Wellington Rugby Football Union
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| Wellington Rugby Football Union | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Wellington Lions | |||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1879 | |||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Westpac Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 34,500 | |||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Joe Pope |
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| Coach | John Plumtree |
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| League | Air New Zealand Cup | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Runners-up | |||||||||||||||||
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The Wellington Rugby Football Union (WRFU) is the official governing body of rugby union in the city of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Also the cities of Porirua, Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt come under WRFU jurisdiction.
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[edit] Wellington in Super Rugby
Players from Wellington who are eligible to play in the Super 14 generally play for the Hurricanes, and traditionally contribute the core of the Hurricanes squad. This position is largely due to the Wellington basing of the Hurricanes. Further, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay, two Hurricane provinces and prolific talent producers, have been mired in the second division in recent years, allowing Wellington to lure the better players of these provinces with ease (Christian Cullen from Manawatu for example).
Aussie McLean was named on 16 November 2006 to replace John Plumtree as Wellington Lions coach for the 2007 season.
[edit] Club Rugby
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[edit] Representative Rugby
The senior Wellington representative team, the Wellington Lions play in the Air New Zealand Cup, replacing the National Provincial Championship in 2006, which the Lions have won four times. Their colours are black and yellow as shown on the Lions jersey. The Lions play their home games at the Westpac Stadium, previously playing at Athletic Park until 1999. In the 2006 competition, Wellington defeated Canterbury 36-23 in the quarter-finals and then Auckland 30-15 in the semi-finals to make it to their third final in four seasons.
[edit] Jersey
Main sponsor is Vodafone. Apparel is supplied by Canterbury of New Zealand. Other sponsors include:
- Dunlop
- Ricoh
- Tui
[edit] Squad
Wellington Lions squad for the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup:
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- Ross Kennedy (on loan to Counties Manukau)
- Miah Nikora (previously on loan to Taranaki, recalled during Round 2)
- Tane Tu'ipulotu (on loan to Manawatu)
[edit] Notable players
- Jerry Collins
- Christian Cullen
- Lome Fa'atau
- Ross Filipo
- Roy Kinikinilau
- Jonah Lomu
- Ma'a Nonu
- Kristian Ormsby
- Shannon Paku
- Semo Sititi
- Elvis Seveali'i
- Conrad Smith
- Rodney So'oialo
- Neemia Tialata
- Tana Umaga
- Piri Weepu
[edit] External links
| Federation: | New Zealand Rugby Football Union |
| National teams: | All Blacks • Junior All Blacks • New Zealand sevens team • New Zealand Māori • Black Ferns |
| International Competitions: | Rugby World Cup • Tri Nations • Super 14 • Pacific Nations Cup • Bledisloe Cup • Churchill Cup • Rugby World Cup Sevens |
| Super 14 teams: | Blues • Chiefs • Crusaders • Highlanders • Hurricanes |
| Domestic Competitions: | Air New Zealand Cup • Heartland Championship • Ranfurly Shield • Hanan Shield |
| Air New Zealand Cup teams: | Auckland • Bay of Plenty • Canterbury • Counties Manukau • Hawke's Bay • Manawatu • North Harbour • Northland • Otago • Southland • Taranaki • Tasman • Waikato • Wellington |
| Heartland Championship teams: | Buller • East Coast • Horowhenua-Kapiti • King Country • Mid Canterbury • North Otago • Poverty Bay • South Canterbury • Thames Valley • Wairarapa Bush • Wanganui • West Coast |
