1.
Rugby union
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Rugby union, known in some parts of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using a ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Historically an amateur sport, in 1995 restrictions on payments to players were removed, World Rugby, originally the International Rugby Football Board and from 1998 to 2014 the International Rugby Board, has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886. Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, early exponents of the sport included Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. Countries that have adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport include Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Rugby union is played in over 100 countries across six continents, there are 101 full members and 18 associate members of World Rugby. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place four years with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are major annual competitions. The origin of football is reputed to be an incident during a game of English school football at Rugby School in 1823. Although the evidence for the story is doubtful, it was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895, despite the doubtful evidence, the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after Webb Ellis. Rugby football stems from the form of game played at Rugby School, Old Rugbeian Albert Pell, a student at Cambridge, is credited with having formed the first football team. During this early period different schools used different rules, with pupils from Rugby. Other important events include the Blackheath Clubs decision to leave the Football Association in 1863, despite the sports full name of rugby union, it is known simply as rugby throughout most of the world. The first rugby football international was played on 27 March 1871 between Scotland and England, by 1881 both Ireland and Wales had representative teams, and in 1883 the first international competition, the Home Nations Championship had begun. 1883 is also the year of the first rugby tournament, the Melrose Sevens. During the early history of union, a time before commercial air travel. The first two notable tours both took place in 1888—the British Isles team touring New Zealand and Australia, followed by the New Zealand team touring Europe, All three teams brought new styles of play, fitness levels and tactics, and were far more successful than critics had expected. After Morgan began singing, the crowd joined in, the first time a national anthem was sung at the start of a sporting event, in 1905 France played England in its first international match
2.
New Zealand Rugby
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New Zealand Rugby is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union,12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to the International Rugby Football Board, now known as World Rugby and it dropped the word Football from its name in 2006. The brand name New Zealand Rugby was adopted in 2013, NZR Headquarters are located in Wellington, New Zealand, with an office in Auckland. New Zealand Rugby’s purpose is to lead, grow, support and it is committed to New Zealand rugby being financially secure, attracting top partners and contributing actively to the global game. There are currently 11 NZRU Board members, the President, David Rhodes, was elected in 2015. The President may attend Board meetings but is not a Board member, Steve Tew is the current chief executive and Sir Brian Lochore is the current Patron. It also delivers Investec Super Rugby in New Zealand and manages Test matches in New Zealand, New Zealand Rugby has a staff of approximately 90 people, mostly based in Wellington and Auckland but also working in locations all around New Zealand. NZR was initially governed by a committee of delegates from the provincial unions until replaced in 1894 by a seven-member Wellington-based management committee, administrative responsibilities were initially held by honorary secretaries, and then secretaries, from 1907. This was expanded 43 years later to two entities, the ruling NZRU Council and an executive committee. In 1986, three geographical zones were formed to elect the members of the council, and the executive committee was replaced by an administration committee. Since 1990, the NZRU has been managed by a CEO, in 1996, the NZRUs ruling council was replaced by an expanded board to include independent members and an elected Maori representative. New Zealand Rugbys Patron fills a role as the figurehead for the organization. The current Patron is former All Blacks captain Sir Brian Lochore, the President and Vice President are the Unions two officers who represent New Zealand Rugby at functions and events. Unlike the Patron, the President and Vice President may attend meetings of New Zealand Rugby. The President and Vice President are elected for two years each, the current President is David Rhodes and the current Vice President is Maurice Trapp. The Board is charged with setting strategy, direction and policy for the New Zealand Rugby Union, many of the decisions concerning New Zealand’s national teams, domestic competitions, financial management and rugby traditions are made by the Board. As of April 2015, the Board has nine members, six elected members, any provincial union in New Zealand may nominate candidates for vacant elective positions
3.
