The Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union (NPEC) is a constituent union in the New Zealand Rugby Union located on the East Coast of the North Island. Its provincial team plays in the Heartland Championship and its home ground is Whakarua Park, Ruatoria. It is the smallest Union in New Zealand in the sense of player numbers and population base.

The union was previously called East Coast. Due to the high number of players from the Ngāti Porou iwi, the team became known as Ngāti Porou East Coast and in August 2023 the Union was officially renamed the Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union on the New Zealand incorporated societies register.

History The East Coast Rugby Football Union was formed in 1922 when they split from the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union.

East Coast won the 2012 Heartland Championship Meads Cup defeating Wanganui 29–27 at Whakarua Park on 27 October 2012., In the 2022 Heartland Championship the team won the Lochore Cup beating Mid Canterbury by 25 to 20. They become the 6th team to have won both the Meads Cup and the Lochore Cup.

The team is renowned for losing 54 consecutive games over eight years. However former All Blacks Ma’a Nonu and Hosea Gear were involved in the side when they broke that drought in a 50-26 win over Buller in October 2021.

Clubs Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Football Union is made up of 10 clubs: Hicks Bay Hikurangi Sports Club Ruatoria City Sports Club Tawhiti Tokararangi Tokomaru Bay United Tihirau Victory Club (TVC) Uawa Sports Waiapu Waima

Club champions Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield 2022 - Tihirau Victory Club (TVC) 39 - 17 Waiapu 2023 - Hicks Bay 13 - 7 TVC 2024 - Waiapu 19 - 18 Ruatoria City 2025 - TVC 19 - 12 Waiapu 2026 - Tokararangi 32 - 21 Uawa

National Provincial Championship

East Coast won the NPC 3rd Division twice. Firstly in 1999 defeating Poverty Bay 18–15 in the final at Ruatoria. Secondly and possibly even more impressively, defeating North Otago the following year in front of their home crowd at Oamaru in a come-from-behind 25–21 victory to record back to back NPC 3rd Division Championships.

1999 NPC 3rd Division champions Round Comp Home team Score Away team Score Week 1 NPC Buller 18 East Coast 36 Week 2 NPC West Coast 41 East Coast 13 Week 3 NPC Wairarapa Bush 15 East Coast 31 Week 4 NPC East Coast 10 Poverty Bay 15 Week 5 NPC East Coast 30 North Otago 9 Week 6 NPC Horowhenua-Kapiti 20 East Coast 14 Week 7 NPC East Coast 74 Buller 8 Week 8 NPC East Coast 18 South Canterbury 6 Semi Final NPC Horowhenua-Kapiti 20 East Coast 21 Final NPC East Coast 18 Poverty Bay 15 Overall Season standing: Champions

2000 NPC 3rd Division champions Round Comp Home team Score Away team Score Week 1 NPC East Coast 20 South Canterbury 14 Week 2 NPC North Otago 26 East Coast 26 Week 3 NPC Buller 12 East Coast 44 Week 4 NPC South Canterbury 12 East Coast 6 Week 5 NPC East Coast 33 Wairarapa Bush 20 Week 6 NPC Poverty Bay 28 East Coast 30 Week 7 NPC East Coast 33 West Coast 27 Week 8 NPC East Coast 31 Horowhenua-Kapiti 30 Semi Final NPC East Coast 18 Wairarapa Bush 17 Final NPC North Otago 21 East Coast 25 Overall Season standing: Champions

Heartland Championship

Heartland Championship placings

Heartland Championship ResultsYear Place Playoffs Semifinal Final 20068 1 0 7 111 244 −133 2 6 11th No— 20078 2 0 6 130 210 −70 3 11 11th No— 20088 0 0 8 50 306 −256 0 0 12th No— 20098 1 0 7 87 337 −250 0 4 11th No— 20108 0 0 8 96 384 −288 1 1 12th No— 20118 6 0 2 189 198 −9 3 27 3rd Meads Cup Won 23–17 against Lost 10–30 to 20128 7 0 1 230 177 +53 3 31 1stMeads Cup Won 26–15 against North Otago Won 29–27 against Wanganui 20138 2 0 6 173 225 −52 5 13 10th No— 20148 0 0 8 67 367 −300 0 0 12th No— 20158 0 0 8 112 368 −256 2 2 12th No— 20168 0 0 8 166 458 −292 3 3 12th No— 20178 0 0 8 98 353 −255 0 0 12th No— 20188 0 0 8 99 447 −348 2 2 12th No— 20198 0 0 8 153 319 −166 0 0 12th No— 20218 3 0 5 242 258 −16 8 20 8th No— 20228 4 0 4 155 242 −87 2 18 7th Lochore CupWon 37-30 against Horowhenua-KapitiWon 25-20 against Mid Canterbury 20238 5 0 3 222 183 +39 7 27 4th Meads CupLost 17-34 to South Canterbury— 20248 4 0 4 212 236 -24 4 20 7th Lochore CupLost 31-34 to King Country— 20258 0 0 8 112 470 −358 1 1 12th No—

There was no Heartland Championship in the 2020 season due to Covid-19 restrictions.

2012 Meads Cup winners Round Comp Home team Score Away team Score Week 1 NPC Ngāti Porou East Coast 23 West Coast 16 Week 2 NPC South Canterbury 37 Ngāti Porou East Coast 9 Week 3 NPC Ngāti Porou East Coast 20 Buller 18 Week 4 NPC Mid Canterbury 13 Ngāti Porou East Coast 20 Week 5 NPC Ngāti Porou East Coast 25 Wanganui 17 Week 6 NPC Thames Valley 38 Ngāti Porou East Coast 53 Week 7 NPC Ngāti Porou East Coast 56 King Country 24 Week 8 NPC Poverty Bay 14 Ngāti Porou East Coast 24 Semi Final NPC Ngāti Porou East Coast 26 North Otago 15 Final NPC Ngāti Porou East Coast 29 Wanganui 27 Overall Season standing: Champions

Ranfurly Shield Ngāti Porou East Coast has challenged for the Ranfurly Shield eight times losing heavily on each occasion.

Matches

1953 42–0 Wellington1968 31–0 Napier1981 54–0 Hamilton1987 72–0 Auckland1997 115–6 Ruatoria2002 51–6 Christchurch2013 65–10 Ruatoria2021 93–5 Napier

All Blacks Six All Blacks have played rugby for East Coast:

Hosea Gear Rico Gear Zac Guildford Andy Jefferd George Nēpia Ma'a Nonu

Super Rugby Ngāti Porou East Coast along with Waikato, Counties Manukau, King Country, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, and Thames Valley make up the Chiefs Super Rugby region. Ngāti Porou East Coast was formerly part of the Hurricanes from 1996 until February 2025 where they announced their change of allegiance to the Chiefs.

References

External links Official Site East Coast rugby (NZHistory.net.nz)