The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, the Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from 3 countries: Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The Super 12 was established by SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. At its peak the tournament featured the top players from nations representing 16 of the 24 top-three finishes in the history of the Rugby World Cup. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 and beyond will only include Oceanian clubs representing Australia, New Zealand and from the Pacific islands.
Jeffrey William Wilson is a New Zealand sportsman who has represented his country in both rugby union and cricket – a so-called "Double All Black", an increasingly rare achievement in the professional era. He is also a basketballer, and won national secondary school titles in track and field. With 44 tries in 60 tests, Wilson is ranked thirteenth on the list of highest test try scorers in rugby. Wilson is married to Adine Wilson, former captain of the New Zealand netball team.
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. The team's colours are black and white, with the dominant colour being black, and the players perform a haka before every match they play as a challenge to their opponents. The New Zealand Kiwis are currently second in the IRL World Rankings. Since the 1980s, most New Zealand representatives have been based overseas, in the professional National Rugby League and Super League competitions. Before that, players were selected entirely from clubs in domestic New Zealand leagues.
Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a centre and on the wing.
The North Harbour Rugby Union (NHRU), commonly known as North Harbour or simply Harbour, is the governing body of rugby union that encompasses a wide geographical area north of Auckland that includes North Shore City, Rodney District, the Hibiscus Coast and part of Waitakere City. There are 12 rugby clubs from Mahurangi RFC, based in Warkworth, Rodney District, in the north through to Massey the southernmost area of the union.
Justin Warren Marshall is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005.
Daniel William Carter is a retired New Zealand rugby union player.
Sonny William Williams is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the country in rugby league, and is one of only 21 players to have won the Rugby World Cup twice.
Marc Christopher Gwynne Ellis is a New Zealand businessman, television presenter, and former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A graduate of the University of Otago, his primary business interest was in Charlie's, a juice company. During the 1995 Rugby World Cup he scored six tries in the game against Japan, which is the record for the most tries by an individual in a Rugby World Cup match.
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.
Stephen John Devine is a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He is a former All Black and international sevens player for Australia.
Melodie Robinson is a New Zealand sports journalist and presenter, and former international rugby union player for the New Zealand women's national rugby union team. She played 18 tests for the New Zealand women's team, the Black Ferns, from 1996 to 2002. Robinson won two world cups in that time, playing blindside or openside flanker. She also represented New Zealand in sevens at the Hong Kong 7s and Japan 7s.
Danielle "Nolli" Waterman is a retired professional English rugby union, rugby sevens player and current rugby commentator. As a member of England's national rugby union team, she became a multiple Six Nations Championship winner and World Champion in 2014. She was selected for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup squad.
Akira Ioane is a New Zealand rugby union player. Ioane plays blindside flanker and number 8 for the Auckland rugby union team in the Mitre 10 Cup, for the Blues in the Super Rugby competition and was selected for the All Blacks in 2017, having previously represented New Zealand internationally in Sevens and the Māori All Blacks.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is a New Zealand rugby union player. She plays fifteen-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, and is a member of the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team and New Zealand women's national rugby union team. Woodman was a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team when they won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Tony Johnson is a New Zealand rugby commentator and presenter for SKY Television.
William Keith Los'e was a Tongan rugby union player who played as a lock. After retiring from playing, he worked as a radio host and TV commentator.
Rieko Edward Ioane is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a wing or as a centre for New Zealand team Blues in Super Rugby and the New Zealand national team. In his youth career, he was selected to play in the 2014 and 2015 Sevens World Series for New Zealand and took part in Auckland Grammar School first XV, the top representative team in secondary school.
Ruahei Demant is a New Zealand rugby union player. She made her debut for the New Zealand national women's team, the Black Ferns, against Australia in 2018. A utility back, Demant plays as a first five-eighth, second five-eighth or centre. She was named 2022 World Rugby player of the year.