Taranaki Rugby Football Union
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The Taranaki Rugby Football Union are a New Zealand governing body of rugby union in the New Zealand province of Taranaki. The main stadium is Yarrow Stadium which is located in New Plymouth, the union also represents the Taranaki Bulls, which is professional rugby union team who compete in the Mitre 10 Cup competition and contest for the Ranfurly Shield. Before 2006 the Bulls competed in the National Provincial Championship, on 25 October 2014 Taranaki won their first ITM Cup, defeating Tasman 36–32 in New Plymouth. This was the first time a team from outside the population centres had won the premier New Zealand domestic rugby competition since Manawatu in 1980. Taranaki has won the NPC second division more than any other Union in New Zealand, Taranaki also plays for the Ryan Wheeler memorial trophy, a trophy played for annually with the Waikato Rugby Union. In 2013, Taranaki changed its Super Rugby allegiance to the Chiefs, after severing ties with the Hurricanes, on May 31,1889 the Hawera club convened a meeting in Hawera, of delegates from the Hawera, Waimate, New Plymouth, Okaiawa, and Eltham clubs. This meeting agreed to form the Taranaki Union, by the turn of the century, Taranaki R. F. U. had produced eleven All Blacks, six of whom toured Great Britain in 1905. Taranaki currently plays in the professional Mitre 10 Cup, which it won in 2014, coastal Rugby and Sports Club, Merger of the Okato Rugby Football Club, the Rahotu Rugby Football Club and the Opunake Rugby Football Club. Eltham Kaponga Rugby Football Club, Merger of the Eltham Rugby Football Club, the Taranaki Rugby Referees Association has the backing of sponsor Farmlands. Each year the TRRA names a Top Five, Top Five after the 2016 season is, Cameron Stone Richard Kelly Will Johnston Max OLeary Trent Mischefski Paul Williams was not considered due to his Super Rugby commitments. These five referees are involved as assistant referees and substitution controllers at the local Mitre 10 Cup, Super Rugby and they are also involved in local development and age-group representative matches as New Zealand Rugby Union have given most of the representative appointments back to the local provinces. The Dean Cup is believed to be the oldest competition trophy still being played for in the sport of rugby union. In 2003 when Whangamomona challenged Strathmore for the cup and the game was played at Yarrow Stadium on 19 April as a curtain raiser to the Hurricanes versus Highlanders Super 12 match. Strathmore were victorious, on occasion, holding on to defend the cup. This is the first time that the Dean Cup has been played for outside of the Eastern Districts. The T. R. F. U. has several teams under its control and their top professional team, the Bulls is coached by Colin Cooper and captained by midfielder Charlie Ngatai. Their traditional colors are amber and black hoops with white shorts and they are also sponsored by Port Taranaki. The Taranaki squad for the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup was announced on 2 August, samoan international Isaia Tuifua was listed as injury cover
4.
Mitre 10 Cup
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The Mitre 10 Cup is a professional Rugby union league consisting of 14 teams, divided equally between the Premiership Division and the Championship Division. The Mitre 10 Cup is one of the professional rugby leagues in the world. The Mitre 10 Cups 11-week regular season two weeks after Super Rugby to the third week after Labour Day, with each team playing 10 games. The Mitre 10 Cup was formed in 1976 as the National Provincial Championship before renaming itself the Air New Zealand Cup for the 2006 season, the NZRU introduced the beginning of a professional era, announcing New Zealands first ever professional rugby competition following the 2005 season. Today, the Mitre 10 Cup is one of the most popular league in New Zealand. The team with the most NPC championships is Auckland with fifteen, the current champions are Canterbury, who defeated Tasman 43–27 in Christchurch. The 2006 reorganisation of New Zealand provincial rugby replaced the NPCs former three-division setup with two competitions and this differs from the original two-division setup used in the NPC from its creation in 1976 to 1984 in two key ways. The number of teams was reduced to 26, as the Marlborough, the 2006 expansion of the Super 12 and Tri Nations Series had a major effect on the Air New Zealand Cup. This expansion created the Super 14, adding two extra fixtures to that competition, and also added two more Tri-Nations matches for the All Blacks in non-World Cup years. Because of these changes, it was intended for players in the All Blacks selection pool to only limited appearances in the Air New Zealand Cup. Before 2006, a number of competitions involving regional and provincial rugby union teams had taken shape in New Zealand, the earliest of these was the National Provincial Championship, which was launched in 1976 and continued until 2006. The competition was launched as the National Provincial Championship in 1976, the competition, was the major domestic rugby competition in New Zealand. The National Provincial Championship saw many alterations to its format and brand and it was first contested in 1976, and although the basic format of Division One was much the same from then until the 2006 reorganisation, there were a number of changes to the lower divisions. The only change before 2006 was in 1998, when the number of teams in each division was changed to ten in Division One, nine in Division Two, having an even number of teams in Division One removed the necessity for byes. Starting that year, automatic promotion/relegation between the top two divisions was ended, in its place, the winner of Division Two played a promotion-relegation match against the bottom club in Division One to determine whether the clubs would switch places. Through 2002, this match was hosted by the team in Division One. Auckland were the most successful team in the championship, having won 15 of the 30 series, the inaugural 2006 season was played by 14 teams over 13 weeks from 28 July until the grand final on the 21 October. The inaugural format saw the split into two rounds
5.
