Auckland representative rugby union team
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| Union | Auckland Rugby Football Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1883 |
| Region | Blues |
| Ground(s) | Eden Park (Capacity: 50,000) |
| Coach(es) | Nick White |
| Captain(s) | Simon Hickey |
| League(s) | Mitre 10 Cup |
| 2016 | 6th |
| Official website | |
| aucklandrugby |
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The Auckland Rugby Football Union is the top representative rugby union team under the Auckland Rugby Football Union in New Zealand. They currently compete in the ITM Cup Premiership. Auckland has been the most successful team in NPC (and successors) history, winning the title a record 16 times. Auckland has also produced a record number of All Blacks, 181, the latest being George Moala in 2015. Auckland is coached by Paul Feeney.
Auckland has been the most successful union in New Zealand rugby history, having won a record 16 ITM Cup (and predecessor competition) titles. Auckland also holds the record for the most Ranfurly Shield wins (16), successful defences (148), and longest streak of successful defences (61). All Blacks statistics also reveal the extent of Auckland's influence: of the 1071 players to have worn the national jersey from 1888 to 2008, 133 were born in Auckland, compared to Christchurch (74), Wellington (60) and Dunedin (53).
There have been many notable eras in the team's history. It went undefeated for six seasons from 1897, and there was a ground breaking run in the early 1920s under Sir Vincent Meredith.
The 1960–63 period, known as the Golden Era, was summed up in The Golden Years written by Don Cameron in 1983. Sir Wilson Whineray, who captained Auckland through those years, describes the period as one of "excitement, drama and fervor that transformed Eden Park into an oasis of magic during the winters of 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963."
There was also a relatively undisturbed spell of success from 1982 through to the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup victory. Auckland won 16 of the 26 Air NZ NPC titles available in that time – a period that included 61 Ranfurly Shield defences.
Auckland were the first holders of the shield in 1902 and have won 153 out of 194 shield matches up to 2007 – the most successful record of any provincial union. Since 1902 there have been three notable shield eras: from 1905 to 1913 there were 23 challenges repelled, another 25 between 1960 and 1963, and 61 challenges in the period from 1985 to 1993. Players like Andy Haden, Sean Fitzpatrick, John Drake, Olo Brown, Zinzan and Robin Brooke, Gary and Alan Whetton, Michael Jones, Steve McDowell, Grant Fox, Bernie McCahill,Grant Dickson, Mark Carter, Joe Stanley, John Kirwan and Terry Wright were important in Auckland's success in that last period.
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Wikipedia