The
North Harbour Rugby Union (
NHRU), commonly referred to colloquially as
North Harbour or simply
Harbour, is a provincial rugby team which competes in the ITM Cup (known as the Air New Zealand Cup from 2006 to 2009), the successor to the country's former domestic competition, the National Provincial Championship (NPC).
Area
Harbour Rugby encompasses a geographical area that is situated in North Shore City, Rodney District and part of Waitakere City. There are 12 rugby clubs from Mahurangi RFC, based in
Warkworth, Rodney DistrictWarkworth is a town in the upper North Island of New Zealand, within the Rodney District and lying at the far north of the Auckland Region but just south of the Northland Region...
, in the north through to the North Shore club based in
Devonport, North Shore CityDevonport is a harbourside suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, at the southern end of a peninsula that runs southeast from near Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, forming the northern side of the Waitemata Harbour...
, the southernmost area of the union.
Ranfurly Shield
After 10 previous unsuccessful challenges for the
Ranfurly ShieldThe 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 Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies...
, most notably 1996 when they challenged for it three times in 6 weeks against
TaranakiTaranaki Rugby Football Union is the governing body of Rugby in the New Zealand province of Taranaki. The main stadium is Yarrow Stadium which is in the main centre of New Plymouth. Taranaki plays in the annual ITM Cup in which it also competes for the Ranfurly shield...
,
WaikatoThe Waikato Rugby Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Its senior representative team competes in the ITM Cup , and won the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup in 2006.Waikato Rugby Union was founded in 1921...
and
AucklandThe Auckland Rugby Football Union is the governing body of rugby union in the Auckland Region, in the North Island of New Zealand. Its colours are navy blue and white in a hoop design. Auckland's top representative team have won New Zealand's top provincial rugby competition 16 times, more than...
, 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
ChristchurchChristchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
.
Under the rules of the Shield challenge, they had to defend the Shield before the
2007 Air New Zealand CupThe 2007 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Thursday 26 July 2007, and the Final, in which Auckland defeated Wellington, was held on Saturday 20 October....
season against teams in New Zealand's second tier domestic competition, the semi-professional
Heartland ChampionshipThe Heartland Championship New Zealand Division One competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the AA Rewards Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the country's former domestic competition,...
. Accordingly, they scheduled defences against
Thames ValleyThe Thames Valley Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the region of Thames Valley in the North Island of New Zealand...
on 30 June 2007 and
Horowhenua-Kapiti-Representative Rugby:The Horowhenua-Kapiti team play from Levin Domain, Levin and in the 2006 season are in Pool B of the Heartland Championship. They are seeded 6th qualifiers for the Championship as they were runner-ups in the 3rd division in 2005....
on 14 July. Harbour easily won their first defence 69-0 over Thames Valley, and followed it up two weeks later with an impressive 99-6 victory over Horowhenua-Kapiti..
After defeating
TaranakiTaranaki Rugby Football Union is the governing body of Rugby in the New Zealand province of Taranaki. The main stadium is Yarrow Stadium which is in the main centre of New Plymouth. Taranaki plays in the annual ITM Cup in which it also competes for the Ranfurly shield...
19-13 in their first challenge in the Air New Zealand Cup, North Harbour lost the Ranfurly Shield to
WaikatoThe Waikato Rugby Union is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Its senior representative team competes in the ITM Cup , and won the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup in 2006.Waikato Rugby Union was founded in 1921...
by a record margin of 52-7.
Representative rugby
Representative teams from North Harbour take part in both national and regional competitions. The North Harbour Senior side plays in the ITM Cup.
Apparel is supplied by
Canterbury of New ZealandCanterbury of New Zealand is a New Zealand-based sports apparel company that focuses on rugby football. The company is named after the Canterbury area in New Zealand where the company started to make knitwear. Other than producing rugby kits, the brand is also known for their rugby protective wear...
. Main sponsors are:
- QBE Insurance
QBE Insurance Group Limited is an Australian based general insurance provider, providing insurance services mainly to the Asia Pacific region, but also America and Europe . It has offices in 45 countries...
- NZ Retail Property Group
- Speight's
Speight's is a brewery in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is famous for its promotional branding based on being 'a real southern man' and being 'the pride of the south'. Speight's also gave rise to a series of Speight's Ale Houses across New Zealand.- History :...
.
- Cow and Gate
- North Harbour Ford
North Harbour in Super Rugby
As North Harbour is one of three provinces involved 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, thus, North Harbour players can be seen in Blues jerseys regularly also.
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, thus joined the Blues.
History
North Harbour was formed in 1985 from clubs which broke away from the Auckland Rugby Union. During this time the union's team has developed a reputation for playing quality rugby football.
North Harbour has enjoyed a great deal of success on the rugby field having produced
All BlacksThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
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 90's, and hosted the 1994 final at a capacity-crowd Onewa Domain against Auckland.
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 StadiumNorth Harbour Stadium is a stadium, situated in Albany, in North Shore City, in New Zealand. It was opened in 1997, after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. Rugby union, football and rugby League are the only sports played on the main ground, as it is rectangular in shape....
at
AlbanyAlbany is a northern suburb of Auckland, one of the several cities in northern New Zealand. The name derives from Alba and its Latinisation. It is located to the north of the Waitemata Harbour, 15 kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is in the Albany ward, one of the...
in the late 90's, this stadium became the home base of Harbour rugby.
