| Shield | |||
| Club information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | East Coast Rugby Football Union | ||
| Website | http://www.npec.co.nz/ | ||
| Colours | Blue | ||
| Founded | 1922 | ||
| Current details | |||
| Ground(s) | Whakarua Park | ||
| Competition | Heartland Championship | ||
The East Coast Rugby Football Union is a constituent union in the New Zealand Rugby Union. It is located on the East Coast of the North Island, based in Ruatoria. It is the smallest Union in New Zealand in the sense of player numbers and population base. Due to the high number of players from the Ngati Porou iwi, the team is nicknamed Ngati Porou East Coast.
The East Coast team play from Whakarua Park, Ruatoria and in the 2006 season are in Pool A of the Heartland Championship. They are seeded 4th qualifiers for the Championship as they finished 9rd in the 2nd division.
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The East Coast Rugby Football Union was formed in 1922 when they split from the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union.
East Coast has never won the Ranfurly Shield.
East Coast along with Wellington, Taranaki, Wairarapa Bush, Wanganui, Poverty Bay, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu and Horowhenua-Kapiti make up the Hurricanes Super Rugby region.
The team is renowned for its fight and determination to play hard, as was exhibited in 1999 and 2000 when it won the then Air New Zealand NPC Third Division. Much to the nation's surprise, the Ngati Porou East Coast team, upon their first promotion to the then Air New Zealand NPC Second Division, found itself in the final against Hawke's Bay (2001). However, East Coast was unsuccessful, eventually losing by 3 points.
There have had 2 players selected for the All Blacks whilst playing their club rugby in the East Coast.
East Coast Rugby Football Union is made up of 11 clubs:
East Coast won the NPC 3rd division in 1999 and 2000.
| Heartland Championship Results[1] | |||||||||||
| Year | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | PF | PA | Diff | BP | Points | Place | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 108 | 255 | -147 | 2 | 6 | 11th | |
| 2007 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 108 | 255 | -147 | 2 | 6 | 11th | |
| 2008 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 108 | 255 | -147 | 2 | 6 | 11th | |
| 2008 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 108 | 255 | -147 | 2 | 6 | 11th | |
| 2010 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 108 | 255 | -147 | 2 | 6 | 11th | |
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