Former Wests Roosters, Wellington and Hurricanes No. 8 Filo Tiatia is joining former Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett at the coaching staff of the Japanese Sunwolves this year. Tiatia, who spent several years playing in Japan, leaves his current posiiton as Director of Rugby at Wellington's Scots College. Read more here (stuff.co.nz)    More

The Jubilee Cup winning Hutt team of 1934 with the inaugural McBain Shield after beating Petone 6-5.? From the beginning of competitions to right up to the present day, we’ve chosen 25 of the most noteworthy or memorable Wellington club rugby Senior/Premier championship winning teams, Here’s the stories of five club teams that stood out between 1934 and 1948, the years before and just after World War Two. Hutt 1934Played 18.Won 16.Lost 2.Points for 262. Points against 126 Not for the first time, a team went into the final match of the season missing their best players to representative duty...More

Victor Vito playing for Marist St. Pat’s in the 2012 Wellington club rugby Jubilee Cup semi-final, flanked by MSP teammates Jeff Toomaga-Allen and Solomona Sakalia and Northern United players Henry Smith and Tomasi Palu. Photo by Holden Bros. Media.It’s all on in a fortnight. The opening salvoes of the 2014 Investec Super Rugby season, that is. The Hurricanes take the field for the first time this year on 1 February against the Blues at Memorial Park in Masterton, in the first of three pre-season matches...More

From the beginning of competitions to right up to the present day, we’ve chosen 25 of the most noteworthy or memorable Wellington club rugby Senior/Premier championship winning teams, Here’s the stories of five club teams that stood out between 1910 and 1929, the first year that the Jubilee Cup was contested. Oriental 1910Played 12.Won 10.Lost 1.Drew 1.Points for 155. Points against 58When Oriental-Rongotai won the Jubilee Cup in 2011, it was the club’s first Senior championship win since 1910 (apart from in World War Two when they temporarily combined with Poneke to win Jubilee Cups in 1943 and 1944)...More

Above: The Wellington and Auckland teams about to take the field ahead of the Men’s Cup final. Photo credit: @aucklandrugby Twitter feedThe Wellington men’s team and the Manawatu women’s team are the 2014 Bayleys National Sevens champions.Wellington defeated Auckland 26-17 in the Men’s Cup final and Manawatu overcame Auckland 19-12 in the Women’s Cup final. The win for the Scott Waldrom and Sam Rasch coached Wellington team was the province’s first national Sevens title since 2002...More

Sixteen men’s and 10 women’s provincial teams are descending on Rotorua this weekend for the 2014 Bayleys National Sevens tournament, over two days and involving 75 games. Following three highly competitive regional qualifying tournaments in November and December, and with the profile of 7s rugby having been raised significantly in the lead-up the 2016 Olympic Games, this year’s tournament promises to be as exciting as it gets. The format of the tournament sees round-robin pool play on Saturday and the knockout rounds on Sunday...More

Above: Rugby at Newtown Park? in 1882, where much of Wellington’s early rugby was played. Photo courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library. From the beginning of competitions to right up to the present day, we’ve chosen 25 of the most noteworthy or memorable Wellington club rugby Senior/Premier championship winning teams, Here’s the stories of five club teams that stood out in the early years in the capital. Poneke 1889Played 9.Won 7.Lost 0.Drew 2.Points for 63. Points against 15The first dominant team in Wellington club rugby was the Poneke team of the late 1880s...More

Mt Maunganui is set to sizzle this Saturday with the annual Bay Engineers Supplies Provincial Sevens Tournament on Saturday being played at Blake Park.Twelve provincial men’s and eight women’s teams are descending on the Mount for this tournament, which is a dress rehearsal for the National 7s in Rotorua the following weekend.As well as all the leading North Island provinces, both the Canterbury men’s and women’s squads are involved. Both Canterbury teams won their respective divisions in the recent South Island Zone National qualifying tournament...More

Above: The then captains of Wellington's second and third oldest clubs that are still in existence, Eugene Smith (Petone, founded in 1885) and Misipalauni Moananu (Poneke, 1883) leading their sides out on to Kilbirnie Park on the occasion of Poneke's 125th anniversary celebrations in 2008As at the end of 2013, the Wellington Rugby Football Union had 18 member clubs affiliated to it, all of who have had at least one team taking part in the WRFU’s competitions; but what of the history of the club game in the capital? A perusal of the lists of championship winners, and the names engraved on the Jubilee and Hardham Cups themselves; reveal a number of names that have since disappeared; and many other names have also come and gone from the roll of clubs...More

With the 2013 season now over, here’s a recap of the champion teams in Wellington club rugby this year.2013 will long be remembered for being the year of Tawa, whose Premier team finished the season holding just about every major trophy going. ?As well as holding several interclub trophies, the Tawa Premiers are the 2013 Jubilee Cup and Swindale Shield champions. They also hold the Bill Brien challenge Trophy, the Ranfurly Shield of Wellington club rugby, and the Andy Leslie Trophy, the heaviest trophy of the lot...More