978, when they defeated Manawatu. In the 1971 challenge Northland won 17-12 in a narrow match played in front of 47,000 people at Eden Park, Auckland. The following season 40,000 spectators packed Whangārei Okara Park to watch the rematch. With the city's population only 34,000, this showcased the significance of both the shield and the rivalry with Auckland. However they lost 15-16.

The reputation of Northland rugby took a downfall following its controversial victory over Manawatu in 1978. After what seemed to be an excessive amount of stoppage time, Northland kicked a winning penalty. What followed was the refusal that the union wouldn’t put the shield on the line for its final home matches of the season against Southland and Otago. However no rules were broken.

### Professional era

Northland began their professional era playing in the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup competition. They are known as the Taniwha, a reference to the mascot adopted in the professional era. Along with Auckland and North Harbour, Northland is part of the Blues Super Rugby franchise.

## Season standings

The following is a summary of every season for the Northland Taniwha since 2006. Position indicates the teams regular season finish.

| Year | Position | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points | Captain | Head Coach | Finals |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | 10th | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | David Holwell | Mark Anscombe | |
| 2007 | 10th | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 19 | Justin Collins | Mark Anscombe | |
| 2008 | 9th | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 22 | Justin Collins | Mark Anscombe | |
| 2009 | 13th | 13 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 16 | Jared Payne | Bryce Woodward | |
| 2010 | 10th | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 29 | Jared Payne | Bryce Woodward | |
| 2011 | 5th | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 19 | Jared Payne | Adriaan Ferris | |
| 2012 | 5th | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 | Rene Ranger | Adriaan Ferris | |
| 2013 | 6th | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 13 | Rene Ranger | Derren Witcombe | |
| 2014 | 3rd | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 25 | Cameron Eyre | Derren Witcombe | Lost to Hawke's Bay in semi final |
| 2015 | 7th | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | Matt Moulds | Richie Harris | |
| 2016 | 6th | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 | Matt Moulds | Richie Harris | |
| 2017 | 4th | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 25 | Matt Moulds | Derren Witcombe | Lost to Wellington in semi final |
| 2018 | 4th | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 24 | Matt Moulds | Derren Witcombe | Lost to Waikato in semi final |
| 2019 | 6th | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 11 | Jordan Olsen | Derren Witcombe | |
| 2020 | 3rd | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 24 | Jordan Olsen | George Konia | Lost to Hawke's Bay in final |
| 2021 | 5th | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 12 | Jordan Olsen | George Konia | |

Key:   Blue bar denotes Championship division

## Records and statistics

### All Blacks

Northland has produced 32 All Blacks to date. Below is a list of Northland New Zealand national rugby union players along with their All Black number, year of debut and number of All Black games.

| # | Player | Debut | Caps |
| - | - | - | - |
| 240 | Charles Fletcher | 1921 | 2 |
| 305 | Innes Finlayson | 1925 | 36 |
| 364 | Bill Heke | 1929 | 6 |
| 367 | Alfred Waterman | 1929 | 7 |
| 461 | Johnny Smith | 1946 | 9 |
| 482 | Peter Smith | 1947 | 3 |
| 518 | Nau Cherrington | 1950 | 7 |
| 541 | Ian Irvine | 1952 | 1 |
| 556 | Peter Jones | 1953 | 37 |
| 605 | Des Webb | 1959 | 1 |
| 621 | Victor Yates | 1961 | 9 |
| 655 | Sid Going | 1967 | 86 |
| 681 | Bevan Holmes | 1970 | 31 |
| 682 | Richie Guy | 1971 | 9 |
| 700 | Hamish Macdonald | 1972 | 48 |
| 723 | Murray Jones | 1973 | 5 |
| 726 | Peter Sloane | 1973 | 16 |
| 733 | Joe Morgan | 1974 | 22 |
| 742 | Ken Going | 1974 | 3 |
| 790 | Eddie Dunn | 1978 | 20 |
| 800 | Mike Burgoyne | 1979 | 6 |
| 822 | Fred Woodman | 1980 | 14 |
| 829 | Wayne Neville | 1981 | 4 |
| 835 | Ian Dunn | 1983 | 13 |
| 844 | Alastair Robinson | 1983 | 4 |
| 855 | Kawhena Woodman | 1984 | 6 |
| 877 | Michael Speight | 1986 | 5 |
| 902 | Ian Jones | 1989 | 105 |
| 930 | Glenn Taylor | 1992 | 6 |
| 976 | Norm Berryman | 1998 | 1 |
| 1106 | Rene Ranger | 2010 | 6 |
| 1165 | Jack Goodhue | 2017 | 19 |