Super Rugby
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Super Rugby is the preeminent professional mens rugby union football competition in the Southern Hemisphere and Japan. By 2006, matches were being broadcast in 41 countries, SANZAAR is the body that administers Super Rugby, and has the Australian, New Zealand, South African and Argentine rugby unions as its sole members. The organisation was formed in 1995 to establish and run the Super 12, prior to 2011, Super Rugby was a round-robin competition where each team played with every other team once, a team had six or seven home games, and six or seven away games each. The winner received four points, if the game was a draw two points were awarded to each team. The Rugby union bonus points system was used, where any team scoring four or more tries, and/or losing by seven points or less. In 2016, the try bonus changed, a team now has to score three more tries than their opponents. The top four teams at the end of the round-robin phase then played semi-finals – the first placed team hosting the fourth placed team, the two winners then played the final at the home ground of the top surviving seed. There were 91 regular season games in total, games were held over 14 weekends with each team receiving one bye. From 2011 –2015 the format changed, with each country forming its own conference, each team within a conference plays each of the other teams in its conference twice, once at home and once away. Each team then plays four out of the five teams each of the other conferences once. Competition points are awarded on a basis as before. The four lower ranking teams are paired in two sudden death games, the winners of two games each play one of the two top ranked teams. Those winners play for the championship, in 2016 the format changed with three more teams joining. There are four conferences with Africa getting two conferences, the finals now have eight teams with each conference winner getting a home quarter final. They are joined by four wild card teams, three will be from the Australasian group and one from the South African group, before 1996, a number of transnational competitions involving regional and provincial rugby union teams had taken shape in the southern hemisphere. The earliest of these was the South Pacific Championship, which was launched in 1986, after the demise of the South Pacific Championship, with no tournament played in 1991, the competition was relaunched as the Super 6 in 1992. In 1993, the Super Six competition was revamped and expanded into the Super 10 tournament, the inaugural competition featured the following teams, Waikato, Auckland, Otago and North Harbour, Natal, Transvaal and Northern Transvaal, Queensland and New South Wales and Western Samoa. The Super 10 was won by Transvaal in 1993, and by Queensland in 1994 and 1995, the official declaration of professionalism in rugby union in August 1995 led to a restructuring of the Super 10 competition
6.
Canterbury Rugby Union
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The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury Region of New Zealand. Its colours are red and black in a hooped design and their most recent victory was the 2015 competition. Canterbury also acts as a feeder to the Crusaders, who play in the Super Rugby competition. The union is coached by Scott Robertson, the union also administers all club rugby within the region, including senior club rugby and school rugby. Canterbury are the current holders of the Ranfurly Shield having won it off Waikato on 28 September 2016 after a 29–23 victory in Hamilton, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union was established in 1879 following a match between South Canterbury and North Canterbury in Timaru. He succeeded in getting Canterbury clubs to adopt the rules in 1876. It had been proposed that the new organisation be the New Zealand Rugby Union, but this was rejected. Canterbury was the first provincial union within New Zealand, with the Wellington Rugby Football Union was formed later that year, by 1890 fourteen provincial unions had been founded within New Zealand. As well as being the oldest union within New Zealand, the CRFU was actually founded before one of the Home Unions – the Welsh Rugby Union was founded in 1881, Canterbury hosted an Otago side that triumphed by a try to nil. The first rugby match at Lancaster Park was played the following year – a ground that would be the home of Canterbury rugby until the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the occurred only a few years prior to the formation of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union in 1892. The CRFU had originally voted to join the NZRU in 1891, along with the Otago and Southland provinces, the CRFU objected to the requirement that NZRU executive committee members reside in Wellington. South Canterbury had joined the NZRU, and the representative sides did not meet in 1893. As well as this, players from Canterbury were not eligible for selection in the 1893 New Zealand team that toured Australia, the CRFU eventually relented, and in 1894 joined the NZRU, both Otago and Southland joined the following year. In 1904 a sub-union of the South Canterbury Rugby Union was formed around the Ashburton area – the Ashburton Country Rugby Union, in 1905 it came under the umbrella of the CRFU, but split away to become completely independent in 1927. It was renamed the Mid Canterbury Rugby Football Union in 1952, nPC/Air New Zealand Cup/ITM Cup/Mitre 10 Cup,1977,1983,1997,2001,2004,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2015,2016. Ranfurly Shield, 1927–28, 1931–34,1935,1950, 1953–56, 1969–71, 1972–73, 1982–85, 1994–95, 2000–03, 2004–06,2007,2009, 2010–11, 2016–present. In addition to the Mens 1st XV, the CRFU has a number of representative teams for both Men and Women. Their Womens team is part of the Womens Provincial Championship, the Country Cup is the premier club competition over the Canterbury Country region
7.
