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North Harbour Rugby Union

October 21, 2023

The North Harbour Rugby Union (NHRU), commonly known as North Harbour or simply Harbour, is the governing body of rugby union that encompasses a wide geographical area north of Auckland that includes North Shore City, Rodney District, the Hibiscus Coast and part of Waitakere City. There are 12 rugby clubs from Mahurangi RFC, based in Warkworth, Rodney District, in the north through to Massey the southernmost area of the union.

North Harbour Rugby Union
SportRugby union
AbbreviationNHRU
Founded1985; 38 years ago (1985)
AffiliationNew Zealand Rugby
Regional affiliationAuckland
HeadquartersAlbany
PresidentBrett Norris
CEOAdrian Donald
Vice president(s)Alan Linstrom
SponsorQBE Insurance
Official website
www.harbourrugby.co.nz

The NHRU provincial rugby team that was formed in 1985 by clubs that left the Auckland Rugby Union. It competes in the Mitre 10 Cup, the successor to New Zealand's former domestic competition, the National Provincial Championship (NPC).

History Edit

North Harbour was formed in 1985 by clubs that broke away from the Auckland Rugby Union. The Hibiscus flower was chosen as the new union's logo in reference to part of the union's catchment area - the Hibiscus Coast.[1]

The first side chosen to represent the union was an under 20 side who played Felbridge, a touring side from Britain. Grant Ferguson had the honour of scoring the union's first points via a penalty, with his captain, Alan McCulloch scoring the union's first try.

The union expanded in 1989 when the Omaha, Warkworth and Kaipara Flats clubs merged to become the Mahurangi club and switched from the North Auckland union.

North Harbour has enjoyed a great deal of success on the rugby field having produced All Blacks and other New Zealand Representative players, and also winning the 3rd division title in their first year, then promotion to NPC Division 1, and making the finals of the NPC competition on several occasions during the 1990s, including hosting the 1994 final at a capacity-crowd Onewa Domain against Auckland and qualifying for the Super 10 competition in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

 
Wordmark logo

Onewa Domain, Northcote was the former home base for North Harbour rugby. North Harbour players play in the Super Rugby competition as part of the Auckland Blues partnership with the neighbouring Northland and Auckland unions. With the development of the North Harbour Stadium at Albany in the late 1990s, this stadium became the home base of Harbour rugby.

North Harbour play in the Mitre 10 Cup. In 2006 North Harbour were the first team to play the new Tasman Makos winning 33–27 in Blenheim. They would go on to win their next eight of ten games including an historical victory over Canterbury for the Ranfurly Shield. However they were beaten by Otago 21–56 in the quarter-finals. 2007 was a year of disappointment for North Harbour. Waikato claimed the Ranfurly Shield with a crushing 52–7 over the holders North Harbour. The team would only win four of ten matches including two draws to miss the playoffs. North Harbour won only three matches in 2008 finishing 12th. 2009 was the same with North Harbour finishing 12th, however they defeated the champions Canterbury 22–19 in the opening round and beat Auckland 16–14 at Eden Park. In 2010 North Harbour beat Japan 23–19 to start their 25th Jubilee Celebrations. However the team managed only four wins to finish 11th. In 2011 the team finished 6th in the Championship, but nearly beat Southland 23–25 in a Ranfurly Challenge. 2012 and 2013 were disappointing years for North Harbour finishing last in the Championship with only one win to their seasons.

