The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national team, although they can pick uncapped players who are eligible for any of the four unions. The team currently tours every four years, with these rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in order. The most recent test series, the 2021 series against South Africa, was won 2–1 by South Africa.
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for their unmatched international success, the All Blacks have often been regarded as the most successful sports team in history.
Haka are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. Haka are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Haka have been traditionally performed—by both men and women—for a variety of social functions within Māori culture. They are performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions, or funerals.
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts. Their emblem is a native antelope, the Springbok, which is the national animal of South Africa. The team has been representing South Africa in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. They are currently the reigning World Champions and have won the World Cup on 3 occasions,. The Springboks are equalled with the All Blacks with 3 World Cup wins.
Christ's College, Canterbury is an independent Anglican secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Eltham is a small inland town in South Taranaki, New Zealand, located 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of the city of New Plymouth and southeast of the volcanic cone of Mount Taranaki. Stratford is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north, Kaponga 13 km west, and Hāwera is 19 km (12 mi) south. State Highway 3 runs through the town.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents Tonga in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
Havelock North High School is a state co-education secondary school located in Havelock North, New Zealand.
St Andrew's College, also known as StAC, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is a private, co-educational school that enrols from pre-school to secondary Year 13. It was founded in 1917 and it is the only independent, co-educational primary and secondary school in New Zealand's South Island. Although now a fully co-educational school, it was formerly an all-boys school. It became fully co-educational in 2001. The current rector of St Andrew's College is Christine Leighton.
Sir Mountford Tosswill "Toss" Woollaston was a New Zealand artist. He is regarded as one of the most important New Zealand painters of the 20th century.
The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing is that the player has Māori whakapapa (genealogy). In the past this rule was not strictly applied; non–Māori players who looked Māori were often selected in the team. These included a few Pacific island players and a couple of African descent. Today all players have their ancestry verified before selection in the team.
Haka, traditional dances of the Māori people, have been used in sports in New Zealand and overseas. Haka are performed to challenge opponents before matches. The dance form has been adopted by the New Zealand national rugby union team, the "All Blacks", the Māori All Blacks, New Zealand women's national rugby union team, the "Black Ferns" and a number of other New Zealand national teams perform before their international matches; some non-New Zealand sports teams have also adopted haka.
St Peter's College is a state-integrated Catholic co-ed composite College in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It serves approximately 731 students from Year 7 to Year 13. The school's campus includes the historic St Anskar's Chapel, which was given to the school by the Dannevirke Catholic community.
Taranaki Rugby, previously the Taranaki Rugby Football Union, is the governing body for rugby union in Taranaki, New Zealand; Taranaki is a region of New Zealand that covers areas in the districts of New Plymouth and South Taranaki. Established in 1889, they represent the Mitre 10 Cup side, Taranaki Bulls, and Farah Palmer Cup side, Taranaki Whio. It is also affiliated with the Chiefs Super Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are amber and black and they play their home games at TET Stadium & Events Centre in Inglewood.
Liverpool Stanley was a semi-professional rugby league club from Liverpool, England. It was renamed Liverpool City in 1951, but was otherwise unrelated to the original Liverpool club of the same name. The club's origins date back to 1880 when it was founded as Wigan Highfield. Although the club was best known for its years in Liverpool, the club relocated numerous times, and were known as London Highfield, Huyton, Runcorn Highfield, Highfield, and eventually Prescot Panthers throughout their existence before being eventually wound up in 1996.
King's High School is a state single-sex boys' secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the city close to the boundary between the suburbs of South Dunedin, St. Clair and Forbury, next to the parallel single-sex girls' school, Queen's High School. Both schools share several facilities, including the multimillion-dollar Performing Arts Centre which opened in 2006.
Francis Douglas Memorial College is an all-boys state integrated Catholic school with boarding facilities located in Westown, New Plymouth, New Zealand. The college was founded in 1959 under the leadership of the De La Salle Brothers, a religious order of brothers based on the teachings of St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. It is one of two secondary schools established by the Brothers in New Zealand, the other being De La Salle College, Mangere East, Auckland. The name of the school is dedicated to the memory of Father Francis Vernon Douglas, a missionary priest who was killed while doing missionary work in the Philippines during the Second World War. The school educates approximately 760 boys, 130 of whom are boarders. The 60th Jubilee of Francis Douglas Memorial College was held on Queen's Birthday Weekend, 2019.
Hartlepool Rovers F.C. are a rugby union club who play at The New Friarage, West View Road in Hartlepool. The club play in Durham/Northumberland 1, the seventh tier of the English rugby union system after being relegated from North One East at the end of the 2010–11 season. Steve Smith is the club's player-coach and Steven Barnfield its captain. Rovers have a thriving junior section including boys’ and girls’ teams. Hartlepool Rovers also have a thriving and successful women's team, with Rovers Ladies having just completed their first league campaign in the Women's NC North 2 East. They are by far the most successful club in local cup rugby, having won the Durham Senior Cup a record 45 times.
Hāwera High School was a secondary school in the New Zealand town of Hāwera, which operated from 1901 until 2022.
The Match of the Century is the unofficial name of a rugby union Test match played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park on 16th December 1905 in front of a crowd of 47,000. The game was billed as the "Match of the Century" or "The World Championship" as it was a first meeting of the top two international teams.
