After several weeks of hard-fought rugby up and down New Zealand, the 16 semi-finalists have been found in the ITM Cup and Heartland Championship competitions. Semi-finals will take place next weekend, on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October. In the ITM Cup Premiership, top qualifiers Canterbury will host fourth placed Taranaki at Rugby Park on Saturday evening.  This will be a replay of their encounter a fortnight ago that saw Taranaki win 24-21 and earn its first victory in Christchurch since 1963...More

Above: Wellington Development lock Joe Beech stretches over to score the final try of the afternoon for his side in their curtain-raiser at Westpac Stadium. The Wellington Pride scored two tries in the dying moments to beat the Counties Manukau Heat in their Women’s NPC semi-final today at the Petone Recreation Ground. The Pride will meet Auckland in next weekend’s final. Elsewhere, the Wellington U18s accounted for the Tasman U18s and the Wellington Development side lost to the Canterbury Colts...More

A blockbuster Saturday is in the wind for local rugby players and supporters, with four consecutive matches at three different venues to set schedules to. The day starts at 11am at Rongotai College with a one-off match between the Wellington U18s and Tasman U18s, followed by the Wellington Pride against Counties Manukau in their Women’s NPC semi-final fixture at the Petone Recreation Ground at 12.30pm and then two matches at Westpac Stadium with the Wellington Development side against the Canterbury Colts at 3...More

In 2006, the Wellington Pride became the only team, before or since, other than Auckland to win the Women’s NPC (WNPC) competition. A feature of the 2006 Pride team was their forwards power. One highlight was a 70-metre rolling maul from a defensive lineout that led to a try in the opposite corner. Jackie Patea was part of that Pride pack as an up and coming lock. She was also in the team that lost the WNPC final to Auckland in 2011. In 2012 she captained the Pride and made the Black Ferns for the first time...More

The Wellington Lions and the Manawatu Turbos resume their long-established rivalry and contest the Coronation Cup when they meet on Saturday evening at Westpac Stadium. As near-neighbours in provincial rugby terms, this is a clash dripping in history and tradition. It goes back to 1887 when Wellington enjoyed what was then a reasonably comfortable 11-0 victory. Prior to the start of the NPC/ITM Cup era in 1976, Wellington and Manawatu had met 67 times, of which Wellington won 45, Manawatu 15 and there were seven draws including three in a row 1948-50...More

Thinking of participating in a summer sport? Think again. The rugby continues unabated throughout the warmer months with a host of Sevens tournaments, both locally and elsewhere, for players and fans alike to set their calendars to. On the club scene, there are several tournaments coming up in Wellington and further afield throughout the Lower North Island this month and in November, January and February, highlighted by the National Club Championships in the Hutt Valley in the New Year. Local college Sevens is in full swing throughout October and November, leading up to the annual National Condor Sevens in Auckland in early December...More

Above: Welligton U18s hooker Sitiveni Paongo attempts to break through Auckland's defence in their match at Porirua Park today. Wellington lost this match, but their Women's and U19s team both won well. Timena Tuma'ai, Georgia Daals and Malo Tuitama scored 10 tries between them for the Wellington Pride and Wellington U19s teams in their wins today. The Wellington Pride will host a Women’s NPC semi-final next week after finishing the round-robin with a flourish today and beating the Bay of Plenty Volcanix in Tauranga...More

UPDATE Friday evening: Counties Manukau have beaten Waikato in the last round of the Women's NPC without a bonus point. This means that the Wellington Pride require just a point from their last round match tomorrow against BoP.  UPDATE 2: Wellington U19s teamlist to play North Harbour at the National U19s Premiership Plate Final is below. Three representative teams are playing on Saturday and two on Sunday in this weekend’s representative rugby action involving Wellington teams. In two non-competition matches, the Wellington U18s host the Auckland U18s at Porirua Park at 2...More

The Wellington U16s teams both won the silverware they were playing for in today’s Hurricanes U16 tournament in Levin. The Wellington U16s won the Don Broughton Shield with a 54-0 win over Poverty Bay in the A division, while the Wellington U16s Development defeated Wanganui 27-24 in the final of the Development division to win the Saracens Trophy. The tournament was hosted by the Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Union and, apart of a round of pre-tournament competiton Development games, it was staged over three days this week, games on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday...More

Canterbury and Waikato will meet in the Premiership final of the Jock Hobbs Memorial National U19 tournament in Taupo on Saturday, each winning their semi-finals today. Waikato continued their points scoring blitz of recent games, beating Otago 48-23 in one semi-final, whilst Canterbury’s young Lambs pulled clear in the second half to beat Taranaki 42-17 in the other. In the two Championship semi-finals, Tasman held off Hawke’s Bay 26-20 and Counties Manukau smoked Southland 51-20, setting up a Michael Jones Trophy Final between Tasman and the Junior Steelers...More