2014 was downfall for North Harbour, as they only won 3 games, against Manawatu (24-13), Canterbury (29-24) and Hawkes Bay (28-25)

2015 seemed the same for North Harbour, they won 3 games again, against Southland (26-25), Counties Manukau (28-20) and Northland (36-12)

2016 saw North Harbour get promoted up from the Championship division, beating Counties Manukau (20-17), Manawatu (29-25), Southland (35-14), Bay of Plenty (44-34), and Northland (44-28),They defeated Wellington in the semi-final (40-37) and defeating Otago to be promoted to the 2017 Premiership (17-14)

In 2017, North Harbour won a lot of their games, beating Otago (19-17), Southland (45-20), their greatest Battle of the Bridge win against Auckland (57-10), Counties Manukau (27-18), Northland (22-31), Hawke's Bay (33-30), Waikato (13-11), They made the semi-finals but did not beat Canterbury (35-24 loss)

2018 saw North Harbour beat Northland (21-20), Waikato (28-29), Bay of Plenty (32-30), Hawke's Bay (34-51), Taranaki (26-55), Counties Manukau (36-26).

Ranfurly Shield Edit

North Harbour's first ten challenges for the Ranfurly Shield were unsuccessful, notably in 1996 when they challenged for it three times in 6 weeks against Taranaki, Waikato and Auckland. North Harbour succeeded in their eleventh challenge for the shield on 24 September 2006 by beating the previous holders Canterbury 21–17 at Jade Stadium in Christchurch.[2]

Under the rules of the Shield challenge, they had to defend the Shield before the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup season against teams in New Zealand's second tier domestic competition, the semi-professional Heartland Championship. Accordingly, they scheduled defences against Thames Valley on 30 June 2007 and Horowhenua-Kapiti on 14 July.[3] Harbour easily won their first defence 69–0 over Thames Valley,[4] and followed it up two weeks later with a 99–6 victory over Horowhenua-Kapiti.[5][6]

After defeating Taranaki 19–13 in their first challenge in the Air New Zealand Cup, North Harbour lost the Ranfurly Shield to Waikato by a record margin of 52–7.

North Harbour in Super Rugby Edit

North Harbour is one of three provinces included in the Blues franchise who play in the Super Rugby competition; their players are eligible to be picked by the Blues without relying on player drafting.

At the beginning of Super Rugby, North Harbour was part of the Chiefs franchise as a combined team of Auckland and North Harbour was thought to be unfair by the NZRU; Auckland and North Harbour collectively had a large percentage of the All Blacks of the time. Later however, North Harbour along with Northland were 'swapped' for Counties Manukau and Thames Valley, thus joined the Blues.

Prior to the professionalisation of rugby, North Harbour competed as a stand-alone union in the predecessor to Super Rugby, the Super 10 competition, in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

Club and high-school rugby Edit

The North Harbour Club Rugby season runs annually from March through to the beginning of August. The premier title is fought for among senior teams for the right to be crowned North Harbour Club Rugby Champions. The winner receives the ASB Cup.[7]

There are also 16 secondary schools fielding close to 100 teams within the North Harbour Region. Due to the ratio of secondary schools to rugby clubs, there is a strong relationship between the two.

Member clubs Edit

Club Champions Edit

For list of North Harbour club rugby champions, see North Harbour Club Rugby Champions

Bunnings NPC Edit

For the side that represents North Harbour Rugby Union in the Bunnings NPC, see North Harbour (National Provincial Championship).

Former players Edit

These are players who have played for North Harbour in the past and have gone on to play international rugby and accomplish other feats as listed:

Mascot Edit

The Harbour Master is the official Mascot for the North Harbour Rugby Union, He is dressed in a naval captain's style suit with a large smiling head and carries with him at all times an oversized pair of binoculars.

2010 ITM Cup Appearances

  • Harbour Vs Auckland 01/08 (Albany)
  • Harbour Vs Otago 19/08 (Albany)
  • Harbour Vs Waikato 04/09 (Albany)
  • Harbour Vs Manawatu 26/09 (Albany)
  • Harbour Vs Wellington 10/10 (Albany)

2010 Television Appearances

  • This Given Sunday 12/09 (Rugby Channel – Sky TV, NZ)

Facts

Kit and sponsors Edit

Apparel is supplied by Paladin Sports. Main sponsors are:

