 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Buller Rugby Union |
| Colours | Red and blue |
| Founded | 1894 |
| Website | bullerrugby |
| Current details | |
| Ground(s) |
|
| Competition | Heartland Championship |
The Buller Rugby Union (BRU) is a rugby union province based in the town of Westport, New Zealand. The Buller provincial boundary also includes other notable towns such as Reefton, Karamea, Granity, Charleston, Punakaiki and Murchison (Murchison RFC currently compete in the Tasman provincial Union competition).
Buller was formed in 1894. Buller has played in both the second and third divisions of the former NPC. After the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) restructuring of the NPC in 2006 Buller currently play in the Heartland Championship (effectively the NPC second division). The side has performed with distinction in this competition having made the top tier Meads Cup section twice in the past 3 seasons. Buller (often in combination with West Coast) has had some memorable matches against international sides in the past including victory over Australia. There have also been a number of other impressive results against international opposition including the British Lions, South Africa, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, and various New Zealand representative sides including New Zealand Maori and New Zealand Juniors. Historically Buller were a strong provincial Union particularly in the pre 1960 era and the Union would compete on a level footing with more famous provincial sides such as Canterbury and Wellington. With the formation of the National Provincial Championship (NPC) in 1976 Buller began to struggle as players moved to bigger Unions to further their rugby and work careers. However the Union has experienced a resurgence in fortunes over the last 4 seasons with the representative team performing well in the Heartland Championship.
Buller Rugby Union is made up of 5 clubs:
Buller also have 3 secondary schools who compete in matches:
2018 Squad
The 2018 squad will be reduced after a couple of weeks training: L Mundy J Best R Matangi S Eggers L Hateley J Loughnan A Ellis G Duncan R Bonisch Z Walsh C Neilsen J Lepa L Brownlee K Parata K Tetai L Watson S Godwin B Pratt D Rusbatch L Elley J Walter P Foote A Stephens J Lash R Malneek I Ravudra M Feso P Saukuru S Marris M Kaloudigibeci C Jenkins B Collins M Wells A Tailua J Hands H Babbington M McLaren plus two to be added.
Unavailable: S Crackett, S Neighbours, A Norton-Taylor.
The Buller team's home ground is Victoria Square in Westport.
Buller along with Canterbury, Tasman, West Coast, Mid Canterbury and South Canterbury make up the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise.
Buller has won one Provincial Championship, the Heartland Championship Lochore Cup in 2012 defeating South Canterbury in the Final.
In 2014, Buller went through Round Robin Undefeated progressing to the Meads Cup Final only to fall to Mid Canterbury.
| Heartland Championship Results [1] [2] [3] [4] | |||||||||||||
| Year | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Place | Playoffs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qual | SF | F | |||||||||||
| 2006 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 139 | 182 | −43 | 2 | 14 | 4th | Lochore Cup | Lost 10–36 to Poverty Bay | — |
| 2007 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 171 | 186 | −15 | 2 | 22 | 5th | No | — | |
| 2008 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 135 | 164 | −29 | 1 | 19 | 5th | No | — | |
| 2009 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 163 | 156 | +7 | 5 | 17 | 4th | Lochore Cup | Lost 22–53 to West Coast | — |
| 2010 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 127 | 193 | −66 | 1 | 13 | 3rd | Lochore Cup | Won 19–14 against Horowhenua-Kapiti | Lost to 9–15 Wairarapa Bush |
| 2011 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 188 | 131 | +57 | 6 | 26 | 4th | Lochore Cup | Lost 30–32 to Poverty Bay | — |
| 2012 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 207 | 178 | +29 | 5 | 25 | 5th | Lochore Cup | Won 42–22 against Poverty Bay | Won 31–28 against South Canterbury |
| 2013 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 147 | 149 | −2 | 4 | 20 | 7th | Lochore Cup | Won 40–30 against Wanganui | Lost 10–17 to South Canterbury |
| 2014 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 282 | 145 | +137 | 5 | 37 | 1st | Meads Cup | Won 22–15 against Horowhenua-Kapiti | Lost 13–36 to Mid Canterbury |
| 2015 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 200 | 187 | +13 | 5 | 21 | 6th | Lochore Cup | Lost 6–20 to King Country | — |
| 2016 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 258 | 190 | +68 | 6 | 30 | 3rd | Meads Cup | Won 16–06 against South Canterbury | Lost 18–20 to Wanganui |
| 2017 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 250 | 203 | +47 | 4 | 28 | 3rd | Meads Cup | Lost 17–18 to Horowhenua-Kapiti | — |
Buller have never held the Ranfurly Shield despite a number of close matches. The best result being in 1949 when Buller drew 6–6 against Otago at Carisbrook, Dunedin. Had the match been played using the modern scoring system, Buller would have won courtesy of scoring more tries than their Otago opposition.
Established in 1906 in honour of Richard John Seddon, [5] the Seddon Shield is a challenge shield contested by representative teams in the upper South Island. [6] Buller along with Nelson Bays, Marlborough and West Coast currently compete for the shield. Originally the Golden Bay-Motueka Rugby Union and the Nelson Rugby Union also competed for the shield before those unions amalgamated to form Nelson Bays. Buller have held the shield on a number of occasions but Nelson Bays are the current holders. In 2009 Buller lost their Seddon Shield challenge against Nelson Bays by 29–37.
The Rundle Cup is contested annually between the Buller and West Coast Unions. It is one of the oldest trophies in NZ rugby.
