Abiove: After playing the Blues in Masterton last year, the Hurricanes head up the road to take on the Crusaders early next year at?The Eketahuna Rugby Club.?The Hurricanes and Tui Brewery are taking Super Rugby back to the country with a preseason game in Eketahuna.The Eketahuna Rugby Club, which marked 125 years of rugby with jubilee celebrations earlier this year, will welcome the Hurricanes on January 31 as they take on the Crusaders.Today’s announcement follows the success of four previous sold out preseason games involving the Hurricanes – three of which have been played at Mangatainoka, and the 2014 match played at Memorial Park in Masterton...More

Above: The Wellington Axemen’s 2014 ?Premier MVP Vaea Fifita in familiar stride in Wellington club rugby, with OBU’s Player of the Season Ian Kennedy (inset left) and the Upper Hutt Rams’ Premier MVP Murphy Taramai watched by Ories’ Best Forward winner Hunter Prescott (inset right).The 2014 fifteen-a-side club and representative men’s rugby season that finished last Saturday has gone down as a memorable one for Wellington’s fans - for good and not so good reasons...More

Above: Brad Shields, alongside Victor Vito and Ross Filipo, leads the Wellington Lions out on to the field at Westpac Stadium on Saturday against North Harbour. In a difficult season, Shields makes this ITM Cup form XV.?Opinion: The ITM Cup has reached the semi-final stages and the non-Super Rugby headquartered provinces of Taranaki and Tasman are on top. Traditional powerhouse Canterbury has been strong, while Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu have also impressed.What about the individual players? Who could turn up in Super Rugby next season? Here is an ITM Cup form XV...More

Above: Wellington Pride lock Joanah Ngan-Woo crashes into Waikato’s defence, with captain Aimee Sutorius in supportVisiting teams won the day in both representative fixtures today involving Wellington teams, with the Wellington Pride missing out to Waikato 13-35 at Westpac Stadium and the Wellington Samoans going down 33-50 to the Auckland U21s at Porirua Park.?Wellington Samoans (33) v Auckland U21s (50)The Auckland U21s won a free-spirited game by scoring four tries in 15 minutes at the start of the second half...More

Wellington Samoans fullback Tau Mamea dots down?against Manawatu Development?recently. Mamea and teammates meet the Auckland U21s at Porirua Park tomorrow, kick-off 2.30 pm. ?The Wellington Pride and the Wellington Samoans are the two representative teams in action tomorrow, as the fifteens season winds down. The Wellington Pride play Waikato at Westpac Stadium in the penultimate round of the Women's NPC competition and the Wellington Samoans meet the visiting Auckland U21s team in a one-off fixture at Porirua Park...More

Upper Hutt Rams flanker and Sevens squad member Taniela Manu makes a break on the Basin Reserve earlier this season. The Upper Hutt Rams' Sevens campaign is well and truly underway. Coached by Nathan Williams, Tiny Graham and Filipe Rayasi, the club has been training for a month, although there have been some disruptions with plenty of players involved with representative rugby. Just last weekend, key player Murphy Taramai made his Wellington Lions debut off the bench against Taranaki...More

Above: Wellington midfielder and now Manawatu coach Jason O'Halloran with flanker Kupu Vanisi in support, makes a break against North Harbour at Athletic Park in 1999. Photo credit: Evening Post 23/8/1999. The 1990s was generally not a memorable decade in the 120 years of rugby in Wellington up to then. After a consistent 1980s when the Wellington Lions were mostly amongst the top three sides in the country every year, they flattered to deceive for several straight years. The ITM Cup playoffs system was introduced in 1992 and it wasn't until 1999 that Wellington made the final four for the first time...More

A long and exciting fifteens rugby season draws to a close over the next fortnight or so. But the rugby never stops, with several college, club and representative Sevens tournaments to look forward to in Wellington and further afield between now and February. On the club scene, there are several tournaments coming up in Wellington and further afield this month and in November, January and February. Local college Sevens is in full swing throughout October, leading up to the annual National Condor Sevens in Auckland on 2 December...More

Above: Wellington U19 captain and halfback Luke Campbell and his Old Boys University club mate No. 8 Teariki Ben -Nicholas size up the opposition during Saturday's National U19 final win. The Wellington U19s arrived back in town yesterday afternoon with some gleaming new silverware in tow, the Graham Mourie Trophy, which they won at Taupo on Saturday in the final of the inaugural Jock Hobbs National U19 Tournament. The Graham Mourie Trophy will take pride of place inside Wellington Rugby's display cabinet on Adelaide Road, which has emptied out somewhat lately following the loss of some inter-provincial trophies such as the Coronation Cup to Manawatu last month and the John F...More

The Wellington U19s celebrating their win over Canterbury in the National U19 tournament final. Photo credit: Dave Lintott. The Wellington U19s are the inaugural National U19 tournament champions, Beating Canterbury 32-21 in the final of the Jock Hobbs National U19 Tournament in Taupo this evening. The Junior Lions lifted the inaugural Graham Mourie Trophy with a convincing four tries to two victory, pulling clear in the second half after scoring the only try of the first half to lead 10-6 at the break...More