References Edit

  1. ^ "The Early Days - harbour, the swatches and the hibiscus". North Harbour Rugby website. North Harbour Rugby. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  2. ^ ONE Sport (24 September 2006). . TVNZ. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
  3. ^ "North Harbour announces 2007 Ranfurly Shield defences". AllBlacks.com. 29 November 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2007.
  4. ^ Knight, Linsday (1 July 2007). "Rugby: Swamp Foxes frustrate fast-starting Harbour". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  5. ^ Knight, Linsday (15 July 2007). "Rugby: Spirited visitors have no answer". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
  6. ^ . TVNZ Newstalk ZB. 11 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007.
  7. ^ "ASB Cup in Massey hands once again". 28 July 2015.

External links Edit

  • Official website
  • Facebook page

October 21, 2023
north, harbour, rugby, union, nhru, commonly, known, north, harbour, simply, harbour, governing, body, rugby, union, that, encompasses, wide, geographical, area, north, auckland, that, includes, north, shore, city, rodney, district, hibiscus, coast, part, wait. The North Harbour Rugby Union NHRU commonly known as North Harbour or simply Harbour is the governing body of rugby union that encompasses a wide geographical area north of Auckland that includes North Shore City Rodney District the Hibiscus Coast and part of Waitakere City There are 12 rugby clubs from Mahurangi RFC based in Warkworth Rodney District in the north through to Massey the southernmost area of the union North Harbour Rugby UnionSportRugby unionAbbreviationNHRUFounded1985 38 years ago 1985 AffiliationNew Zealand RugbyRegional affiliationAucklandHeadquartersAlbanyPresidentBrett NorrisCEOAdrian DonaldVice president s Alan LinstromSponsorQBE InsuranceOfficial websitewww wbr harbourrugby wbr co wbr nzThe NHRU provincial rugby team that was formed in 1985 by clubs that left the Auckland Rugby Union It competes in the Mitre 10 Cup the successor to New Zealand s former domestic competition the National Provincial Championship NPC Contents 1 History 2 Ranfurly Shield 3 North Harbour in Super Rugby 4 Club and high school rugby 4 1 Member clubs 4 2 Club Champions 5 Bunnings NPC 6 Former players 7 Mascot 8 Kit and sponsors 9 References 10 External linksHistory EditNorth Harbour was formed in 1985 by clubs that broke away from the Auckland Rugby Union The Hibiscus flower was chosen as the new union s logo in reference to part of the union s catchment area the Hibiscus Coast 1 The first side chosen to represent the union was an under 20 side who played Felbridge a touring side from Britain Grant Ferguson had the honour of scoring the union s first points via a penalty with his captain Alan McCulloch scoring the union s first try The union expanded in 1989 when the Omaha Warkworth and Kaipara Flats clubs merged to become the Mahurangi club and switched from the North Auckland union North Harbour has enjoyed a great deal of success on the rugby field having produced All Blacks and other New Zealand Representative players and also winning the 3rd division title in their first year then promotion to NPC Division 1 and making the finals of the NPC competition on several occasions during the 1990s including hosting the 1994 final at a capacity crowd Onewa Domain against Auckland and qualifying for the Super 10 competition in 1993 1994 and 1995 nbsp Wordmark logoOnewa Domain Northcote was the former home base for North Harbour rugby North Harbour players play in the Super Rugby competition as part of the Auckland Blues partnership with the neighbouring Northland and Auckland unions With the development of the North Harbour Stadium at Albany in the late 1990s this stadium became the home base of Harbour rugby North Harbour play in the Mitre 10 Cup In 2006 North Harbour were the first team to play the new Tasman Makos winning 33 27 in Blenheim They would go on to win their next eight of ten games including an historical victory over Canterbury for the Ranfurly Shield However they were beaten by Otago 21 56 in the quarter finals 2007 was a year of disappointment for North Harbour