Heartland Rugby Championship

At the end of the Mitre 10 Cup Week Two schedule, one clash was more significant. The CANvTAS game was certainly the match of the round, with the victor taking a superior position on the table. While their provincial rivalry might be short-lived – played 17, from 2007-2018 – the Crusaders regional contest between Canterbury […]

The passing of New Zealand Rugby icon and senior figure Sir Brian Lochore, has illustrated that a player’s career is more than just what they achieve on-the-field. So it is with the utmost respect that Last Word on Rugby pays tribute to one of the All Blacks greats. Losing his fight with cancer on August […]

When the focus shifted from Super Rugby towards International Rugby, many of the wider-rugby community were left with a limited selection. Down on options, to avoid the risk of some fans taking up with another code, there will soon be a ‘domestic rugby distraction’ in the form of the Mitre 10 Cup 2019 schedule. The […]

As an organization, Last Word on Rugby looks forward to the New Year, as much as anyone. We too, like to review many of the incredible accomplishments that have occurred over the past 12 months, the key moments over the calendar before making any ‘rugby resolutions’ ahead of the next year. Fondly as we might […]

Every December, the best and brightest of New Zealand (NZ) Rugby get together to celebrate. Whatever the accomplishments individually, the NZ Rugby Awards is the best time to celebrate the sport, as a group. For women and men, players and referees, coaches and administrators, they all sit back and acknowledge each other’s efforts. To highlight […]

Looking at the rugby-schedule, it is a Super Saturday from New Zealand to Japan. Domestic rugby finals across New Zealand, a Bledisloe Cup test in Tokyo, and many more fixtures over a 30-hour window. That is great news for rugby lovers, as well as for the exposure of rugby union into the important sports market in […]

In every rugby season, from New Zealand to England, Ireland or Argentina, there is one team who surprise all the others. Not expected to challenge, they rise like cream to the top of the bowl. And in the 2018 major semifinals clashes, the Thames Valley Swamp Foxes is that team. The side from Boyd Park, Te […]

After the final regulation season game was concluded on Sunday, New Zealand Domestic Rugby is building toward the major Semifinals for all men’s and women’s rugby competition. That is for the Mitre 10 Cup; both the Premiership and the Championship. The Heartland Championship; both for the Meads Cup and the Lochore Cup. Each of those competitions […]

With so many local derby matches, the results from Week Five of the Heartland Championship has only minutely defined the standings. For fans and followers of New Zealand grassroots rugby, their focus was directed solely on the field, and on the heritage and tradition of the national provincial rugby competition. For those new to the […]

It is not often that Rugby Union and Rugby League fans have such conflicting match schedules, as they do on this Super Saturday. With both the All Blacks and NZ Warriors playing, it might end up as a question of sport? Which one do i watch Live? That decision is similar to other choices that […]

Now that provincial rugby competitions have been up and running in NZ and South Africa, it’s the time when women’s rugby are set to ‘hold the ball’ during Super Saturday. The women selected to play in the 2018 Farah Palmer Cup, have been readying themselves. Training (see main picture) and building the important team culture, […]

Another weekend, and another Super Saturday. Fans find that the Heartland Championship begins, along with the crucial Black Ferns/All Blacks test matches

Like other provincial championships, bringing the game home to the nation is the point-of-difference. The emphasis on the heartland and ‘grassroots rugby’ is where fans can engage with a game that seems to always be played in the big centers – Mitre 10 Cup Rugby turns the focus on the stakeholder. In New Zealand Rugby, […]

The standard bearer of New Zealand provincial rugby strength, the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup and Heartland Championship, have had their full draw announced this week. With this schedule now known, the provincial rugby unions can begin to plan for their short term futures. From the beginning, the organization will call upon it’s staffs to now begin […]

You get a sense from talking with James Lash that Heartland Rugby is everything that he enjoys about the game of rugby union and while some, including this reporter, would admire him being offered an opportunity to wear All Black, the player himself is more than happy playing for Buller. Buller, on the West Coast […]