Rugby League Park
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The Rugby League Park is a rugby league and rugby union stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly called the Addington Showgrounds, the ground is owned by the Canterbury Rugby League, the ground was bought by the Canterbury Rugby League from the Christchurch City Council in the 1990s. It was at this ground that the Kiwis won the 1988 Great Britain Lions tours sole test in New Zealand to qualify for the 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup final, Rugby League Park sustained significant damage during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake and was closed until 24 March 2012. After the earthquake the stands had to be demolished, however Lancaster Park, the main sporting ground in Christchurch, was damaged beyond repair. As a temporary replacement for the city, Rugby League Park was upgraded to seat 18,000 by March 2012 with an expansion to 26,000 for major games. As a result, the Crusaders are based there indefinitely, and the stadium has also hosted All Blacks test matches, on 9 November 2013 it held a round 5 A-League match between Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory in which the teams drew 1-1. A list of rugby league test matches played at the Addington Showgrounds / Rugby League Park, *Played as part of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. Christchurch Stadium med. govt. nz Rugby League Park rleague. com Rugby League Park rugbyleagueproject. org Rugby League Park wcities. com AMI Stadium
8.
Christchurch
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Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Islands east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula and it is home to 389,700 residents, making it New Zealands third most-populous urban area behind Auckland and Wellington. The city was named by the Canterbury Association, which settled the province of Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848 and it was suggested by John Robert Godley, who had attended Christ Church, Oxford. Some early writers called the town Christ Church, but it was recorded as Christchurch in the minutes of the management committee of the association, Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Avon River flows through the centre of the city, with a park located along its banks. At the request of the Deans brothers, the river was named after the River Avon in Scotland, the usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi. This was originally the name of a site by the Avon River near present-day Kilmore Street. The site was a dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi. The Ōtautahi name was adopted in the 1930s, prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian. The citys name is abbreviated by New Zealanders to Chch. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is the fingerspelled letter C signed twice, with the second to the right of the first. Archaeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE. These first inhabitants were thought to have followed by the Waitaha tribe. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe and they were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers. Their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed, the First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour. These sailing vessels were the Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, the Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, the name Christ Church was decided prior to the ships arrival, at the Associations first meeting, on 27 March 1848
9.
