Auckland rugby union team

Auckland

140 px
Union	Auckland Rugby Football Union
Founded	1883 (1883)
Region	Blues
Ground(s)	Eden Park (Capacity: 50,000)
Coach(es)	Paul Feeney
Captain(s)	Simon Hickey
League(s)	ITM Cup
2013	3rd
Team kit
Official website
aucklandrugby.co.nz

The Auckland rugby union team is the top representative rugby union team under the Auckland Rugby Football Union in New Zealand. They currently compete in the ITM Cup Premiership. Auckland has been the most successful team in NPC (and successors) history, winning the title a record 16 times. Auckland has also produced a record number of All Blacks, 181, the latest being Patrick Tuipulotu in 2014. Auckland is coached by Paul Feeney.

History

The Auckland side that defeated the visiting British Isles team in 1904. Gallaher is standing in the back row on the far left.

Main article: Auckland Rugby Football Union

Auckland has been the most successful union in New Zealand rugby history, having won a record 16 ITM Cup (and predecessor competition) titles. Auckland also holds the record for the most Ranfurly Shield wins (16), successful defences (148), and longest streak of successful defences (61). All Blacks statistics also reveal the extent of Auckland's influence: of the 1071 players to have worn the national jersey from 1888 to 2008, 133 were born in Auckland, compared to Christchurch (74), Wellington (60) and Dunedin (53).

Golden eras

There have been many notable eras in the team's history. It went undefeated for six seasons from 1897, and there was a ground breaking run in the early 1920s under Sir Vincent Meredith.

The 1960–63 period, known as the Golden Era, was summed up in The Golden Years written by Don Cameron in 1983. Sir Wilson Whineray, who captained Auckland through those years, describes the period as one of "excitement, drama and fervor that transformed Eden Park into an oasis of magic during the winters of 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963."

There was also a relatively undisturbed spell of success from 1982 through to the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup victory. Auckland won 16 of the 26 Air NZ NPC titles available in that time – a period that included 61 Ranfurly Shield defences.

Ranfurly Shield years

Auckland were the first holders of the shield in 1902 and have won 153 out of 194 shield matches up to 2007 – the most successful record of any provincial union. Since 1902 there have been three notable shield eras: from 1905 to 1913 there were 23 challenges repelled, another 25 between 1960 and 1963, and 61 challenges in the period from 1985 to 1993. Players like Andy Haden, Sean Fitzpatrick, John Drake, Olo Brown, Zinzan and Robin Brooke, Gary and Alan Whetton, Michael Jones, Steve McDowell, Grant Fox, Bernie McCahill,Grant Dickson, Mark Carter, Joe Stanley, John Kirwan and Terry Wright were important in Auckland's success in that last period.

With six titles in the 1990s, and four so far in the new century, Auckland's domination of the New Zealand rugby landscape continues. The 2007 team is the first since the 1990 side to remain unbeaten in a season and win the Ranfurly Shield and the provincial championship. Players like Kees Meeuws, Keven Mealamu, Ali Williams, Justin Collins, Xavier Rush, Steve Devine, Brad Mika, Ben Atiga, Doug Howlett, Daniel Braid, Brent Ward and Angus Macdonald have contributed to this success.

Stadium

Auckland play their home matches at Eden Park, and have done so ever since 1925. It opened in 1900 and also is used for cricket. Eden Park has the largest crowd capacity of any New Zealand sporting venue with around 42,000 for cricket and 47,500 for rugby. It is currently expanding from a seating plan of 47,500 to an estimated 60,000.

Current squad

On 9 July, the squad for the 2015 ITM Cup season was announced. Keven Mealamu, Jerome Kaino and Malakai Fekitoa were not considered due to All Blacks commitments, while Steve Luatua, Patrick Tuipulotu and TJ Faiane were not selected due to injury.

Denotes team captain, 12px Denotes that a player is unavailable due to injury, Bold denotes player is internationally capped.

All Blacks

This is a list of players who have represented New Zealand from the Auckland representative rugby union team. Players are listed by the decade they were first selected in and players in bold are current All Blacks.

1880–99

George Carter – 1884 John Gage Lecky – 1884 Timothy Beehane O'Connor – 1884 Thomas Ryan – 1884 Joseph Astbury Warbrick – 1884 Francis Mahon Jervis – 1893 Frederick Steele Miller Murray – 1893

Charles Richard Barton Speight – 1893 Maurice Herrold – 1893 Robert Hugh McKenzie – 1893 Frank Surman – 1896 Robert Alexander Handcock – 1897 George William Smith – 1897 Alexander Wilson – 1897

1900–19

William Cunningham – 1901 William Edward Hay-MacKenzie – 1901 Robert Wylie McGregor – 1901 Albert Asher – 1903 David Gallaher – 1903 Henry Arthur Douglas Kiernan – 1903 Andrew Thomas Long – 1903

George William Nicholson – 1903 George Tyler – 1903 Charles Edward Seeling – 1904 William Henry Mackrell – 1905 Arthur Reginald Howe Francis – 1905 Harold Owen Hayward – 1908 Michael Joseph O'Leary – 1910

Frank Reginald Wilson – 1910 James Richard Maguire – 1910 Albert Joseph Downing – 1913 Alwin John McGregor – 1913 George Maurice Victor Sellars – 1913 James Thomas Wylie – 1913 John Alexander Bruce – 1913

James Barrett – 1913 William McKail Geddes – 1913 John Victor Macky – 1913 James Douglas Stewart – 1913 John Gerald O'Brien – 1914 Lynley Herbert Weston – 1914

