Above: Scots College kicking off in one of their games. Photo by Shaun Bishop/Scots College Wellington’s Scots College finished third at the SANIX World Rugby Youth Tournament, which wrapped up on Wednesday afternoon (NZT). Joint 2014 national champions Scots College, representing New Zealand at the annual tournament in Japan, defeated England’s Truro College 45-7 in the playoff for third and fourth.Scots College out-scored the English school seven tries to one and lead 26-7 at halftime...More

Above: Teariki Ben Nicholas playing in a recent Swindale Shield match between his Old Boys University side and Tawa. His career has taken off lately, making his debut for the New Zealand U20s today against Samoa. Photo by Steward Baird Photograhy.? Teariki Ben-Nicholas was born in Auckland to parents of Cook Island extraction. In native tongue Teariki means Chief. His father Tai is the head of the Oceania Football Confederation. His mother is a successful accountant. After attending King's College and seeking his his own independence, Teariki shifted to Wellington to study commerce and law at Victoria University ...More

Above: Fans camping out overnight outside Athletic Park ahead of the big match the following day between Wellington and the British Isles. Match Details Result:?British Lions 21 v– Wellington 6When:?1 August1959, at Athletic ParkWeather: Fine and sunny?Crowd:?47,000 The Tour The British Lions spent three months in New Zealand in 1959, winning 20 of their 25 matches. Although the All Blacks beat them 3-1 in the Test series, they were the most successful British team to tour down under to date...More

Above: The Johnsonville front rowers all played well on Saturday, but couldn't prevent Norths from reeling in their 18-point lead and winning 26-24.? The 2015 Swindale Shield appears to be a two-horse race between defending Jubilee Cup champions Hutt and Old Boys Marist and Tawa, who both battled to their seventh straight victories today in a drama-filled afternoon of rugby. Hutt Old Boys Marist and Tawa could be heading for a showdown for the first round title in three weeks’ time when they meet at the Hutt Recreation Ground in a penultimate round clash of the heavyweights...More

Above: Mexted with his Wellington All Black teammates Stu Wilson, Jamie Salmon and Allan Hewson with the Ranfurly Shield in 1981. Murray Mexted is an original. He played 34 consecutive tests at No.8 for the All Blacks - a record when he retired. He was married to 1983 Miss Universe winner, Lorraine Downes. As a television commentator he was humorous, outspoken and polarising. He pioneered the International Rugby Academy of New Zealand (IRANZ), which has helped launch the careers of more than seventy professional rugby players...More

The WRRA?has been catching up with some of referees and finding out about them and why refereeing rugby is appealing. The second in this series is Richard Gordon who is in his 9th year of refereeing with the Wellington Referees after starting while still at Scots College. He is the youngest referee to have refereed Premier rugby in Wellington at 19 and is currently in the New Zealand Rugby National Development Panel after been on the New Zealand Rugby Wider training panel in 2014. When did you start refereeing?2007 while playing rugby at Scots College Did you play rugby?I played 1st XV for Scots College and been known to play the odd game for Wests Under 85kg...More

Above: HOBM hooker James O’Reilly scores a try in last week’s 54-49 win for his side over Marist St Pat’s. HOBM and MSP are both in contention to win the Swindale Shield, but it’s what’s happening down the table that could get more interesting this weekend. With the halfway mark passed the jockeying for the top eight places in the Swindale Shield, and with it Jubilee Cup rugby, begins in earnest. While those at the top end of the table are well on track to do that, those in the middle and lower part have plenty of work in front of them...More

Above: The big hits continue for Tawa and Hutt Old Boys Marist women’s sides who both play under lights on Friday night in the third round of the Fleurs Trophy competition. After having the Anzac weekend off, the Premier Women’s competition resumes, but with a difference with a Friday Night Lights edition for three of the four matches. Only one of those Friday matches will take place on grass, with?Tawa?and?Northern United?(leaders on points difference) making use of the floodlights in place at Lyndhurst Park...More

Above: St Pat's Silversteam joins St Pat's Town, Wellington College, Feilding High School, Palmerston North Boys' High School, Gisborne Boys' High Schools, Hastings Boys' High School and host team Napier Boys' Bigh High School this coming Saturday in the opening weekend of the?Tranzit Coachlines 1st XV Festival. Saturday sees the opening of the college rugby season, with once again two sets of matches taking place to determine this year’s College Sport Wellington competitions. Play starts tonight with two boys Co-ed Cup matches being played and girls preseason matches (featuring the expansion of the top grade to 12-a-side) starting tomorrow afternoon...More

Match Details Result:?South Africa 8 – Wellington 6When:?23 June 1956, at Athletic ParkWeather: Cloudy Crowd:?45,000 The Tour The 1956 Springbok tour will go down in folklore as one of the greatest rugby winters in New Zealand, not just for the All Blacks’ 3-1 series win, but the events leading up to it and surrounding it. The nation’s psyche was being tested, following the 4-0 series loss in South Africa in 1949 and some scratchy form the previous season against the Wallabies...More