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.
The Highlanders is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competition, and includes the Otago, North Otago and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that founded the Otago, North Otago, and Southland regions in the 1840s and 1850s.
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.
Carisbrook was a major sporting venue in Dunedin, New Zealand. The city's main domestic and international rugby union venue, it was also used for other sports such as cricket, football, rugby league and motocross. In 1922, Carisbrook hosted the very first international football match between Australia and New Zealand. The hosts won 3-1.
Jordan Rapana is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. He has played for the New Zealand Māori, New Zealand and the Cook Islands at international level.
Jeremiah Pai is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who plays for the Point Chevalier Pirates.
Alex Glenn is a former professional rugby league footballer who captained and played as a second-row and centre for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL. He has played for both the Cook Islands and New Zealand at international level.
The South Island rugby league team is a rugby league team that represents the South Island of New Zealand. They are nicknamed the Scorpions. The side previously represented the Southern Zone in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. However, they now only compete in the under 15 and under 17 National Competitions. Historically, teams representing the South Island played annual fixtures against the North Island and also played touring international sides.
The 2011 New Zealand rugby league season was the 104th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the National Competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The premier teams competed for the Albert Baskerville Trophy, which was won by the Auckland Pride when they defeated the South Island Scorpions 44 - 34 in the Grand Final.
Vaai "Jason" Taumalolo is a professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a lock or second-row forward for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL. He has played for Tonga and New Zealand at international level.
The New Zealand women's national rugby league team, also known as the Kiwi Ferns or New Zealand Kiwi Ferns, represents New Zealand in Women's rugby league. They are administered by the New Zealand Rugby League.
Albert Vete is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and loose forward for Featherstone Rovers in the RFL Championship, on short-term loan from Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League.
Atunaisa Moli is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a Prop for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and Tasman in the Bunnings NPC. He has represented the New Zealand national rugby union team the All Blacks.
Isaia Walker-Leawere is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition.
The 2021 Men's Rugby League World Cup qualification was the qualifying process which will decide the 8 teams that would join the 8 quarter-finalists from the 2021 World Cup including the hosts England, who received an automatic spot, at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The process commenced in June 2018, with the commencement of the 2018–19 Rugby League European Championship C tournament, which acted as the first round for European qualification.
A list of men and women international rugby league matches played throughout 2019 and does not include wheelchair rugby league international matches. A † denotes a recognised, but unofficial match that did not contribute to the RLIF World Rankings.
The South Island is a New Zealand men's domestic rugby union team selected from the South Island's players, based on where a they first played senior representative rugby. They played against the North Island in the North vs South match between 1897 and 2012.
Moana Pasifika is a rugby union team made up of players from various Pacific Island nations as well as New Zealand or Australian born players of Pasifika heritage, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands.
The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season is the 27th season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous seasons were replaced with Super Rugby Unlocked, Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby AU in 2020, and Super Rugby Aotearoa, Super Rugby AU, and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in 2021. The 2022 edition will revert to a 12-team competition, with a single pool replacing the geographical conference system, as well as introducing a new name for the reformatted competition. The season is expected to run from 18 February, with the final to be played on 18 June - culminating before the start of the mid-year international window.
Kianu Kereru-Symes is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a hooker for Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition and the New England Free Jacks in Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States. He has previously played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby.
