 | |
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Marlborough Rugby Union |
| Nickname(s) | The Red Devils |
| Colours | Red |
| Founded | 1888 |
| Exited | 2005 |
| Former details | |
| Ground(s) | |
| Competition | NPC |
Marlborough Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played from 1888 until 2005 when they merged with the neighbouring Nelson Bays Rugby Union to become the Tasman Rugby Union.
Marlborough was founded in 1888 and played at Lansdowne Park in Blenheim. [1]
Marlborough won three New Zealand Championships during the old NPC, consecutive South Island Division with two titles in 1978 and 1979, and Division 3 in 1997.
Marlborough held the Ranfurly Shield briefly in the early 1970s which they won against Canterbury in 1973. [1] They managed six defences before losing to South Canterbury, in the second challenge of 1974. Their last challenge came in the first challenge of the 2005 season, however Marlborough could not match Canterbury's strength this time and lost heavily, 3–67.
Marlborough reached the final of the 1977 Hong Kong Sevens, finishing runner-up, losing 18–28 to Fiji. [2]
Marlborough and Nelson Bays Rugby Union commenced playing as a merged team in the Tasman Rugby Union in the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup. [3]
Todd Blackadder is a retired New Zealand rugby union player and professional rugby coach. He played 12 tests for the All Blacks, and had 14 appearances as captain. Blackadder captained the Crusaders to three Super Rugby titles during his time with the franchise. He also won two National Provincial Championship titles with Canterbury. Blackadder coached the Crusaders for nine seasons from 2009 to 2016.
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New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to the International Rugby Football Board, now known as World Rugby, the governing body of rugby union for the world. It dropped the word "Football" from its name in 2006. The brand name New Zealand Rugby was adopted in 2013. Officially, it is an incorporated society with the name New Zealand Rugby Union Incorporated.
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The Tasman Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, a bay at the north end of the South Island in New Zealand. Headquartered in Nelson, TRU is New Zealand's newest provincial union, founded in 2006 with the amalgamation of the existing Marlborough and Nelson Bays sub unions.
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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 is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played in 1976, it is the third 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 Heartland Championship after Bunnings, its naming rights sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
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Nelson Bays Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played from 1968 to 2005.
The 2008 Heartland Championship was the third season of the Heartland Championship, 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.
The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition's reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions in New Zealand. It ran for 15 weeks from 30 July to 7 November. It was also the last edition of the provincial competition to use the Air New Zealand Cup name, as the competition's sponsorship contract with Air New Zealand ended after that season. The 2010 competition will be held under a new name, the ITM Cup.
The 1998 New Zealand rugby league season was the 91st season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the National Provincial competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. Auckland won the National Provincial Competition by defeating Canterbury 44-8 while Waikato ended the season holding the Rugby League Cup.
The Tasman rugby league team are New Zealand rugby league team that represents the Tasman Rugby League. They have previously been nicknamed the Orcas but in 2010 adopted the Titans nickname. The district was previously known as Nelson/Marlborough.
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