Otago Rugby Football Union

Otago Rugby Football Union

Nickname(s)	Razorbacks
Founded	1881
Region	Otago
Ground(s)	Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin (Capacity: 30,748)
Coach(es)	Phil Mooney
Captain(s)	Eben Joubert
League(s)	ITM Cup
2011	3rd, Championship Division
Team kit

The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago Region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in the ITM Cup, New Zealand's top provincial competition.

History

The union was founded in 1881, celebrating its 125th year in 2006. Since the inception of the NPC in 1976, Otago have won the competition twice, in 1991 and 1998. Furthermore, since playoffs were introduced, Otago have made the final on six occasions and the semifinals on 11.

Although Otago have not held the Ranfurly Shield since 1957, their overall performance is impressive, having won 36 of 74 shield matches, with only Auckland and Canterbury boasting a better record.

In 2011, Otago (along with the Highlanders) moved from Carisbrook, the union's traditional home, to the recently completed Forsyth Barr Stadium. A fully enclosed venue, Otago held their first home match at the new ground on the 27th of August. In front of a crowd of 14,067, the largest home gate of the season, Otago lost to Canterbury by 16 - 29.

Club Rugby

Clubs within the union are split into two groups, Metro and Country. Clubs include:

Metro

• Alhambra Union RFC
• Brighton RFC
• Dunedin RFC
• Eastern RFC
• Green Island RFC
• Harbour RFC
• Kaikorai RFC
• Pirates FC
• Southern RFC
• Taieri RFC
• University RFC
• West Taieri RFC
• Zingari - Richmond RFC

Country

• Alexandra RFC
• Clinton RFC
• Clutha RFC
• Clutha Valley RFC
• Clyde Earnscleugh RFC
• Crescent RFC
• Cromwell RFC
• Heriot RFC
• Lawrence RFC
• Maniototo RFC
• Matakanui Combined RFC
• Owaka RFC
• Roxburgh RFC
• Strath Taieri RFC
• Tapanui RFC
• Telford RFC
• Toko RFC
• Upper Clutha RFC
• Wakatipu RFC

Representative Rugby

Nicknamed the Razorbacks, the Otago team presently compete in the ITM Cup Championship Division. The 2011 season saw an improvement in Otago's performance, finishing 3rd in their division after coming last in the 2010 season.

2011 Squad

Squad for the 2011 ITM Cup (Contracted players):

Props Halani Aulika James McGougan Kees Meeuws Scott Manson Hookers Liam Coltman Jason Macdonald Sam Anderson-Heather Locks Tom Donnelly Daniel Ramsay Tom Franklin

Loose Forwards Eben Joubert Adam Thomson Paul Grant Gareth Evans TJ Ioane Daniel Crichton Adam Hill Regan Tamihere Andrew Stead Half Backs Johnny Legg Sean Romans First-Fives Tony Brown Hayden Parker Tony Fenner

Centres Ben Atiga Sam Giddens Wingers Joe Hill Buxton Popoali'i Hanipalo Galo Full Backs Glenn Dickson Ben Smith

Wider Training squad/Otago B players

• Peter Mirrielees (hooker)
• Pieter van der Merwe (prop)
• Brad Cameron (loose forward)
• Josh Beer (flanker)
• Andrew Stead (number 8)
• Brad Weber (halfback)
• Jayden Spence (midfielder)
• Matt Faddes (fullback)
• Liam Edwards (fullback)

Otago in Super Rugby

From the start of the Super Rugby competition in 1996, Otago was one of three unions (along with Southland and North Otago) to comprise the Highlanders region, and Otago players traditionally formed the bulk of the Highlanders' playing squad.

This changed in 2010 with the move to direct-contracting for Super Rugby teams, meaning that Otago players are free to sign with any of the New Zealand-based teams. Despite this change, in the 2011 Super Rugby season all Otago players competing in the competition were still playing for the Highlanders. However, due to the recent struggles of Otago and an influx of players from other provinces, Otago players no longer represent the majority of the Highlanders' playing personnel.

2011 Super Rugby players

• Halani Aulika (Highlanders)
• Tom Donnelly (Highlanders)
• Adam Thomson (Highlanders)
• Sean Romans (Highlanders)
• Tony Brown (Highlanders)
• Ben Smith (Highlanders)

Records and Honours

Individual and Team Records

• Most points: 1520 — Greg Cooper
• Most tries: 73 — Paul Cooke
• Most points in season: 279 — Greg Cooper (1991)
• Most tries in season: 16 — John Timu (1988, 1990), Paul Cooke (1995), Brendan Laney (1998)
• Most conversions in season: 50 — Greg Cooper (1988)
• Most penalty goals in season: 54 — Greg Cooper (1989)
• Most dropped goals in season: 9 — Lindsay Smith (1986)
• Most points in a match: 39 — Paul Turner (1986)
• Most individual tries in a match: 5 (by four different players)
• Most conversions in a match: 14 — Paul Turner (1986)
• Most penalty goals in a match: 7 — Greg Cooper (1989, 1991), Blair Feeney (2002)
• Highest score: 91 — v East Coast (1986)
• Biggest winning margin: 85 — 88-3 v North Otago (1983)
• Biggest losing margin: 43 — 19-62 v Canterbury (2001)
• Most points against: 63 — v Auckland (1993)

100+ Matches

• Richard Knight 1982—92, 170 Games
• David Latta 1986—96, 161 Games
• Ken Bloxham 1974—86, 155 Games
• Steve Hotton 1983—93, 146 Games
• Lindsay Clark 1967—78, 137 Games
• Gordon Macpherson 1985—93, 137 Games
• John Leslie 1991—98, 2004, 123 Games
• Greg Cooper 1984—96, 121 Games
• John Haggart 1983—91, 119 Games
• Gary Seear 1971—82, 116 Games
• Stu Forstera 1990—98, 115 Games
• Laurie Mains 1967—75, 114 Games
• Wayne Graham 1976—86, 111 Games
• Arran Pene 1988—95, 111 Games
• Dean Kenny 1981—89, 110 Games
• Paul Cooke 1990—96, 107 Games
• Rob Roy 1969—79, 106 Games
• Duncan Robertson 1966—78, 104 Games
• Merv Jaffray 1971—78, 102 Games
• Tup Diack 1951—64, 101 Games
• John Timu 1988—94, 101 Games

Honours

• NPC/Air New Zealand Cup/ITM Cup Champions (2)

1991, 1998

• Ranfurly Shield (4)

1935 - 1938 (8), 1938 - 1938 (5), 1957 - 1950 (18), 1957 - 1957 (1)

External links

• Official site
• Otago rugby (NZHistory.net.nz)