Bay of Plenty Rugby Union
| Union | New Zealand Rugby Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1911 |
| Location | Mount Maunganui, New Zealand |
| Region | Chiefs |
| Ground(s) |
Baypark Stadium (19,800) Rotorua International Stadium (26,000) Tauranga Domain (5,000) |
| Coach(es) |
 Kevin Schuler
|
| Captain(s) |
Culum Retallick/Carl Axtens
|
| League(s) |
ITM Cup Women's Provincial Championship |
| 2012 | 6th |
| Official website | |
| www |
|
The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union (also referred to as "Bay of Plenty" or "BOPRU") is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. Its colours are dark blue and yellow in a hooped design. The BOPRU govern the running of the Bay of Plenty representative team which have won New Zealand's first-tier domestic competition National Provincial Championship (Air New Zealand Cup and ITM Cup) once. Their most recent victory was the 1976 competition, they were the first side to win the competition. Bay of Plenty also acts as a primary feeder to the Chiefs, who play in the Super Rugby competition.
The union is coached by Clayton McMillan the union also administers all club rugby within the region, including the Bayfair Baywide competition and other senior club rugby. As well, the union is responsible for school rugby.
Bay of Plenty played a prominent role in the early history of rugby in New Zealand. The 1888–89 New Zealand Natives (the first New Zealand representative rugby team to tour beyond Australia) included five Warbrick brothers from the small Bay of Plenty settlement of Matata. Dave Gallaher, the captain of the legendary 1905 All Black Originals, grew up in Katikati. But it was not until 1911 that a separate Bay of Plenty Rugby Football Union was established. Before then Bay of Plenty was included within the South Auckland union.
Bay of Plenty-based players were amongst the most prominent in the formative years of the game, but it was not until 1911 that the Bay of Plenty union was fully affiliated to the national body. Up until this time the BOP union was included within the South Auckland union boundaries. As the boundaries of the new union grew, and new sub-unions were formed, the union achieved its first national representation when A.L. McLean was selected for the All Blacks in 1921. McLean was the first of 22 men who have represented New Zealand while wearing the blue and gold hoops, in addition to the many players who received their rugby education in the Bay of Plenty before achieving higher honours elsewhere. As the heartland of Maori rugby the region has produced a large number of Māori All Blacks, while age group and secondary school teams from throughout the union have also established a long and successful heritage that is the envy of many.
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