Marlborough Rugby Union
Encyclopedia
Marlborough Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 team that played from 1888-2005.

Marlborough was founded in 1888 and played at Lansdowne Park
Lansdowne Park, Blenheim
Lansdowne Park is one of the home grounds for Air New Zealand Cup team Tasman, the other being Trafalgar Park in Nelson. It is also home to the Marlborough Red Devils and Blenheim Clubs Harlequins and Central....

 in Blenheim
Blenheim, New Zealand
Blenheim is the most populous town in the region of Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the regional council. It has a population of The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry...

.

Championships

Marlborough won three New Zealand Championships during the old NPC
National Provincial Championship
The National Provincial Championship, or NPC, is the major domestic rugby competition in New Zealand. The NPC has seen many alterations to its format and brand. Since 2006 the National Championship has been split into 2 competitions, the ITM Cup and the Heartland Championship...

, consecutive South Island Division 2 titles in 1978 and 1979, and the Division 3 in 1997.

Ranfurly Shield

Marlborough held the Ranfurly Shield
Ranfurly Shield
The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies...

 briefly in the early 1970s when they took it off Canterbury in 1973. They managed six defences before losing it to South Canterbury, in the second challenge of 1974.
Their last challenge came in the first challenge of the 2005 season, however Marlborough could not match Canterbury's strength this time and lost heavily, 3-67.

Tasman

Marlborough joined with Nelson Bays Rugby Union
Nelson Bays Rugby Union
Nelson Bays Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played from 1968-2005.Nelson Bays was founded in 1968 when Nelson merged with Golden Bay-Motueka and played until 2005 when they joined with Marlborough to become Tasman Rugby Union in 2006....

 to become Tasman Rugby Union
Tasman Rugby Union
The Tasman Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. It is New Zealand's newest provincial union, founded in 2006 with the amalgamation of the existing Marlborough and Nelson Bays sub unions...

in 2006.
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