Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union

The union was preceded by the "South Auckland" sub-union of the Auckland Rugby Football Union, the sub-union being founded in 1926. This became a full union, with the name "South Auckland Counties", in 1955. The name was shortened to "Counties" just a year later.[1] The name Counties Manukau was adopted in 1995.[2]

Counties Manukau Steelers former logo

The history of Counties has been very much about adventurous football and taking risks, and this was certainly the case initially as the team strove to establish an identity and tradition. Counties' first game was against Auckland in Waiuku in 1955, which they lost 95–3, led by Barry Baxter. In that inaugural year the team defeated an Wellington XV twice, the first 19 – 6 on Bledisloe Park, Pukekohe, where the union's first All Black, Pat Walsh scored twice. Barry Bracewell, coach from 1961–63 and 1967–75, adopted a style in conflict with the ethos of the day of forward dominance and percentage safety from the backs. Bracewell, and Tauroa after him, selected mobile forwards and loose forwards with exciting backs with attacking game plans.

The Counties team of this era had many highlights. The first was winning the NPC championship in 1979, with wins over Waikato, Wellington, North Auckland, Thames Valley, Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay, South Canterbury, Manawatu, Taranaki, Otago, Canterbury, and Southland, also beating Victoria and Argentina that year. Winning the Inter-Dominion Championship (forerunner to the Super 10) against Queensland in Brisbane was another achievement, while the 1982 team beat Australia 15 – 9, which included greats such as David Campese.

In 1982, playing Canterbury not only for the Ranfurly Shield but also the NPC championship, with Counties ahead 15 – 12 with only minutes remaining, Robert Kururangi intercepted a Canterbury pass and was about to score when the referee dubiously judged him offside, awarding Canterbury the penalty which Robbie Deans successfully kicked to win the championship and retain the shield. The previous season the shield challenge against Waikato also ended in a draw (21 all) after Counties conceded two late and controversial penalties. The third Ranfurly Shield agony came three years later in 1985 against Auckland, when Counties, down 3 – 12, were denied what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate try to Dave Trombik after the referee received some subtle persuasion by Auckland skipper Andy Haden. Later in the game Warren McClean scored a try for Counties, making the final score 9–12, with Counties on the losing side.

Counties finally improved during the mid-1990s. A forward packing containing Errol Brain, Jim Coe, Glen Marsh, and Junior Paramore, with backs including Tony Marsh, Blair Feeney, Jonah Lomu, Joeli Vidiri and Dean Sheppard, proved one of the best Counties side ever, making the NPC finals twice, in 1996 and 1997, losing to Auckland and Canterbury respectively. A highlight of that period came in 1997 during the semi-final in Hamilton. Behind at one stage 9–33, and stung by a ground announcement advertising tickets for a home Waikato final next week, Counties fought back with a 43–40 win. After a steady decline since then, Counties lost a promotion-relegation match in 2001, and dropped to the second division, where Counties could not retain their best players and lost the likes of Stephen Donald, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Casey Laulala, and Kieran Read to other unions.

In 2006 Counties was selected to rejoin the top sides in the new Air New Zealand Cup Premier Division, and they still retain their exciting attacking style of rugby. Success has been limited, a win over Auckland in 2008 being a highlight. Former All Black captain Tana Umaga joined Counties as player/coach in 2010 and was appointed head coach in December 2011. In 2013, after 24 previous unsuccessful Ranfurly Shield challenges – including two draws – the Umaga-coached Counties-Manukau team gave Steelers fans something to celebrate when captain Fritz Lee lifted the Ranfurly Shield for the first time in the province's history following a dramatic 27–24 win over Hawkes Bay.[3]

Counties players in the All Blacks

Players who have played 100 or more games for the union

In 2006 the Steelers finished the first round 5th in Pool B with 9 points, including a win over Southland (29–8). They finished 3rd in Repechage A with 5 points, including a draw with Manawatu (25–25).

In 2007 the Steelers finished 14th with 2 points, from a draw with North Harbour (13–13).

In 2008 the Steelers finished 13th with 13 points, including wins over Auckland (17–6) and Manawatu (27–14).

In 2009 the Steelers finished 14th with 12 points, including wins over Taranaki (33–21) and Northland (28–19).

In 2010 the Steelers finished 9th with 31 points, including wins over Otago (29–13), Wellington (31–25), Manawatu (35–14), Tasman (23–3), Northland (40–24), and North Harbour (24–23).

In 2011 the Steelers finished 4th in the Championship with 22 points, including wins over Manawatu (32–25), Tasman (32–23), Northland (39–19), and North Harbour (40–32).

In 2012 the Steelers finished 1st in the Championship regular season with 34 points, including wins over Southland (30–9), North Harbour (27–15), Bay of Plenty (47–13), Otago (43–12), Manawatu (31–28) and Northland (44–31). They went on to win the Championship title, defeating Southland 48–23 in the semi-finals and Otago 41–16 in the final. The Championship victory also gives the Steelers a place in the 2013 Premiership.

