Kia Ora and welcome
New Zealand Maori celebrated its Centennial in 2010 and its first game was played against a Rotorua Team. Since then Maori Rugby has continued to play a very important role in the success of New Zealand Rugby and Bay of Plenty. In Bay of Plenty, 55% of players are Maori, and there is plenty of talent that is nurtured through the club and school system.
Te Waiariki Maori Rugby is the provincial organisation tasked with bringing together the best Maori players each year to play in the Te Hiku Maori Rugby Competition. This comprises of the following provincial unions, Northland, Nth Harbour, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Thames Valley, King Country and Bay of Plenty.
The union field a Senior and Colts (U21) team in the tournament. If you are interested in playing please contact one of the coaches below. If you would like to support Maori Rugby or would like to know more about Bay of Plenty Rugby then call the office on 07 574 2037.
Te Waiariki Senior Team
Coach: Kevin Lee
Mob: 027 381 5062
Asst Coach: Murray Ririnui
Te Waiariki Colts Team
Head Coach: RODNEY VOULLAIRE 0220 37 22 34
Assistant Coach: MAXIE KEMARA 027 82 63 088
Manager & Trainer: JAMES PORTER 021 25 46 814
2012 Programme
4th Feb – pre-season game v North Harbour
18th Feb – Tainui (Waikato) in Rotorua
25th Feb – Counties in Pukekohe
3rd Mar – Te Hiku Maori Rugby Tournament - Finals day at Cambridge (Hautapu RFC)
100 years to the day since NZ Maori took the field
allblacks.com - (21/05/2010)
New Zealand Maori made a winning start to its rich and successful history when the first official New Zealand Maori side met and defeated a Rotorua sub-union team 100 years ago today.
That encounter, played in Rotorua and won 25-5 by New Zealand Maori, launched the team on a Century of rugby that would see them play 429 times for 297 wins and only 109 losses, with 23 drawn matches. Those results included 58 wins over international sides against 30 losses and five draws.
Try-scorers in that historic first match included H Harrison (Thames Valley), C Tipene (Otago), R Dansey (Otago) and Southland’s Billy Stead. The team was captained by Alex Takarangi.
Following the Rotorua match, the team toured New Zealand taking on Auckland and a South Auckland XV before heading to Australia for an 11-match tour and returning to further domestic fixtures. They finished that inaugural season having played 19, won 12, drawn three, and lost seven matches, scoring 315 points and conceding 160.
The development of an official national Maori team owes a great deal to the vision and commitment of Wiremu Teihioka (“Ned”) Parata. Recognising the presence of rugby league among Maori, Parata took his idea of a Maori team to the-then New Zealand Rugby Football Union which agreed and supported the concept. Another of Parata’s masterstrokes was to entice Billy Stead, the vice-captain of the 1905 “Originals” All Blacks side and pioneer of the first five-eighth position, out of retirement to make the tour. Parata subsequently managed Maori teams for the next 16 years.
The establishment of a New Zealand Maori side built on the legacy of the privately-organised New Zealand Natives team which toured in 1888-1889 and which featured predominantly Maori players.
New Zealand Maori Rugby Board Chairman Wayne Peters said the Centenary was a milestone of significant importance in sporting terms, recognised on the international stage by the presence during the centennial year of teams of international standing as well as being accepted as the opportunity to pay tribute to those who have supported Maori rugby at all levels “Maori rugby holds a special place for Maori, and New Zealand rugby followers generally, as it represents a distinctive and unique aspect of rugby in New Zealand. So it is appropriate that we celebrate the past and, in particular, those players, coaches and management and supporters who have contributed to the game over 100 years,” he said.
Mr Peters said the Centenary would be celebrated during the Sealord New Zealand Maori Centenary Series next month.
New Zealand Maori take on the New Zealand Barbarians in Whangarei, Ireland in Rotorua and England in Napier, while a series of luncheons being held in each venue would create an opportunity to honour the former players and those others who have contributed so much to the success of the team and Maori rugby.
About New Zealand Maori:
The first New Zealand Maori team was officially selected in 1910. The idea of a wholly Maori side was first mooted in the 1880s, resulting in the formation of the New Zealand Natives, whose famous 1888 tour was to have a tremendous impact on New Zealand rugby. Since their debut in 1910, the New Zealand Maori side has played almost every provincial side in New Zealand as well as numerous national sides and has toured extensively overseas. The team has a proud record, including victories in the professional era over England, Argentina, Scotland and Fiji, and an historic win over the 2005 British and Irish Lions.