North harbour played Japan on June 4, winning 23-19 in Albany.
Club and High-school Rugby
The club rugby season runs annually from March through to the beginning of August.
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
- Mahurangi
- Silverdale
- Helensville
- Kumeu (Riverhead)
- Massey
The Massey Rugby Club is a New Zealand rugby union club located in Massey, Waitakere City. They are part of the North Harbour Rugby Union and compete in their competitions.-History:...
- East Coast Bays
- Glenfield
- Northcote
- Takapuna
Takapuna Rugby Football Club Inc. of New Zealand was formed in 1934 at its original headquarters in Taharoto Rd. 25 years ago the committee built new clubrooms at Onewa Domain which offered greatly improved playing conditions with 3 quality fields and the opportunity to vastly improve dressing...
- North Shore
The North Shore Rugby Football Club , based in Devonport, is the longest operating rugby club in New Zealand. Their uniform sports green and white, colours which are spoken of religiously among its members...
- Marist
- Royal New Zealand Navy
Current squad
Former players
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:
- Liam Barry (former All Black
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
, Current Harbour Head Coach)
- Kevin Borovich (former All Black
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
)
- Frano Botica
Frano Michael Botica is a former rugby union and rugby league player who represented his country at both sports and also played for Croatia in a rugby union world cup qualifying match.-Rugby union:...
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
, Former Kiwi League International and Former CroatianThe Croatia national rugby union team are the national rugby union team of Croatia. They are governed by the Croatian Rugby Union. Croatia have been playing internationals rugby since 1992, they have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.- Internationals :...
International)
- Frank Bunce
Frank Eneri Bunce is a retired New Zealand rugby union player and current coach. He played international rugby for both Western Samoa and New Zealand in the 1990s, appearing in the 1991 and 1995 World Cups...
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
, Western Samoa centre, New Zealand Sevens)
- Graham Dowd
Graham William Dowd is a former rugby union player for the national team of New Zealand, the All Blacks. He was born in Takapuna....
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
hooker)
- Nick Evans (former All Black
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
, rumored to moved to North Harbour but moved to Auckland instead, now playing for HarlequinsThe Harlequin Football Club is an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. Their ground in London is Twickenham Stoop...
in England
- Rico Gear
Rico Levi Gear is a New Zealand rugby union international player. He is a specialist right wing but can also cover midfield positions. He currently plays for Kintetsu Liners in the Top League....
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
, now plays for Worcester Warriors)
- Hosea Gear
Hosea Gear is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays for the Highlanders in the Super 15 competition as a wing. He has played six international matches for New Zealand and scored five tries...
(now plays for Wellington)
- Ian Jones
Ian Donald Jones MNZM is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played 79 tests for the All Blacks and is the most capped lock and formed one of the most famous lock pairings in international rugby, often partnered with Robin Brooke in the All Blacks from 1992 to 1998...
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
Lock)
- Blair Larsen (former All Black
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
forward)
- Walter Little (former All Black
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
second-five eight)
- Jonah Lomu
Jonah Tali Lomu, MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union player. He had sixty-three caps as an All Black after debuting in 1994. He is generally regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby union. He has had a huge impact on the game...
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
legend, moved to Wellington, left Wellington due to illness and eventual kidney transplantKidney transplantation or renal transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the donor organ...
)
- Willie Lose (former Tongan international
The Tonga national rugby union team is nicknamed Ikale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a war dance – the Kailao . They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance along with Fiji and Samoa...
team captain and lock, now a TV & Radio personality)
- Slade McFarlane
- Glen Osborne (former All Black Fullback and Makakaho Rd Pig Hunting World Champion and rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
commentator)
- Eric Rush
Eric James Rush is a New Zealand rugby union footballer and a Rugby Sevens legend, arguably one of the greatest Sevens players to grace the game...
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
Winger and Captain of NZ 7's)
- Kevin Senio (former All Black
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
)
- Buck Shelford
Wayne Thomas "Buck" Shelford is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and coach who represented and captained New Zealand in the late 1980s...
(former All BlackThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
captain and former North Harbour coach)
- Silao Leaega
- Tevita Taumoepeau
- Te Rua Reihana Tipoki (Captain 2005-2006 First ever North Harbour captain to win 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 Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies...
)
- Tusi Pisi
Tusi Pisi is a rugby union player who played for North Harbour in the Air New Zealand Cup. His position is fly half, but he has also played at centre and full back...
& George PisiGeorge Pisi is a rugby union player for the Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership.Pisi made his provincial debut playing for North Harbour in 2005 alongside his elder brother Tusi Pisi. He made 50 appearances for North Harbour before transferring to Taranaki for the 2010 ITM Cup...
- Samoan internationals
Mascot
The Harbour Master is the official Mascot for the North Harbour Rugby Union, He is dressed in a 'Captains' style suit with a large smiling head and carries with him at all times an oversized pair of binoculars.
As with every year since his inception he has occupied his place on the sideline during Harbour home games.
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 http://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.html
External links