East Coast Rugby Football Union

The East Coast Rugby Football Union is a constituent union in the New Zealand Rugby Union. It is located on the East Coast of the North Island, based in Ruatoria. It is the smallest Union in New Zealand in the sense of player numbers and population base. Due to the high number of players from the Ngati Porou iwi, the team is often referred to as Ngati Porou East Coast.

East Coast Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)Ngati Porou East Coast
Founded1921
LocationRuatoria
Ground(s)Whakarua Park (Capacity: 3,000)
Chairman Campbell Dewes
Coach(es) Hosea Gear
League(s)Heartland Championship
201912th
Team kit
Official website
www.npec.co.nz

The Ngati Porou East Coast team home ground is Whakarua Park, Ruatoria. Ngati Porou East Coast were recently holders of the Meads Cup, defeating Wanganui 29–27 at Whakarua Park on 27 October 2012.[1]

History

The East Coast Rugby Football Union was formed in 1922 when they split from the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union.

Ranfurly Shield

East Coast has challenged for the Ranfurly Shield seven times losing heavily on each occasion.

Matches
1953 Wellington 42–0 East CoastWellington
1968 Hawke's Bay 31–0 East CoastNapier
1981 Waikato 54–0 East CoastHamilton
1987 Auckland 72–0 East CoastAuckland
1997 Auckland 115–6 East CoastRuatoria
2002 Canterbury 51–6 East CoastChristchurch
2013 Waikato 65–10 East CoastRuatoria

East Coast in Super Rugby

East Coast along with Wellington, Wairarapa Bush, Wanganui, Poverty Bay, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu and Horowhenua-Kapiti make up the Hurricanes Super Rugby region.

Reputation

The team is renowned for losing 42 consecutive games.

All Blacks

They have had 3 players selected for the All Blacks whilst playing their club rugby in the East Coast.

Clubs

East Coast Rugby Football Union is made up of 9 clubs:

  • Hicks Bay
  • Hikurangi Sports Club
  • Ruatoria City Sports Club
  • Tawhiti
  • Tokararangi
  • Tokomaru Bay United
  • Tikirau Victory Club (TVC)
  • Uawa Sports
  • Waiapu

Championships

East Coast won the NPC 3rd Division twice, first in 1999 defeating Poverty Bay 18–15 in the final at Ruatoria and secondly and more impressively, defeating North Otago in front of their home crowd at Oamaru in a come-from-behind 25–21 victory to record back to back NPC 3rd Division Championships.

1999 NPC 3rd Division
Round Comp Home team Score Away team Score
Week 1 NPC Buller 18 East Coast 36
Week 2 NPC West Coast 41 East Coast 13
Week 3 NPC Wairarapa Bush 15 East Coast 31
Week 4 NPC East Coast 10 Poverty Bay 15
Week 5 NPC East Coast 30 North Otago 9
Week 6 NPC Horowhenua-Kapiti 20 East Coast 14
Week 7 NPC East Coast 74 Buller 8
Week 8 NPC East Coast 18 South Canterbury 6
Semi Final NPC Horowhenua-Kapiti 20 East Coast 21
Final NPC East Coast 18 Poverty Bay 15
  • Overall Season standing: Champions

2000 NPC 3rd Division
Round Comp Home team Score Away team Score
Week 1 NPC East Coast 20 South Canterbury 14
Week 2 NPC North Otago 26 East Coast 26
Week 3 NPC Buller 12 East Coast 44
Week 4 NPC South Canterbury 12 East Coast 6
Week 5 NPC East Coast 33 Wairarapa Bush 20
Week 6 NPC Poverty Bay 28 East Coast 30
Week 7 NPC East Coast 33 West Coast 27
Week 8 NPC East Coast 31 Horowhenua-Kapiti 30
Semi Final NPC East Coast 18 Wairarapa Bush 17
Final NPC North Otago 21 East Coast 25
  • Overall Season standing: Champions

2012 Heartland Championship
Round Comp Home team Score Away team Score
Week 1 NPC East Coast 23 West Coast 16
Week 2 NPC South Canterbury 37 East Coast 9
Week 3 NPC East Coast 20 Buller 18
Week 4 NPC Mid Canterbury 13 East Coast 20
Week 5 NPC East Coast 25 Wanganui 17
Week 6 NPC Thames Valley 38 East Coast 53
Week 7 NPC East Coast 56 King Country 24
Week 8 NPC Poverty Bay 14 East Coast 24
Semi Final NPC East Coast 26 North Otago 15
Final NPC East Coast 29 Wanganui 27
  • Overall Season standing: Champions

Heartland Championship placings
Heartland Championship Results[2][3][4][5]
YearPldWDLPFPAPDBPPtsPlacePlayoffs
QualSemifinalFinal
2006 8107111244−1332611thNo—
2007 8206130210−7031111thNo—
2008 800850306−2560012thNo—
2009 810787337−2500411thNo—
2010 800896384−2881112thNo—
2011 8602189198−93273rdMeads CupWon 23–17 against North OtagoLost 10–30 to Wanganui
2012 8701230177+533311stMeads CupWon 26–15 against North OtagoWon 29–27 against Wanganui
2013 8206173225−5251310thNo—
2014 800867367−3000012thNo—
2015 8008112368−2562212thNo—
2016 8008166458−2923312thNo—
2017 800898353−2550012thNo—
2018 800899447−3482212thNo—

References
  1. "East Coast comeback overwhelms Whanganui". October 27, 2012. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  2. "Standings (2006–present)". Heartland Championship. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  3. "Fixtures and Results (2006–present)". Heartland Championship. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  4. "Finalists found in Lochore and Meads Cups". Newshub. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  5. "2010 Lochore and Mead Cups finals wrap". Heartland Championship. 31 October 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.