Waikato claimed the Ranfurly Shield with a crushing 52 7 over the holders North Harbour The team would only win four of ten matches including two draws to miss the playoffs North Harbour won only three matches in 2008 finishing 12th 2009 was the same with North Harbour finishing 12th however they defeated the champions Canterbury 22 19 in the opening round and beat Auckland 16 14 at Eden Park In 2010 North Harbour beat Japan 23 19 to start their 25th Jubilee Celebrations However the team managed only four wins to finish 11th In 2011 the team finished 6th in the Championship but nearly beat Southland 23 25 in a Ranfurly Challenge 2012 and 2013 were disappointing years for North Harbour finishing last in the Championship with only one win to their seasons 2014 was downfall for North Harbour as they only won 3 games against Manawatu 24 13 Canterbury 29 24 and Hawkes Bay 28 25 2015 seemed the same for North Harbour they won 3 games again against Southland 26 25 Counties Manukau 28 20 and Northland 36 12 2016 saw North Harbour get promoted up from the Championship division beating Counties Manukau 20 17 Manawatu 29 25 Southland 35 14 Bay of Plenty 44 34 and Northland 44 28 They defeated Wellington in the semi final 40 37 and defeating Otago to be promoted to the 2017 Premiership 17 14 In 2017 North Harbour won a lot of their games beating Otago 19 17 Southland 45 20 their greatest Battle of the Bridge win against Auckland 57 10 Counties Manukau 27 18 Northland 22 31 Hawke s Bay 33 30 Waikato 13 11 They made the semi finals but did not beat Canterbury 35 24 loss 2018 saw North Harbour beat Northland 21 20 Waikato 28 29 Bay of Plenty 32 30 Hawke s Bay 34 51 Taranaki 26 55 Counties Manukau 36 26 Ranfurly Shield EditNorth Harbour s first ten challenges for the Ranfurly Shield were unsuccessful notably in 1996 when they challenged for it three times in 6 weeks against Taranaki Waikato and Auckland North Harbour succeeded in their eleventh challenge for the shield on 24 September 2006 by beating the previous holders Canterbury 21 17 at Jade Stadium in Christchurch 2 Under the rules of the Shield challenge they had to defend the Shield before the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup season against teams in New Zealand s second tier domestic competition the semi professional Heartland Championship Accordingly they scheduled defences against Thames Valley on 30 June 2007 and Horowhenua Kapiti on 14 July 3 Harbour easily won their first defence 69 0 over Thames Valley 4 and followed it up two weeks later with a 99 6 victory over Horowhenua Kapiti 5 6 After defeating Taranaki 19 13 in their first challenge in the Air New Zealand Cup North Harbour lost the Ranfurly Shield to Waikato by a record margin of 52 7 North Harbour in Super Rugby EditNorth Harbour is one of three provinces included in the Blues franchise who play in the Super Rugby competition their players are eligible to be picked by the Blues without relying on player drafting At the beginning of Super Rugby North Harbour was part of the Chiefs franchise as a combined team of Auckland and North Harbour was thought to be unfair by the NZRU Auckland and North Harbour collectively had a large percentage of the All Blacks of the time Later however North Harbour along with Northland were swapped for Counties Manukau and Thames Valley thus joined the Blues Prior to the professionalisation of rugby North Harbour competed as a stand alone union in the predecessor to Super Rugby the Super 10 competition in 1993 1994 and 1995 Club and high school rugby EditThe North Harbour Club Rugby season runs annually from March through to the beginning of August The premier title is fought for among senior teams for the right to be crowned North Harbour Club Rugby Champions The winner receives the ASB Cup 7 There are also 16 secondary schools fielding close to 100 teams within the North Harbour Region Due to the ratio of secondary schools to rugby clubs there is a strong relationship between the two Member clubs Edit Mahurangi Silverdale Helensville Kumeu Riverhead Massey East Coast Bays RFC Glenfield Northcote Takapuna North Shore Marist Royal New Zealand Navy Club Champions Edit For list of North