1920–39

Cecil Edward Oliver Badeley – 1920 Vivian Whitta Wilson – 1920 Karl Donald Ifwerson – 1921 Andrew James O'Brien – 1922 Victor Ivan Roskill Badeley – 1922 Leonard Stephen Righton – 1923 Frederick William Lucas – 1923

Albert Edward Cooke – 1924 Lawrence Alfred George Knight – 1925 Arthur Robert Lomas – 1925 Herman Alfred Mattson – 1925 Donald Hector Wright – 1925 Arthur Knight – 1926 Thomas Reginald Sheen – 1926

William Alexander Wright – 1926 Swinbourne Hadley – 1928 Ruben George McWilliams – 1928 Walter Batty – 1928 Victor Claude Butler – 1928 Llewellyn Simpkin Hook – 1928 Bertram Pitt Palmer – 1928

Mervyn Miles Nelson Corner – 1930 Frank Solomon – 1931 Thomas Harcourt Clarke Caughey – 1932 William Edward Hadley – 1934 Cyril Stennart Pepper – 1935 David Solomon – 1935 Henry Mackay Brown – 1935

Brian Alexander Killeen – 1936 Terence McClatchey Lockington – 1936 John Dick – 1937 William Nicol Carson – 1938

1940–59

Frederick Richard Allen – 1946 John Markham Dunn – 1946 Maurice James McHugh – 1946 Robert William Henry Scott – 1946 Eric George Boggs – 1946 John George Simpson – 1947 Percy Laurence Tetzlaff – 1947

Neville Henry Thornton – 1947 Arthur Maitland Hughes – 1947 Neville Wyatt Black – 1949 Patrick Joseph Bourke Crowley Desmond Lawrence Christian – 1949 Ronald Leslie Dobson – 1949 John Wallace Kelly – 1949

John Maurice Tanner – 1950 Charles Percy Erceg – 1951 David Ross Wightman – 1951 Selwyn George Bremner – 1952 Keith Davis – 1952 Jack Robert Skeen – 1952 Hallard Leo White – 1953

Terence Raymond Lineen – 1957 Raymond Frank McMullen – 1957 Wilson James Whineray – 1957 Adrian Hipkins Clarke – 1958

1960–79

William Anthony Davies – 1960 Steven Roberto Nesbit – 1960 Desmond Michael Connor – 1961 Donald William McKay – 1961 Paul Francis Little – 1961 Waka Joseph Nathan – 1962 MacFarlane Alexander Herewini – 1962

Barry Trevor Thomas – 1962 Malcolm John Dick – 1963 Peter Henry Murdoch – 1964 Ronald Edward Rangi – 1964 Grahame Stuart Thorne – 1967 Ronald Anthony Urlich – 1970 Bryan George Williams – 1970

Kenneth Roy Carrington – 1971 Peter John Whiting – 1971 Andrew Maxwell Haden – 1972 Bruce Mcleod Gemmell – 1974 Lawrence Gibb Knight – 1974 Jon Stanley McLachlan – 1974 Christopher Louis Fawcett – 1976

Bradley Ronald Johnstone – 1976 Stuart Bruce Conn – 1976 Colin Paul Farrell – 1977 Barry Graeme Ashworth – 1978 Gary Ruchard Cunningham – 1979| Timothy Moore Twigden – 1979

1980–89

Gregory Alexander John Burgess – 1980 Gary William Whetton – 1981 Alan James Whetton – 1984 John James Kirwan – 1984 Grant James Fox – 1984 John Gordon Mills – 1984 Kurt Sherlock – 1985

Steven Clark McDowell – 1985 John Alan Drake – 1985 Mark Brooke-Cowden – 1986 Gregory John Luke Cooper – 1986 Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick – 1986 Joseph Tito Stanley – 1986 Terence John Wright – 1986

Michael Niko Jones – 1987 Zinzan Valentine Brooke – 1987 Bernard Joseph McCahill – 1987 Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala – 1989 Craig Ross Innes – 1989 Matthew John Ridge – 1989

1990–99

Olo Max Brown Mark Peter Carter – 1991 Jason Alexander Hewett – 1991 Frank Eneri Bunce – 1992 Eroni Clarke – 1992 Robin Matthew Brooke – 1992 Patrick Richard Lam – 1992

Craid William Dowd – 1993 Lee Stensness – 1993 Shane Paul Howarth – 1993 Carlos James Spencer – 1995 Adrian Richard Cashmore – 1996 Andrew Francis Blowers – 1996 Ofisa Francis Junior Tonu'u – 1996

Charles Calvin Reichelmann – 1997 Jeremy Crispian Stanley – 1997 Kees Junior Meeuws – 1998 Xavier Joseph Rush – 1998 Dylan Gabriel Mika – 1999

2000–

Douglas Charles Howlett – 2000 Stephen John Devine – 2002 Alexander James Williams – 2002 Bradley Moni Mika – 2002 Keven Filipo Mealamu – 2002 Daniel John Braid – 2002 Josevata Taliga Rokocoko – 2003

Junior Malili Muliaina – 2003 Benjamin Alo Charles Atiga – 2003 Samual Tuitupou – 2004 Saimone Taumoepeau – 2004 Jerome Kaino – 2004 Derren John Witcombe – 2005 Angus James Macdonald – 2005

Ioane Fitu Afoa – 2005 Isaia Toeava – 2005 Benson Stanley – 2010 Charlie Faumuina – 2012 Francis Saili – 2013 Steven Luatua – 2013 Charles Piutau – 2013 Malakai Fekitoa – 2014 Patrick Tuipulotu – 2014 George Moala – 2015

External links

• Official site
• Eden Park Website
• Supporters Club