In 2013 the Steelers finished 4th in the Premiership regular season with 28 points, including wins over North Harbour (44-14), Hawke's Bay (27-24), Taranaki (44-7), Waikato (37-25), Bay of Plenty (31-30) and Southland (25-7), They claimed the Ranfurly Shield that year after beating Hawke's Bay

In 2014 the Steelers finished 5th in the Premiership regular season with 28 points, including wins over Otago (29-25), Wellington (55-7), Southland (24-10), Auckland (41-18) and Tasman (21-16), They drew with Taranaki 9-9

In 2015 the Steelers finished 5th in the Premiership regular season with 23 points, including wins over Manawatu (36-35), Northland (42-17), Tasman (42-33) and Waikato (30-9)

In 2016 the Steelers finished 4th in the Premiership regular season with 34 points, including wins over Bay of Plenty (39-35), Hawke's Bay (48-20), Auckland (30-26), Waikato (35-26), Otago (16-14) and their first ever win over Cantebury (33-21)

In 2017 the Steelers finished 5th in the Premiership with 27 points, and won 5 games beating Auckland (16-14), Hawke's Bay (33-14), Northland (25-16), Manawatu (29-24) and Tasman (52-30).

In 2018 the Steelers finished 6th in the Premiership with 17 points, and won 2 games beating Hawke's Bay (25-29) and Southland (26-43).

In 2019 the Steelers finished 7th in the Premiership with 11 points, and only won once North Harbour (39-25) and were relegated to the championship in 2020

So far in 2020 the Steelers are 6th in the Championship with 5 points, and have beaten Manawatu (36-30)

The Counties Manukau union does not include all clubs in the area of the former Manukau City. Clubs such as Manukau Rovers RFC and the Papatoetoe RFC are members of the Auckland Rugby Union.[4]

The clubs in the Counties Manukau union are:

The teams in the Counties Manukau Premier Grade Club rugby competition play for the T.P McNamara Memorial Cup.

Club finals are usually held in the month of July at Pukekohe Stadium.

T.P McNamara Memorial Cup Winners Roll of Honour

1955- City Ramblers (1)

1956- Papakura (1)

1957- Papakura (2)

1958- Papakura (3) /Waiuku (1)

1959- Onewhero Utd (1)

1960- Ardmore(1)/Pukekohe (1)

1961- Manurewa (1)

1962- Manurewa (2)

1963- Manurewa (3)

1964- Pukekohe (2)

1965- Manurewa (4)

1966- Manurewa (5)

1967- Manurewa (6)

1968- Papakura (4)

1969- Manurewa (7)

1970- Manurewa (8)

1971- Manurewa (9)

1972- Papakura (5)

1973- Papakura (6)

1974- Papakura (7)/Manurewa (10)

1975- Manurewa (11)

1976- Manurewa (12)

1977- Manurewa (13)

1978- Manurewa (14)

1979- Ardmore (2)

1980- Manurewa (15)

1981- Ardmore (3)

1982- Papakura (8)

1983- Ardmore (4)

1984- Manurewa (16)

1985- Bombay (1)

1986- Manurewa (17)

1987- Bombay (2)

1988- Manurewa(18)

1989- Bombay (3)

1990- Manurewa (19)

1991- Manurewa (20)

1992- Manurewa (21)

1993- Manurewa (22)

1994- Manurewa (23)

1995- Manurewa (24)

1996- Papakura (9)

1997- Manurewa (25)

1998- Manurewa (26)

1999- Pukekohe (3)

2000- Waiuku (2)

2001- Ardmore Marist (1)

2002- Ardmore Marist (2)

2003- Waiuku (3)

2004- Pukekohe (4)

2005- Pukekohe (5)

2006- Patumahoe (1)

2007- Pukekohe (6)

2008- Ardmore Marist (3)

2009- Patumahoe (2)

2010- Waiuku (4)

2011- Pukekohe (7)

2012- Patumahoe (3)

2013- Ardmore Marist(4)

2014- Bombay (4)

2015- Bombay (5)

2016- Bombay (6)

2017- Bombay (7)

2018- Ardmore Marist (5)

2019- Bombay (8)

2020- Season abandoned

2021-

A previous logo of the union

Counties Manukau rugby enjoyed its heyday in the 1980s. From 1995 till 1999, captain Errol Brain led another successful era. The "player drain" of stars such as Lomu (Wellington), Vidiri (Auckland), Lee (Otago), and Marsh (France), signalled a downturn in the fortunes of Counties.

When Super Rugby began, Counties Manukau was associated with the Blues; but since 1999 it has been aligned to the Chiefs.

Counties Manukau has a women's team that is part of Women's Provincial Championship. Counties were crowned champions for the first time in 2016 taking down the eight time defending champs Auckland 41-22. Counties made it to the final of the 2017 competition after finishing top of the table for the second year running. They were defeated 13-7 in the final by Canterbury.

• Official site