The Rundle Cup was donated to the West Coast provincial union during their Annual General Meeting at the Albion Hotel on 24 May 1911 by William Rundle as a trophy for Buller-West Coast matches. Rundle was a local business man in the mining industry and former player for the Grey Football Club. He later perished on the frontline in France during World War One. The first contest for the cup was held in 1911 in Westport and was won by Buller.
Buller has had six players selected for the All Blacks whilst playing their club rugby in Buller:
Also:
Other All Blacks to play for Buller at senior or junior level either before or after their national selection were:
The following players have made 100 appearances for Buller:
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 2006 season, it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after its headline sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge matches, which are usually played at the shield holders home venue, and if the challenger is successful in their challenge they will become the new holder of the Shield. There is a tradition for the first challenges of a new rugby season to be played against smaller associations from the Heartland Championship
Rugby union is the unofficial national sport of New Zealand. The men's national team, the All Blacks, is currently ranked the third best national rugby team in the world. The sport has been known in New Zealand since 1870. The top domestic competitions are the professional National Provincial Championship and amateur Heartland Championship, and above them Super Rugby, in which New Zealand has five franchises. The country co-hosted and won the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987, and hosted and won the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The men have won three World Cups, tied with South Africa, the most of any other country. They are the current World Champions for Women's rugby union and in rugby sevens for men and women.
The North Otago Rugby Football Union (NORFU) is a New Zealand rugby union province based in Oamaru and compete in the Heartland Championship. They are one of the strongest teams in The Heartland Championship, winning the Meads Cup section of the competition in its second year, 2007 as well as 2010. Their home ground is Whitestone Contracting Stadium, formerly Centennial Park.
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, was an annual promotion and relegation rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 1976 season, it was the highest level of competition in New Zealand until Super Rugby launched in 1996. It was organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and ceased following the 2005 season.
The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the country's former domestic competition, the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The country's 27 provincial teams were split into two separate competitions. Thirteen of the original teams, plus one merged side created from two other teams, entered the new top-level professional competition, the Air New Zealand Cup. The remaining 12 sides entered the new Heartland Championship, whose teams contest two distinct trophies, both named after famous New Zealand players:
The West Coast Rugby Football Union, formed in 1890, is the official governing body for rugby union in the Westland County, Hokitika Borough and Greymouth Borough districts, located in the West Coast provincial region of New Zealand, and is affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. The West Coast RFU provincial representative team, a founding member of the National Provincial Championship, is based in Greymouth. It plays home matches at John Sturgeon Park.
The Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Horowhenua and Kapiti Coast districts in the Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington regions. The union was established in 1893 as the Horowhenua Rugby Football Union and was changed to its current name of Horowhenua-Kapiti in 1997, in order to reflect the full extent of the union's districts.
The Whanganui Rugby Football Union (WRFU) is the governing body for rugby union in the Whanganui region of New Zealand. The Whanganui Rugby Football Union was formed in 1888.
The South Canterbury Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) is a rugby province based in the central South Island city of Timaru, New Zealand. The South Canterbury team play at Fraser Park located in Timaru.
The Mid Canterbury Rugby Football Union (MCRFU) is a rugby province in the South Island of New Zealand.
The Ngati Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union is a constituent union in the New Zealand Rugby Union. It is located on the East Coast of the North Island, based in Ruatoria. It is the smallest Union in New Zealand in the sense of player numbers and population base. Due to the high number of players from the Ngati Porou iwi, the team is often referred to as Ngati Porou East Coast.
The Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union within the Gisborne district, in the area surrounding Poverty Bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The men's representative team play from Rugby Park, Gisborne, and currently compete in the Heartland Championship.
The Heartland XV is one of several New Zealand representative rugby union teams, although it is at a lower level than the All Blacks and the Māori All Blacks. The side is drawn exclusively from players for provincial unions that compete in the Heartland Championship, a nominally amateur domestic competition below the fully professional Mitre 10 Cup.
The 2008 Heartland Championship was a provincial rugby union competition involving 12 teams from New Zealand split into two pools. Matches started on Saturday 23 August 2008 and ended with the final on 25 October.
Rugby union in New Zealand is structured into four tiers. The top tier is composed of the national representative teams, with the men's team – known as the All Blacks – and the women's team - known as the Black Ferns, at the top, followed by other representative sides such as the Junior All Blacks and Māori All Blacks. These national sides are administered by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). Below this level is Super Rugby, where there are five New Zealand sides, each representing a different region of the country. Below this level is provincial rugby, the third tier – each province has a representative side that plays in either the semi-professional Bunnings Warehouse NPC, or amateur Heartland Championship. These provincial sides are selected of Super Rugby players, and club players from within the province. Club rugby is the fourth and lowest tier, and consists of clubs competing in local leagues organised by a provincial union.
The 2010 Heartland Championship was the fifth edition of the New Zealand provincial rugby union competition, since the 2006 reconstruction. The teams represented the 12 amateur rugby unions.
The 2014 Heartland Championship was the ninth edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament involved a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds played at home against the lowest seeds, the second highest seeds played at home against the third highest seeds and the final had the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.
The 2015 Heartland Championship, the tenth edition of the Heartland Championship since the 2006 reconstruction of the National Provincial Championship, was a rugby union competition involving the twelve semi-professional rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament involved a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds played at home against the lowest seeds, the second highest seeds played at home against the third highest seeds and the final had the higher seed playing at home against the lower seed.
The 2016 Heartland Championship, known as the 2016 Mitre 10 Heartland Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the eleventh edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament included a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds played at home against the lowest seeds, the second highest seeds played at home against the third highest seeds and the final had the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.