Harbour club rugby champions see North Harbour Club Rugby ChampionsBunnings NPC EditFor the side that represents North Harbour Rugby Union in the Bunnings NPC see North Harbour National Provincial Championship Former players EditThese are players who have played for North Harbour in the past and have gone on to play international rugby and accomplish other feats as listed Todd Clever USA Eagles captain Liam Barry former All Black former Harbour Head Coach Richard Turner former All Black Frano Botica former All Black former Kiwi League International and former Croatian International Frank Bunce former All Black Western Samoa centre New Zealand Sevens Daniel Devereaux former Cook Island half back Graham Dowd former All Black hooker Nick Evans former All Black rumoured to move to North Harbour but moved to Auckland instead now playing for Harlequins in England Rico Gear former All Black now plays for Worcester Warriors Hosea Gear now plays for Wellington Ian Jones former All Black Lock Blair Larsen former All Black forward Walter Little former All Black second five eight Jonah Lomu former All Black wing moved to Wellington left Wellington due to illness and eventual kidney transplant Willie Los e former Tongan international team captain and lock now a TV amp Radio personality Slade McFarland Glen Osborne former All Black fullback and Makakaho Rd Pig Hunting World Champion and rugby sevens commentator Eric Rush former All Black winger and Captain of NZ 7s Buck Shelford former All Black captain and former North Harbour coach Silao Leaega Samoan International Tevita Taumoepeau Rua Tipoki Captain 2005 06 first ever North Harbour captain to win Ranfurly Shield Tusi Pisi amp George Pisi Samoan internationals Mike Harris moved to Australia in 2011 and played for the Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby competition and was capped ten times for the Qantas Wallabies Now plays for Lyons in France Francis Saili former All Black second five eight Luke McAlister former All Black and currently playing for Stade Toulousain Tony Woodcock former All Black Two time Rugby World Cup winner scorer of only NZ try in 2011 final most capped All Black prop Mascot EditThe Harbour Master is the official Mascot for the North Harbour Rugby Union He is dressed in a naval captain s style suit with a large smiling head and carries with him at all times an oversized pair of binoculars 2010 ITM Cup Appearances Harbour Vs Auckland 01 08 Albany Harbour Vs Otago 19 08 Albany Harbour Vs Waikato 04 09 Albany Harbour Vs Manawatu 26 09 Albany Harbour Vs Wellington 10 10 Albany 2010 Television Appearances This Given Sunday 12 09 Rugby Channel Sky TV NZ Facts In 2008 The Harbour Master was involved in a tackle which resulted in the rival seagull mascot from Auckland breaking his leg Link https www youtube com watch v OpHkT27mVMU Photo http www harbourrugby co nz mainmenu1 component gallery g98 QBE Insurance North Harbour vs Waikato Sat 4 Sept p899 htmlKit and sponsors EditApparel is supplied by Paladin Sports Main sponsors are QBE Insurance Jett s Fitness Centre Valspar North Harbour Ford amp Mazda Benefitz Ritchies Coachlines Pure Blonde Lion References Edit The Early Days harbour the swatches and the hibiscus North Harbour Rugby website North Harbour Rugby Retrieved 23 May 2019 ONE Sport 24 September 2006 Ranfurly Shield heading North TVNZ Archived from the original on 11 March 2007 Retrieved 11 July 2007 North Harbour announces 2007 Ranfurly Shield defences AllBlacks com 29 November 2006 Retrieved 4 February 2007 Knight Linsday 1 July 2007 Rugby Swamp Foxes frustrate fast starting Harbour The New Zealand Herald Retrieved 8 July 2007 Knight Linsday 15 July 2007 Rugby Spirited visitors have no answer The New Zealand Herald Retrieved 15 July 2007 Rugby Harbour welcome duo back TVNZ Newstalk ZB 11 July 2007 Archived from the original on 15 July 2007 Retrieved 11 July 2007 ASB Cup in Massey hands once again 28 July 2015 External links EditOfficial website Facebook page Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title North Harbour Rugby Union amp oldid 1153630487, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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