Northland Rugby Union
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| Full name | Northland Rugby Football Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | NZRU | ||
| Nickname(s) | Taniwha | ||
| Founded | 1920 | ||
| Ground(s) | ITM Stadium, Whangarei, New Zealand (Capacity: 25,000) | ||
| CEO |  Rod Malone | ||
| Coach(es) | Mark Anscombe | ||
| Captain(s) | David Howell | ||
| League(s) | Air New Zealand Cup | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www | |||
The Northland Rugby Football Union (NRFU) is the governing body of rugby union in the Northland region of New Zealand.
History
Northland was founded in 1920, as North Auckland Rugby Union.
Ranfurly Shield
Northland, as North Auckland, have held the Shield on 4 occasions. 1950, 1960, 1971 & 1978.
Representative Rugby
Air New Zealand Cup
Its representative team, called the Northland Taniwha, competes in the Air New Zealand Cup, the country's top-level professional competition, which replaced Division One of the National Provincial Championship. The union is based in Whangarei, where the Taniwha play their home fixtures at ITM Stadium. The Taniwha play in a predominantly sky blue strip with dark blue trim.
Apparel is supplied by Canterbury of New Zealand. Main sponsor is United Carriers Ltd. Other sponsors:
2006 squad
The squad at the start of the 2006 season will include:
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Props
Hookers Locks Mascott |
Loose forwards
Half Backs
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Fly Halfs
Centres Wings
Full Backs |
File:2006team wallpaper 1024x768.jpg
Current staff
Mark Anscombe(Head Coach 2006-)
Super Rugby
Because the Northland union is linked with the Blues Super 14 franchise, Taniwha players are eligible for selection to the Blues without a drafting system or negotiations with other franchises.
Waikato Chiefs 1995-1998
When NZRU were initially deciding the team compositions for the Super 12 in 1995 it was decided that to have the Blues franchise encompass the North Harbour, Counties-Manukau, Northland and Auckland provincial rugby unions would be unfair. This was due to the preponderance of All Blacks (players representing New Zealand) who came from North Harbour, Counties-Manukau and Auckland at the time. Hence if the Blues were to consist of these unions, they would field an All Blacks team in all but name.
This led to North Harbour and Northland being represented by the nearest other team, the Chiefs (at the time named the Waikato Chiefs).
Auckland Blues 1999-present
By the end of the 1990s the number of All Blacks from these unions had decreased. This led the Blues and the Chiefs to arrange a swap, where the Chiefs would represent Thames Valley and Counties Manukau in exchange for the Blues representing Northland and North Harbour.
Sub-Unions
Due to the large size of the Northland province, the Northland rugby union is divided into 7 sub-unions. Each sub-union represents a number of rugby clubs.
Clubs
Bay of Islands
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Hokianga
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Mangonui
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Northern Wairoa
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Otamatea
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Rodney
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Whangarei City
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Players and coaches of note
Former coaches
Notable former players
External links
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