West Coast Rugby Football Union
Rugby team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The West Coast Rugby Football Union, formed in 1890, is the official governing body for rugby union in the Westland County, Hokitika Borough and Greymouth Borough districts, located in the West Coast provincial region of New Zealand, and is affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. The West Coast RFU provincial representative team, a founding member of the National Provincial Championship, is based in Greymouth. It plays home matches at John Sturgeon Park (known as Rugby Park until 2018).
| ||
| Full name | West Coast Rugby Football Union | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1890 | |
| Ground(s) | John Sturgeon Park, Greymouth (Capacity: 6,000) | |
| Chairman | John Canning | |
| CEO | Josh Costello | |
| Coach | T.B.A | |
| League | Heartland Championship | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| [ westcoastrugby | ||
In 2015, West Coast celebrated its 125th Jubilee.
Clubs
West Coast Rugby Football Union is made up of six clubs:
- Blaketown RFC
- Grey Valley RC
- Kiwi RFC
- Greymouth Marist RFC
- South Westland RFC
- Wests RFC
Club champions
The Jubilee Trophy is played for by West Coast and Buller clubs.
Jubilee Trophy
- 2026 Kiwi 53-13 Wests
- 2025 Kiwi 36-27 Wests
Taylorville Wallsend Trophy
- 2025 - Wests 26-24 Kiwi
- 2024 - Wests 20-12 Kiwi
- 2023 - Kiwi 35-30 Wests[1]
- 2022 - Kiwi 47-27 Wests
Provincial representative rugby
National Provincial Championship (NPC)
From 1976 to 2005 the West Coast provincial team played in the second and third divisions of the National Provincial Championship. West Coast did not win a Provincial Championship title in any division.
| NPC Division 3 results | |||||||||||||
| Year | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Place | Playoffs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qual | Semifinal | Final | |||||||||||
| 2005 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 79 | 237 | −158 | 2 | 2 | 8th | No | — | |
| 2004 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 130 | 267 | −137 | 2 | 10 | 7th | No | — | |
Heartland Championship
From 2006 onwards West Coast has played in the Heartland Championship. In 2008 the team reached the Meads Cup semi-finals but lost to Wanganui.
West Coast won the Lochore Cup in the 2023 season, and were runners up in 2024.
| Heartland Championship results[2][3][4][5] | |||||||||||||
| Year | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Place | Playoffs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qual | Semifinal | Final | |||||||||||
| 2006 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 55 | 121 | −66 | 2 | 6 | 6th (Pool A), 6th in Lochore Cup pool | No | — | |
| 2007 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 155 | 192 | −37 | 1 | 12 | 4th (Pool A), 3rd in Lochore Cup pool | Lochore Cup | Lost 23–31 to South Canterbury | — |
| 2008 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 122 | 146 | −24 | 5 | 21 | 2nd (Pool A), 4th in Meads Cup pool | Meads Cup | Lost 18–40 to Wanganui | — |
| 2009 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 166 | 159 | +7 | 1 | 21 | 4th (Pool A), 1st in Lochore Cup pool | Lochore Cup | Won 53–22 against Buller | Lost 13–21 to North Otago |
| 2010 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 180 | −68 | 1 | 9 | 6th (Pool A), 4th in Lochore Cup pool | No | — | |
| 2011 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 144 | 216 | −72 | 3 | 13 | 9th | No | — | |
| 2012 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 140 | 185 | −45 | 4 | 12 | 9th | No | — | |
| 2013 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 190 | 173 | +17 | 4 | 28 | 4th | Meads Cup | Lost 25–28 to Mid Canterbury | — |
| 2014 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 163 | 232 | −69 | 5 | 13 | 10th | No | — | |
| 2015 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 184 | 208 | −24 | 4 | 16 | 10th | No | — | |
| 2016 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 188 | 400 | −212 | 3 | 11 | 10th | No | — | |
| 2017 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 209 | 201 | +8 | 6 | 26 | 6th | Lochore Cup | Won 24-14 against North Otago | Lost 15-47 to Mid Canterbury |
| 2018 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 228 | 241 | +8 | 6 | 16 | 9th | No | — | |
| 2019 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 217 | 232 | +8 | 3 | 27 | 5th | Lochore Cup | Won 41-35 against Poverty Bay | Lost 19-23 to South Canterbury |
| 2021 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 181 | 219 | -38 | 4 | 16 | 9th | No | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 185 | 301 | -116 | 7 | 7 | 12th | No | — | |
| 2023 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 218 | 212 | +6 | 5 | 25 | 7th | Lochore Cup | Won 33-27 against Wairarapa Bush | Won 23-20 against Poverty Bay |
| 2024 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 228 | 265 | -37 | 8 | 20 | 8th | Lochore Cup | Won 52-51 against Horowhenua-Kapiti | Lost 44-46 to King Country |
| 2025 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 268 | 203 | +65 | 3(-15) | 8 | 10th | No | — | |
There was no competition in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions.
In September 2025 West Coast were sanctioned with a financial penalty of $5,000 and 15 competition points for a breach of Heartland Championship player eligibility rules.[6]
Ranfurly Shield
West Coast have never held the Ranfurly Shield. Their Ranfurly Shield challenges include:
- 27-8-1932 - Canterbury 5 West Coast 3 (L.T.Martyn try)
- 2-9-1933 - Canterbury 23 West Coast 14 (R B Scandrett & Ronald King tries, L.T.Martyn one penalty, one conversion)
- 7-9-1935 - Canterbury 16 West Coast 11 (E.Pfahlert, Ronald King tries, L.T.Martyn two penalties, one conversion)
- 26-9-1936 - Otago 30 West Coast 0
- 20-9-1952 - Waikato 20 West Coast 6 (A.J.Lindbom two penalties)
- 11-9-1954 - Canterbury 8 West Coast 0
- 24-9-1955 - Canterbury 20 West Coast 11 (F.W.Gugich & R.N.Inkster tries, A.A.McNabb one penalty, one conversion)
- 25-8-1962 - Auckland 52 West Coast 6 (T.N.McAra drop goal, J.M.Earthorne one penalty)
- 16-9-1972 - Canterbury 47 West Coast 3 (R.Nelson one penalty)
- 27-7-1974 - Marlborough 18 West Coast 0
- 29-7-1978 - Manawatu 51 West Coast 10 (C.R.Skates try, A.F.Kissick two penalties)
- 25-8-1984 - Canterbury 68 West Coast 3 (G.Cook drop goal)
- 4-7-2000 - Waikato 99 West Coast 3 (M.Foster one penalty)
Rundle Cup
The Rundle Cup is contested by the West Coast and Buller Rugby Football Union when they meet in senior fixtures.
The Rundle Cup was donated to the West Coast provincial union during their Annual General Meeting at the Albion Hotel on 24 May 1911 by William Rundle as a trophy for West Coast v Buller matches. Rundle was a local business man in the mining industry and former player for the Grey Football Club. He later perished on the frontline in France during World War One. The first contest for the Rundle Cup was held in 1911 in Westport, and it replaced the Molloy Cup as the region’s symbol of rugby supremacy.
The first game between the two Unions occurred in 1896 and bragging rights on the Coast now come via the Rundle Cup.
Of the 37 challenge trophies contested by two provinces in New Zealand rugby it is of the longest continuous existence, it is also the second oldest provincial trophy after the Ranfurly Shield.
All Blacks
There have been eight players selected for the All Blacks whilst playing their club rugby in the West Coast.
Super Rugby
West Coast is a member of the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise along with the Canterbury, Tasman, Buller, Mid Canterbury and South Canterbury provincial football unions.