Governor-General of New Zealand
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The Governor-General of New Zealand is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The office is mandated by letters patent and the officeholder is formally titled the Governor-General, when travelling abroad, the governor-general is seen as the representative of New Zealand, and of the Queen of New Zealand. For this reason, the governor-general is viewed by some as the de facto head of state, under the Niue Constitution Act, the governor-general also represents the monarch in Niue. The governor-general initially represented the British monarch and the government of the United Kingdom, therefore, many officeholders have been British statesmen. In 1972, Sir Denis Blundell became the first New Zealand resident to be appointed to the office, governors-general are not appointed for a specific term, but are generally expected to serve for five years. The current Governor-General is Dame Patsy Reddy, who has served since 28 September 2016, administrative support for the governor-general is provided by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Appointment to the Office is made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Prime Ministers advice has sometimes been the result of a decision by Cabinet, although there is no requirement for this. The appointment of Anand Satyanand met with the approval of every leader in the House of Representatives, by convention the Leader of the Opposition is also consulted on the appointment, however this too has not always been the case. This suggestion was in turn criticised by the Government, as Sir Edmund had backed Labour in 1975 as part of the Citizens for Rowling campaign, however, the right granted by the convention was not exercised directly by a New Zealand Prime Minister until 1967. Although non-partisan while in office, there have been a number of appointments of Governors-General to the office that have attracted considerable controversy, despite their political backgrounds, neither of these appointments could be said to have discharged their duties in a partisan way. There has often been speculation that a member of the Royal Family might take up the position, before the Governor-General enters office, his or her commission of appointment is publicly read in the presence of the Chief Justice of New Zealand and the members of the Executive Council. The Governor-General must take the Oath of Allegiance and the oath for the due execution of the office, from time to time, there have been proposals to elect the Governor-General. When first drafted by then Governor George Grey, the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 contained provision for the Governor to be elected by New Zealands Parliament. This provision was removed from the enactment, probably because the Colonial Office wanted to keep a check on New Zealands colonial government. In 1887 Sir George Grey, by then also a former Premier, the Bill was narrowly defeated 46–48, being opposed by the government of Harry Atkinson. In 2006 political commentator Colin James suggested that the Governor-General could be elected by a 60% majority of votes cast in Parliament, James argued that the New Zealand public should be given the ability to choose the Queens representative, and that the current system is undemocratic and not transparent. National MP Nikki Kaye queried whether several one-member parties in parliament could veto the decision, the Republican Movement responded that the method would ensure appointments were made that most MPs and parties found acceptable. The Governor-General holds office at the pleasure of the Queen, under clause II of the Letters Patent
10.
Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly
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Uchter John Mark Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly GCMG PC JP DL was a British politician and colonial governor. He was Governor of New Zealand from 1897 to 1904, Lord Ranfurly was born in Guernsey, the second son of Thomas Knox, 3rd Earl of Ranfurly, by his wife Harriet, daughter of John Rimmington, of Broomhead Hall, Yorkshire. Becoming a cadet on board H. M. S, britannia, he passed for the Royal Navy, but, giving up a naval career, entered Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of eighteen. He succeeded in the earldom in May 1875 when his brother died on a shooting expedition in Abyssinia. Ranfurly served as a Lord-in-Waiting under Lord Salisbury between 1895 and 1897 and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and he was appointed to succeed The Earl of Glasgow as Governor of New Zealand on 6 April 1897, assuming office on 10 August. Lord Ranfurly became Honorary Colonel of the 1st Wellington Battalion and of the 1st South Canterbury Mounted Rifles. He was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1901, on the occasion of the visit of TRH the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to New Zealand. His term ended on 19 June 1904, when he handed over office to Lord Plunket. He is remembered for his donation of the Ranfurly Shield, a New Zealand sporting trophy, on his return to England Ranfurly was made an Irish Privy Counsellor, then for a time he returned to farm in Mildura, Victoria, Australia. But he soon devoted more and more time to his great interest. In 1914 he was a Knight of Justice, and Registrar of the Order in London, in 1919 the French Government made him an Officer of the Legion of Honour for his services in this connection during the war. After the partition of Ireland, Lord Ranfurly was made a Privy Counsellor for Northern Ireland in 1923, also serving as Deputy Lieutenant and he continued his association with the Order of St. John, becoming Bailiff Grand Cross in 1926. Lord Ranfurly died on 1 October 1933, aged 77, and was succeeded by his grandson, Daniel Knox, Lord Ranfurly married the Honourable Constance Caulfeild, only child of James Alfred Caulfeild, 7th Viscount Charlemont, on 10 February 1880. C. Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order of St. John, Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace, County Tyrone by Bernard John Foster, research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington. Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Ranfurly Media related to Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly at Wikimedia Commons
11.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
12.
Wellington
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Wellington is the capital and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 405,000 residents. It is at the tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. Wellington is the population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the worlds windiest city, with a wind speed of over 26 km/h. Situated near the centre of the country, Wellington was well placed for trade. In 1839 it was chosen as the first major planned settlement for British immigrants coming to New Zealand, the settlement was named in honour of the Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. As the nations capital since 1865, the New Zealand Government and Parliament, Supreme Court, despite being much smaller than Auckland, Wellington is also referred to as New Zealands cultural capital. The city is home to the National Archives, the National Library, architectural sights include the Government Building—one of the largest wooden buildings in the world—as well as the iconic Beehive. Wellington plays host to artistic and cultural organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It has an urban culture, with many cafés, restaurants. One of the worlds most liveable cities, the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world, Wellingtons economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, and government. It is the centre of New Zealands film and special effects industries, