Taranaki Rugby Football Union

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Taranaki Rugby
Logo Taranaki Rugby Union.svg
Sport Rugby union
Jurisdiction Taranaki Region
AbbreviationTRFU
Founded1885;140 years ago (1885)
Affiliation New Zealand Rugby
Headquarters New Plymouth
CEO Jimmy Fastier
Men's coachNeil Barnes
Women's coachBen Siffleet
Official website
www.trfu.co.nz
Flag of New Zealand.svg

The Taranaki Rugby Football Union (TRFU, Taranaki Rugby) is the governing body for rugby union in Taranaki, New Zealand. Established in 1885, [1] it is based in New Plymouth. The union's traditional colours are amber and black.

Contents

The Taranaki Bulls and Taranaki Whio are the two most senior representative men's and women's teams, competing in the NPC and Farah Palmer Cup respectively. The Bulls typically play their home games at Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth, while the Whio play at Stadium Taranaki and other venues across the province.

Taranaki Rugby is part of the Chiefs Super Rugby region [2] and has a 23.1% ownership stake in the franchise.

History

Early years

Taranaki was officially established in 1889 after a team chosen from the surrounding clubs in existence played as Egmont in 1885. They began with a brown coloured jersey before adopting the amber and black hoops in 1892. During the amateur period, the team won the Ranfurly Shield on four occasions. It had also won seven-second division titles in the National Provincial Championship, more than any other team. Further notable moments were in 1959, when a record 35,000 spectators attended Rugby Park in New Plymouth to see the province play the British Lions. Two years later 36,000 people were on hand to watch France defeat the side 11-9. [3] Their first Ranfurly Shield victory came in 1913 when Auckland was defeated 14-11. Six successful defences followed before a 12-6 loss to Wellington in September 1914. In 1957 shield holders Wellington was defeated in a friendly match early in the year and a rematch was scheduled for later in the season. Otago defeated Wellington, and Otago accepted a special challenge by Taranaki. The match was played on 28 September 1957, the last Saturday of the season, after King Country gave up its scheduled fixture with Taranaki. Taranaki won against Otago for them to, later on, go a 13-match tenure. [3]

In 1963 Taranaki regained the Ranfurly Shield once again off Wellington with a win at Athletic Park. Their third tenure would be its most successful one. The first challenge came from Wanganui who were making their second challenge of the season, having lost earlier to Auckland. Wanganui later would suffer a further defeat in 1964. Taranaki lost to Auckland in their last defence in 1965 and would not reclaim the shield again until 1996 when they edged Auckland 42-39. North Harbour lost narrowly in a tight contest before Taranaki was beaten by 20 points against Waikato. [3]

Professional era

In August 2011 Taranaki defeated Southland 15-12 in Invercargill to begin a fifth tenure of the shield. [4] This ended in October 2012 when Waikato won the last challenge of the season. [5] In 2013 Taranaki RFU assembled a women's professional team although it was later disbanded the following year. [6] They claimed the national title for the first time in their history with a win over Tasman in the 2014 ITM Cup. [7]

Referees

Taranaki has a proud history of producing top level referees. Brian Duffy was the region's first test match referee and controlled six internationals, including one test between the British and Irish Lions and All Blacks in 1977. Paul Williams followed with his test debut coming in 2017.

Cam Stone and Will Johnston are in the National Panel and take charge of domestic competition matches. Richard Kelly featured in the panel for 12 years, including a successful sevens career, where he was the world's most capped sevens referee when he retired in March 2021. He controlled 280 matches over 52 tournaments, including the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, 2018 World Rugby 7s World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics, in which he refereed one semi-final.

Other Taranaki referees have been involved in the national scene in the past, these are; Dee Luckin, Darryl Heibner, Chris Pollock, Brian MacDonald, Paul Macfie, Stuart Beissell, Ross Whitmore, Paul Honiss, Russell Hodge and Murray Dombroski.

Affiliated clubs

There are 29 registered clubs incorporated and secondary schools affiliated with the Taranaki RFU, most of which have teams at both senior and junior levels. The Taranaki Rugby Referees' Association is also an affiliated member of the Taranaki RFU. The organisation provides match officials for senior club rugby down to junior grades. They also provide sideline support personnel to home National Provincial Championship, Super Rugby and test matches.

