Waikato (National Provincial Championship)

For the Waikato Rugby governing body, see Waikato Rugby Union.

Waikato

WRU official emblem
Union	Waikato Rugby Union
Nickname(s)	Mooloos
Founded	1921;104 years ago (1921)
Location	Whitiora, Hamilton, New Zealand
Ground(s)	FMG Stadium Waikato (Capacity: 25,000)
CEO	Amy Marfell [1]
Coach(es)	Ross Filipo
Captain(s)	TBA
Most appearances	Ian Foster and Graham Purvis (148)
Top scorer	Matthew Cooper (1,604)
Most tries	Bruce Smith (70)
League(s)	Bunnings NPC
2024	7th Semi-finalist
Team kit
Official website
www.mooloo.co.nz

Waikato (often known as the Waikato Mooloos) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand. The union was originally established in 1921, with the National Provincial Championship established in 1976. They now play in the reformed National Provincial Championship competition. They play their home games at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton in the Waikato region. The team is affiliated with the Chiefs Super Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are red, yellow and black.

Current squad

The Waikato Mooloos squad for the 2025 Bunnings NPC is: ^[2]

Waikato Mooloos squad
Props George Dyer Sefo Kautai Will Martin Ollie Norris Taipari Quinn REP [a] Gabe Robinson Mason Tupaea Hookers Pita Anae-Ah Sue REP [a] Manaaki Boyle-Tiatia Sean Ralph Samisoni Taukei'aho Locks Hamilton Burr Laghlan McWhannell James Tucker	Loose forwards Liam Anderson REP [a] Jahrome Brown Samipeni Finau Luke Jacobson Mitch Jacobson Senita Lauaki Oli Mathis Patrick McCurran REP [a] Xavier Saifoloi Andrew Smith Malachi Wrampling-Alec Halfbacks (scrum-halves) Rui Farrant Charlie Marsh Cortez Ratima Xavier Roe First five-eighths (fly-halves) Aaron Cruden Taha Kemara Lima Sopoaga	Midfielders (centres) Austin Anderson D'Angelo Leuila Anton Lienert-Brown Bailyn Sullivan Quinn Tupaea Gideon Wrampling Outside backs Tepaea Cook-Savage Liam Coombes-Fabling Damian McKenzie Josh Moorby Waisake Salabiau Daniel Sinkinson Aki Tuivailala
Bold denotes internationally capped. REP denotes a replacement squad player. Anae-Ah Sue, Anderson, McCurran & Quinn weren't named in the original Waikato squad, but were announced in the side for Round 1. [3]

Honours

Waikato have been overall Champions on three occasions, winning the titles in 1992, 2006 and 2021. Their full list of honours include: ^{[4] [5]}

National Provincial Championship Second Division North Island

• Winners: 1980

National Provincial Championship Second Division

• Winners: 1986

National Provincial Championship First Division

• Winners: 1992

Air New Zealand Cup

• Winners: 2006

Mitre 10 Cup Championship Division

• Winners: 2018

Bunnings NPC Premiership Division

• Winners: 2021

Current Super Rugby players

Players named in the 2025 Waikato Mooloos squad, who also earned contracts or were named in a squad for any side participating in the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

Player	Team
Austin Anderson	Brumbies
Jahrome Brown	Chiefs
Liam Coombes-Fabling	Chiefs
George Dyer	Chiefs
Samipeni Finau	Chiefs
Luke Jacobson	Chiefs
Sefo Kautai	Highlanders
Taha Kemara	Crusaders
Anton Lienert-Brown	Chiefs
Damian McKenzie	Chiefs
Laghlan McWhannell	Blues
Ollie Norris	Chiefs
Cortez Ratima	Chiefs
Xavier Roe	Chiefs
Xavier Saifoloi	Crusaders
Daniel Sinkinson	Hurricanes
Bailyn Sullivan	Hurricanes
Samisoni Taukei'aho	Chiefs
Aki Tuivailala	Crusaders
Mason Tupaea	Blues
Quinn Tupaea	Chiefs
Gideon Wrampling	Chiefs
Malachi Wrampling-Alec	Chiefs

References

1. "WRU Staff & Board". Waikato Rugby. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
2. "Here's our 2025 Livingstone Waikato NPC Squad". Waikato Rugby on Facebook. 29 July 2025. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
3. @waikatorugby; (30 July 2025). "We're heading up the expressway with a message to deliver - Waikato's here, and we're here to win" . Retrieved 3 August 2025– via Instagram.
4. "National Provincial Championship winners, 1976–2014". Te Ara. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
5. "Mitre 10 Cup". Rugby Heartland. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
6. "ACT Brumbies announce 36-player squad for 2025 Super Rugby Pacific" (Press release). ACT Brumbies. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
7. "Gallagher Chiefs name cohesive 2025 squad" (Press release). Chiefs. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
8. "Highlanders name squad for 2025 DHL Super Rugby competition" (Press release). Highlanders. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
9. "2025 Crusaders squad announced". crusaders.co.nz (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
10. "We're ready to take the handbrake off". Blues (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
11. "Blues bolstered with returning players for double-header clash". Blues (Press release). 2 April 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2025.

External links

• Official site