The Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union (NPEC) is a constituent union in the New Zealand Rugby Union located on the East Coast of the North Island. Its provincial team plays in the Heartland Championship and its home ground is Whakarua Park, Ruatoria. It is the smallest Union in New Zealand in the sense of player numbers and population base.
| Nickname | Ngāti Porou East Coast | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1921 | |
| Location | Ruatoria | |
| Ground | Whakarua Park (Capacity: 3,000) | |
| Chairman |  Val Morrison | |
| Coach | Hosea Gear | |
| League | Heartland Championship | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
The union was previously called East Coast. Due to the high number of players from the Ngāti Porou iwi, the team became known as Ngāti Porou East Coast and in August 2023 the Union was officially renamed the Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union on the New Zealand incorporated societies register.
History
editThe East Coast Rugby Football Union was formed in 1922 when they split from the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union.
East Coast won the 2012 Heartland Championship Meads Cup defeating Wanganui 29–27 at Whakarua Park on 27 October 2012.,[1] In the 2022 Heartland Championship the team won the Lochore Cup beating Mid Canterbury by 25 to 20. They become the 6th team to have won both the Meads Cup and the Lochore Cup.[2]
The team is renowned for losing 54 consecutive games over eight years. However former All Blacks Ma’a Nonu and Hosea Gear were involved in the side when they broke that drought in a 50-26 win over Buller in October 2021.[3][4]
Clubs
editNgāti Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union is made up of 10 clubs:
- Hicks Bay
- Hikurangi Sports Club
- Ruatoria City Sports Club
- Tawhiti
- Tokararangi
- Tokomaru Bay United
- Tihirau Victory Club (TVC)
- Uawa Sports
- Waiapu
- Waima
National Provincial Championship
editEast Coast won the NPC 3rd Division twice. Firstly in 1999 defeating Poverty Bay 18–15 in the final at Ruatoria. Secondly and possibly even more impressively, defeating North Otago the following year 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 champions
edit| Round | Comp | Home team | Score | Away team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | NPC | .png){kind=small} 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 champions
edit| 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
Heartland Championship
editHeartland Championship placings
edit| Heartland Championship Results[5][6][7][8] | |||||||||||||
| Year | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Place | Playoffs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qual | Semifinal | Final | |||||||||||
| 2006 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 111 | 244 | −133 | 2 | 6 | 11th | No | — | |
| 2007 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 130 | 210 | −70 | 3 | 11 | 11th | No | — | |
| 2008 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 50 | 306 | −256 | 0 | 0 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2009 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 87 | 337 | −250 | 0 | 4 | 11th | No | — | |
| 2010 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 96 | 384 | −288 | 1 | 1 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2011 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 189 | 198 | −9 | 3 | 27 | 3rd | Meads Cup | Won 23–17 against North Otago | Lost 10–30 to Wanganui |
| 2012 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 230 | 177 | +53 | 3 | 31 | 1st | Meads Cup | Won 26–15 against North Otago | Won 29–27 against Wanganui |
| 2013 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 173 | 225 | −52 | 5 | 13 | 10th | No | — | |
| 2014 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 67 | 367 | −300 | 0 | 0 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2015 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 112 | 368 | −256 | 2 | 2 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2016 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 166 | 458 | −292 | 3 | 3 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2017 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 98 | 353 | −255 | 0 | 0 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2018 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 99 | 447 | −348 | 2 | 2 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2019 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 153 | 319 | −166 | 0 | 0 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2021 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 242 | 258 | −16 | 8 | 20 | 8th | No | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 155 | 242 | −87 | 2 | 18 | 7th | Lochore Cup | Won 37-30 against Horowhenua-Kapiti | Won 25-20 against Mid Canterbury |
| 2023 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 222 | 183 | +39 | 7 | 27 | 4th | Meads Cup | Lost 17-34 to South Canterbury | — |
| 2024 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 212 | 236 | -24 | 4 | 20 | 7th | Lochore Cup | Lost 31-34 to King Country | — |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 112 | 470 | −358 | 1 | 1 | 12th | No | — | |
There was no Heartland Championship in the 2020 season due to Covid-19 restrictions.
| Round | Comp | Home team | Score | Away team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | NPC | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
23 | West Coast |
16 |
| Week 2 | NPC | South Canterbury |
37 | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
9 |
| Week 3 | NPC | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
20 | Buller |
18 |
| Week 4 | NPC |  Mid Canterbury |
13 | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
20 |
| Week 5 | NPC | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
25 |  Wanganui |
17 |
| Week 6 | NPC |  Thames Valley |
38 | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
53 |
| Week 7 | NPC | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
56 |  King Country |
24 |
| Week 8 | NPC | Poverty Bay |
14 | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
24 |
| Semi Final | NPC | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
26 | North Otago |
15 |
| Final | NPC | Ngāti Porou East Coast |
29 | Wanganui |
27 |
- Overall Season standing: Champions
Ranfurly Shield
editNgāti Porou East Coast has challenged for the Ranfurly Shield eight times losing heavily on each occasion.
Matches
edit| 1953 | Wellington  | 42–0 | East Coast | Wellington |
| 1968 | Hawke's Bay  | 31–0 | East Coast | Napier |
| 1981 | Waikato  | 54–0 | East Coast | Hamilton |
| 1987 | Auckland  | 72–0 | East Coast | Auckland |
| 1997 | Auckland | 115–6 | East Coast | Ruatoria |
| 2002 | Canterbury  | 51–6 | East Coast | Christchurch |
| 2013 | Waikato | 65–10 | East Coast | Ruatoria |
| 2021 | Hawke's Bay | 93–5 | East Coast | Napier |
All Blacks
editSix All Blacks have played rugby for East Coast:
Super Rugby
editNgāti Porou East Coast along with Waikato, Counties Manukau, King Country, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, and Thames Valley make up the Chiefs Super Rugby region. Ngāti Porou East Coast was formerly part of the Hurricanes from 1996 until February 2025 where they announced their change of allegiance to the Chiefs.[9]
References
edit- ↑ "East Coast comeback overwhelms Whanganui". October 27, 2012. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
- ↑ "Bunnings Heartland 2022 | FINAL Highlights | East Coast v Mid Canterbury". allblacks.com. October 23, 2022.
- ↑ "Nonu inspires East Coast to drought-breaking win". The New Zealand Herald. October 16, 2021.
- ↑ "Stuff". Stuff.
- ↑ "Standings (2006–present)". Heartland Championship. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ↑ "Fixtures and Results (2006–present)". Heartland Championship. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ↑ "Finalists found in Lochore and Meads Cups". Newshub. 23 October 2010. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ↑ "2010 Lochore and Mead Cups finals wrap". Heartland Championship. 31 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ↑ Flynn, Corey (2025-02-07). "Chiefs Rugby Club welcome Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union as provincial affiliate". Chiefs. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
External links
edit- Official Site
- East Coast rugby (NZHistory.net.nz)