ClubFoundedTotal Premierships

(McMaster's Shield)

Premiership Winning SeasonsAll BlacksMergers
Current ClubsBell Block Rugby Sports and Community Club
Clifton Rugby & Sports Club1880
Coastal Rugby & Sports Club2009Mark Robinson 2000-02, Beauden Barrett, Scott Barrett, Jordie BarrettMerger of the Okato RFC, the Rahotu RFC and the Opunake RFC.
Inglewood United RFC18981940, 1960, 1970, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2006, 2014, 2021Rugby in Inglewood began in 1893, when Inglewood’s first rugby club, the Athletic Club, was formed. Shortly after in 1896, the Pirates Club was formed. These two clubs united to form one club in 1898
Kaponga RFC1907Ian Eliason 1972-73, Kieran Crowley 1984-91
New Plymouth HSOB RFC1919171995H.W. Brown 1924-26, R.A. Roper 1949-50, G. Beatt, 1950, N.J. Bowden, 1952, R.H. Brown, 1955–62, R.J. Boon, 1960, J.T. McEldowney, 1976–77, M. Watt, 1979–80, G. Slater, 1999, T. Tahuriorangi 2018, T. Vaa’i 2020
Okaiawa RFC
Patea Rugby and Sports Club:
Southern Rugby Club2013Jarrad Hoeata 2011Merger of the Hawera RFC, the Hawera Athletic RFC and the Waimate RFC (Manaia).
Spotswood United Rugby & Sports Club19912019Merger of the Star RFC and the Spotswood Old Boys RFC.
Stratford-Eltham Rugby & Sports Club2016Merger of Stratford RFC and Eltham RFC.
Toko RFC
Tukapa Rugby & Sports Club1892172017, 2020, 2022
Former (defunct or merged) clubsEltham RFCFrancis Glasgow 1903–05, Roger Urbahn 1959–60, Brian Muller 1967–71, Bryce Robins 1985.
Hawera Athletic RFC1925
Hawera RFC1886
Okato RFC
Opunake RFC
Rahotu RFC
Star RFC18891947, 1948Lewis (Snip) Allen 1896-1901, A.L. Humphries 1897, H.L. Abbott 1905-06, T.N. Wolfe  1961-1968, R.J. Fraser 1979
Stratford RFC
Spotswood College Old Boys RFC1964
Waimate RFC (Manaia)1886

Players

Notable players

Taranaki has produced 83 men's New Zealand internationals to date. [25] Below is a list of New Zealand national rugby union players along with their number and year of debut in brackets.

Personnel and statistics

Seasonal record

YearPos.Division GP W L D PTS CaptainHead coach
2006 11thN/A936016 Paul Tito Kieran Crowley
2007 8thN/A1147023 Tony Penn
2008 8thN/A1146123Adrian Kennedy
2009 8thN/A1366128
2010 5thN/A1394042 Craig Clarke Colin Cooper
2011 [a] 3rdPremiership1073031
2012 4thPremiership1174033
2013 6thPremiership1037014 Kane Barrett
2014 [b] 1stPremiership1292138 James Marshall
2015 4thPremiership1165032 Charlie Ngatai
2016 2ndPremiership1173137 Mitchell Crosswell
2017 [c] 1stPremiership1183042Charlie Ngatai
2018 7thPremiership1028013Mitchell Crosswell Willie Rickards
2019 5thChampionship1046018 Mitchell Brown
2020 [d] 4thChampionship1147024
2021 [e] 1stChampionship10100039Mitchell Brown & Teihorangi Walden Neil Barnes
The table above shows the Taranaki RFU men's team progression throughout the professional era.
Source: New Zealand Rugby History
  1. ↑ Taranaki won the Ranfurly Shield in 2011. It was their fifth tenure and defended it seven times.
  2. ↑ Taranaki won the ITM Cup Premiership in 2014. It was their first time winning a first division title.
  3. ↑ Taranaki won the Ranfurly Shield in 2017. It was their sixth tenure and defended it five times.
  4. ↑ Taranaki won the Ranfurly Shield in 2020. It was their seventh tenure but failed to defend it.
  5. ↑ Taranaki won the Bunnings NPC Championship Division in 2021, however weren't promoted.

