Wellington Rugby Football Union

""'Rugby team
teamname = Wellington Rugby Football Union

|
nickname = "Wellington Lions"
founded = 1879
region = Hurricanes
ground = Westpac Stadium
capacity = 34,500
CEO = flagicon|New Zealand Greg Peters
coach = flagicon|New Zealand Jamie Joseph
chairman =flagicon|New Zealand Joe Pope
league = Air New Zealand Cup
season = 2007
position = 2nd - Runners-up
pattern_la1=_black_hoops
pattern_la1=_yellowborder|pattern_b1=_yellowshoulders
pattern_ra1=_yellowborder
leftarm1=000000|body1=000000|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=000000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=
pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=|body2=|rightarm2=|shorts2=|socks2=The Wellington Rugby Football Union (WRFU) is the official governing body of rugby union in the city of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Also the cities of Porirua, Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt come under WRFU jurisdiction.It was founded in 1879, making it the second oldest provincial union in New Zealand, with its 125th jubilee celebrated in 2004.

International Super Rugby

Players from Wellington who are eligible to play in the Super 14 generally play for the Hurricanes, and traditionally contribute the core of the Hurricanes squad. This position is largely due to the Wellington basing of the Hurricanes. Further, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay, two Hurricane provinces and prolific talent producers, had long been mired in the second half of the National Provincial Championship, allowing Wellington to lure the better players of these provinces with ease (Christian Cullen from Manawatu for example). The 2006 reorganisation of provincial rugby in 2006 brought all three provinces into the top-level Air New Zealand Cup, but Wellington have maintained their regional dominance.

Since Super Rugby's inaugural season in 1996 the Hurricanes have had mixed results. They have reached the semi-finals on four occasions losing to the ACT Brumbies in 1997 & the Crusaders in 2003, 2005 & 2008. Wellingtons only appearance in a grand final was in 2006, where they lost the game 19 - 12 to none other than the Crusaders.

National Representative Rugby

The senior Wellington representative team, the Wellington Lions play in the Air New Zealand Cup, replacing the National Provincial Championship in 2006, which the Lions have won four times since its inception in 1976. The titles came in 1978, 1981, 1986 and most recently in 2000. Their colours are black and yellow as shown on the Lions jersey. The Lions play their home games at the Westpac Stadium, previously playing at Athletic Park until 1999. Even with an All-Star backline in the late 90's including Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga, Jonah Lomu and Alama Ieremia what was a superb team on paper never lived up to expectations and Wellington became known for its inconsitency. More recently it should be noted however that although the Lions have been unable to win another trophy the Wellington side have made it all the way to the grand final in four out of the last five years. Losing to Auckland in 2003, to Canterbury in 2004, to Waikato in 2006 and most recently to Auckland in the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup.

Ranfurly Shield

* Ross Kennedy "(on loan to Counties Manukau)"
* Miah Nikora "(previously on loan to Taranaki, recalled during Round 2)"
* Tane Tu'ipulotu "(on loan to Manawatu)"

Notable players

* Jerry Collins
* Christian Cullen
* Lome Fa'atau
* Ross Filipo
* Roy Kinikinilau
* Jonah Lomu
* Ma'a Nonu
* Kristian Ormsby
* Shannon Paku
* Semo Sititi
* Elvis Seveali'i
* Sireli Bobo
* Conrad Smith
* Rodney So'oialo
* Neemia Tialata
* Tana Umaga
* Piri Weepu
* David Holwell

External links

* [http://www.wrfu.co.nz/ Official site]
* [http://www.wellingtonlions.co.nz/ Wellington Lions]