Club Rugby has made some website changes. Much of the existing website, such as the Draws & Results, Profiles, Photos and our story archives going back to 2005 (the links across the top of this page), remains untouched, but a new home page and a new template for current stories has been implemented. This is to start modernising the website and to make it easier to read and navigate for the majority of the audience who are on mobile devices, while also providing better value for our current and future partners and supporters...More

Above: Poneke's Ben Huntley tussles with Ories' Paulo Aukuso in 2009. In recent years Premier rugby has increasingly become a young man’s game, with more players making the jump from their school first XVs to the cauldron of club rugby in the space of one or two seasons and fewer players staying in the game for longer. Heading into the start of the new season, we take a look at the Club Rugby ‘survivors’ team of 2018 – the longest-serving players that laced up the boots and played Premier Rugby last season...More

The festive season is a time for family and friends, for relaxing and making merry. But soon enough, the attention will turn to the 2019 rugby season. See below for this year’s 12 rugby questions of Christmas heading into another bumper year of local, domestic and international rugby. 1. Are Wainuiomata too old? With nearly a dozen players in their squad from last year with over 100 Premier games, Wainuiomata aren’t short of experience, but is this preventing youngsters (if they exist) from being promoted...More

This weekend’s National Sevens will feature 16 provincial unions who qualified at the Northern, Central and Southern Regional Qualifiers held at the start of December. Sixteen men’s and 12 women’s teams will vie for top honours at the Tauranga Domain. In the men’s division, Tasman, Wellington and Counties Manukau topped their respective qualifying events, with defending champions Waikato finishing second in their Northern Region tournament. South Canterbury and Wairarapa Bush join the 14 NPC Unions to round out the 2018 men's competitors...More

Over three-quarters of clubs (77%) report receiving no direct funding from any governing body, despite most (90%) having to pay affiliation fees or levies, according to the results of a recent survey of Sports Clubs undertaken by the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc., in partnership with the Auckland University of Technology. With nearly two-thirds (62%) of clubs either “losing money” or “approximately breaking-even”, only one-half of clubs (53%) reported having a Strategic Plan, (with nearly half of all clubs (43%) having no financial sponsor), suggesting that balancing the Love of the Game with the financial challenges of maintaining a vibrant community presence is a key focus...More

The Wellington men’s and Manawatu women’s successfully defended their Central Zone 7s titles today at the annual qualifying tournament for the Nationals in a fortnight. In the finals, Wellington beat Hawke’s Bay 14-7 and Manawatu defeated Wellington 22-10. Manawatu beat Taranaki in the men’s playoff for third and fourth and Hawke’s Bay defeated Taranaki 27-7. The order of finishing determines seeding for the Nationals. All four women’s teams entered in the Central 7s qualify for Nationals, but just five of the seven men’s sides...More

Above: Northern United celebrate winning their opening Swindale Shield match against Petone back in March.  Rugby has stopped. In case you hadn’t noticed. Sometimes the news cycle makes you feel like the year never ends, even in rugby. This off-season will no doubt be full of much speculation and conjecture. If in doubt conjecture. So anyway, here in no particular order, are some jottings. We’ll know a year from now, but was this the mythical year of losses we had to have in order to succeed in 2019...More

The Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Union is celebrating its125th anniversary in 2018. On Saturday festivities in a huge year will conclude at Playford Park, Levin in hosting the 25th annual Central Zone 7s tournament.  The tournament runs from 10.00am to 5.00pm and features 21 games. Men Pools:Pool A: Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Wanganui, ByePool B: Taranaki, Manawatu, Wairarapa Bush, Horowhenua-Kapiti Wellington won the inaugural event in 1993 and will look to defend the title they won against Manawatu 12 months ago...More

Five Wellington sides will look for glory at the Condor Sevens national finals, once again being hosted by Auckland’s Sacred Heart College. Scots College and St Mary’s return as the regional winners, joined by St Pats Silverstream and Wainuiomata High School’s girls side. Scots College head back gunning to go one better than last year when they fell in the final to Hamilton Boys. They were clearly a step ahead of the pack on Labour Day, progressing with ease and then relatively untroubled in beating Silverstream 26-10...More

Men's tournament MVP Tasi Masoe in action in the final for home team Wainuiomata against the WRFU squad.  The WRFU men’s and women’s representative squads annexed today’s eighth annual Piri Weepu Invitational Sevens tournament at Wise Park, Wainuiomata. The Wellington Women won the final comfortably enough against the Northern United club side, conceding the first try but responding with four first half tries and another two in the second half to win 40-5. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Wellington Men’s outfit, who found themselves trailing the Wainuiomata club team just after halftime before going on to win the final 33-17...More