List of centurions

Pos.NameYearPrimary positionGames played
1 Kieran Crowley 1980–1994 Fullback 199
2 Ian Eliason 1964–1981 Lock 222
3 Andrew Slater 1989–2001 Lock 183
4 Gordon Slater 1991–2005 Prop 174
5 Kevin Barrett 1986–1999 Lock 167
6 Bryce Robins 1980–1992 Wing 147
7 Dave Loveridge 1975–1986 Half-back 123
7 Murray Watts 1978–1985 Wing 123
9 Tony Penn 1999–2009 Prop 117
10 Shane McDonald 1991–2000 Hooker 116
11 Bull Allen 1988–1996 Prop 110
12Warren Bunn1979–1989 Prop 109
13Dwight Murfitt1984–1993 Wing 106
14 Graham Mourie 1975–1982 Flanker 104
14Felix O'Carroll1975–1983 Hooker 104
14Lindsay Thomson1983–1991 Lock 104
17Ross Elmes1980–1989 Prop 103
17Kerry Eynon1991–2000 Centre 103
19 Ian Eliason 1975–1981 Lock 102
20 Colin Cooper 1979–1987 Number 8 100
20 Paul Tito 1997–2006 Lock 100
The table above shows the Taranaki RFU men's centurions from 1975.
Source: New Zealand Rugby History
Updated: 11 September 2020

List of top try-scorers

Pos.NameYearPrimary positionTries scored
1 Kieran Crowley 1980–1994 Fullback 64
2 Bryce Robins 1980–1992 Wing 59
3 Murray Watts 1978–1985 Wing 57
4 Shayne Austin 1998–2009 Wing 48
5 Charlie McAlister 1983–1987 Wing 36
6Dwight Murfitt1984–1993 Wing 33
7Tony Arnold1983–1987 Wing 32
8 Bull Allen 1988–1996 Prop 28
9 Andre Taylor 2010–2013 Fullback 27
10 Seta Tamanivalu 2012–2018 Centre 26
The table above shows the Taranaki RFU men's top 10 try-scorers from 1975.
Source: New Zealand Rugby History
Updated: 11 September 2020

List of top point-scorers

Pos.NameYearPrimary positionPoints scored
1 Kieran Crowley 1980–1994 Fullback 1,723
2 Daryl Lilley 1993–2003 Fullback 777
3 Jamie Cameron 1992–1999 First five-eighth 614
4Stephen Davidson1975–1982 Fullback 588
5 Marty McKenzie 2014–2017 First five-eighth 392
6 Mark Urwin 1997–2003 First five-eighth 361
7 Willie Ripia 2008–2010 First five-eighth 317
8 Jason Holland 1997–1998 First five-eighth 259
9 Bryce Robins 1980–1992 Wing 258
10Kelvin Mahon1985–1993 Fullback 247
The table above shows the Taranaki RFU men's top 10 point-scorers from 1975.
Source: New Zealand Rugby History
Updated: 11 September 2020

References

  1. ↑ "Taranaki Rugby". www.trfu.co.nz. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "Our community". chiefs.co.nz. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Ministry for Culture and Heritage (9 October 2015). "Taranaki Rugby History". New Zealand History. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Logan Savory (25 August 2011). "Taranaki claim Ranfurly Shield from Southland". Stuff . Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "Waikato take Ranfurly Shield". Radio New Zealand . 4 October 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "Two provinces join women's rugby competition". Radio New Zealand . 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "Taranaki win 2014 ITM Cup Premiership". TVNZ. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Bell Block Rugby Sports & Community Club". New Zealand Business Number. 17 October 1979. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "Central Rugby and Sports Club". New Zealand Business Number. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Clifton Rugby and Sports Club". New Zealand Business Number. 7 August 1979. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "Coastal Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 21 January 1997. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  12. ↑ "Eltham Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 15 October 1931. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "Inglewood United Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 8 February 1932. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  14. ↑ "Kaitake Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 30 April 1985. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Kaponga Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 22 July 1928. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "New Plymouth High School Old Boys' Rugby Football and Sports Club". New Zealand Business Number. 8 May 1931. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "Okaiawa Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 13 December 1928. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  18. ↑ "Okato Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 15 February 1929. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  19. ↑ "Rahotu Community And Sports Club". New Zealand Business Number. 5 November 1984. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  20. ↑ "Southern Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 27 January 1995. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  21. ↑ "Spotswood United Rugby Football & Sports Club". New Zealand Business Number. 22 July 1929. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  22. ↑ "Stratford Eltham Rugby & Sports Club". New Zealand Business Number. 2 April 1925. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  23. ↑ "Toko Rugby Football Club". New Zealand Business Number. 7 June 1976. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  24. ↑ "Tukapa Rugby and Sports Club". New Zealand Business Number. 14 May 1929. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  25. ↑ "Taranaki All Blacks". Taranaki Rugby. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
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