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 nicknamed Ngati Porou East Coast.

The East Coast team play from Whakarua Park, Ruatoria

Ruatoria

The town of Ruatoria is located in the East Coast region of New Zealand's North Island. It is the second largest centre of population in the sparsely populated region, yet has a population of only 900 .- Geography :...

 and in the 2006 season are in Pool A of the Heartland Championship

Heartland Championship

The Heartland Championship New Zealand Division One competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the AA Rewards Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the country's former domestic competition,...

. They are seeded 4th qualifiers for the Championship as they finished 9rd in the 2nd division.

History

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

Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union

The Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union, which governs rugby union within the Gisborne region surrounding Poverty Bay in New Zealand, was formed in 1890....

.

East Coast in Super Rugby

East Coast along with Wellington, Taranaki

Taranaki Rugby Union

Taranaki Rugby Football Union is the governing body of Rugby in the New Zealand province of Taranaki. The main stadium is Yarrow Stadium which is in the main centre of New Plymouth. Taranaki plays in the annual ITM Cup in which it also competes for the Ranfurly shield...

, Wairarapa Bush

Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union

The Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union was formed in 1971 with the amalgamation of the Wairarapa Rugby Football Union and Bush Rugby Football Union....

, Wanganui

Wanganui Rugby Football Union

The Wanganui Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Wanganui region of New Zealand. The Wanganui Rugby Football Union was formed in 1888....

, Poverty Bay

Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union

The Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union, which governs rugby union within the Gisborne region surrounding Poverty Bay in New Zealand, was formed in 1890....

, Hawke's Bay

Hawke's Bay Rugby Union

The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. The union is based in Napier.-Representative rugby:...

, Manawatu

Manawatu Rugby Union

Manawatu Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of Rugby union in the Manawatu rugby province. The Union is based in the city of Palmerston North but has a catchment area from nearby towns in the province, including Feilding, Rongotea, Linton, Bulls, Pahiatua, Dannevirke and...

 and Horowhenua-Kapiti

Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Football Union

-Representative Rugby:The Horowhenua-Kapiti team play from Levin Domain, Levin and in the 2006 season are in Pool B of the Heartland Championship. They are seeded 6th qualifiers for the Championship as they were runner-ups in the 3rd division in 2005....

 make up the Hurricanes

Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise)

The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...

 Super Rugby region.

Reputation

The team is renowned for its fight and determination to play hard, as was exhibited in 1999 and 2000 when it won the then Air New Zealand NPC Third Division. Much to the nation's surprise, the Ngati Porou East Coast team, upon their first promotion to the then Air New Zealand NPC Second Division, found itself in the final against Hawke's Bay (2001). However, East Coast was unsuccessful, eventually losing by 3 points.

All Blacks

There have had 2 players selected for the All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 whilst playing their club rugby in the East Coast.

• A.C.R Jefferd
• G. Nepia
  George Nepia
  George Nepia was a Māori rugby union and rugby league player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2004 he was selected as number 65 by the panel of the New Zealand's Top...
  
  

Clubs

East Coast Rugby Football Union is made up of 11 clubs:

• Hicks Bay
• Hikurangi Sports Club
• Horouta Maori
• Ruatoria City Sports Club
• Ruatoria United
• Tokararangi
• Tokomaru Bay United
• TVC
• Uawa Sports
• Waiapu
• Waima

Heartland Championship placings

Heartland Championship Results
Year	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points	Place	Playoffs
2006	8	1	0	7	108	255	-147	2	6	11th
2007	8	1	0	7	108	255	-147	2	6	11th
2008	8	1	0	7	108	255	-147	2	6	11th
2008	8	1	0	7	108	255	-147	2	6	11th
2010	8	1	0	7	108	255	-147	2	6	11th

External links

• Official Site
• East Coast rugby (NZHistory.net.nz)