Wellington (National Provincial Championship)

Last updated

Wellington
Wellington lions logo.png
Official WRU emblem
Union Wellington Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)Lions
Founded1879;146 years ago (1879)
Location Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand
Ground(s) Sky Stadium (Capacity: 34,500)
CEOTony Giles [1]
Coach(es) Trent Renata
Captain(s) Brad Shields
Most appearances Bernie Fraser (121)
Top scorer Allan Hewson (893)
Most tries Bernie Fraser (105)
League(s) Bunnings NPC
2024 1st
Champions
Kit left arm goldborder.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body goldcollar.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm goldborder.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks goldtop.png
Kit socks long.svg
Team kit
Official website
www.wellingtonlions.co.nz

Wellington (often known as the Wellington Lions) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington, New Zealand. The union was originally established in 1879, with the National Provincial Championship established in 1976. They now play in the reformed National Provincial Championship competition. They play their home games at Sky Stadium in Wellington. The team is affiliated with the Hurricanes Super Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are black and gold.

Contents

Current squad

The Wellington Lions squad for the 2025 Bunnings NPC is: [2]

Wellington Lions squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose forwards

Halfbacks (scrum-halves)

First five-eighths (fly-halves)

Midfielders (centres)

Outside backs

  • (c) denotes team captain.
  • Bold denotes internationally capped.
  • DEV denotes a development squad player.
  • REP denotes a replacement squad player.
  1. 1 2 3 Broughton-Winterburn, Lokotui & Sanele weren't named in the original Wellington squad, but were announced in the side for Round 6. [3]
  2. ↑ Tauofaga wasn't named in the original Wellington squad, but was announced in the side for Round 1. [4]
  3. ↑ Paulo wasn't named in the original Wellington squad, but was announced in the side for Round 7. [5]

Honours

Wellington have been overall Champions on six occasions. Their first title was in 1978 and their most recent title was in 2024. Their full list of honours include: [6] [7]

National Provincial Championship First Division
Mitre 10 Cup Championship Division
Bunnings NPC

Current Super Rugby players

Players named in the 2025 Wellington Lions squad, who also earned contracts or were named in a squad for any side participating in the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

PlayerTeam
Asafo Aumua Hurricanes
Tjay Clarke Hurricanes
Caleb Delany Hurricanes
Losi Filipo Moana Pasifika
Jackson Garden-Bachop Moana Pasifika
Callum Harkin Hurricanes
Riley Higgins Hurricanes
Du'Plessis Kirifi Hurricanes
Peter Lakai Hurricanes
Siale Lauaki Hurricanes
Ruben Love Hurricanes
Xavier Numia Hurricanes
Hugo Plummer Hurricanes
Kyle Preston Crusaders
Billy Proctor Hurricanes
Matt Proctor Force
Ardie Savea Moana Pasifika
Julian Savea Moana Pasifika
PJ Sheck Blues
Brad Shields Hurricanes

References

  1. ↑ "Tony Giles to lead Wellington Rugby". Wellington Rugby (Press release). 21 September 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  2. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (20 July 2025). "Introducing the Wellington Lions for 2025" . Retrieved 20 July 2025– via Instagram.
  3. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (3 September 2025). "On the road this weekend" . Retrieved 8 September 2025– via Instagram.
  4. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (30 July 2025). "First team naming of the season" . Retrieved 3 August 2025– via Instagram.
  5. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (9 September 2025). "Our team heading up North this Thursday to take on Northland" . Retrieved 14 September 2025– via Instagram.
  6. ↑ "National Provincial Championship winners, 1976–2014". Te Ara. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "Mitre 10 Cup". Rugby Heartland. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "Game Readiness and Maturity Key in 2025 Hurricanes Squad". Hurricanes (Press release). 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  9. ↑ "Moana Pasifika name squad for 2025". Moana Pasifika (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. ↑ "Hurricanes team named to play the Crusaders in opening round". Hurricanes (Press release). 12 February 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "2025 Crusaders squad announced". crusaders.co.nz (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "Four more round out 2025 Western Force Super Rugby squad" (Press release). Western Force. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  13. ↑ "We're ready to take the handbrake off". Blues (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.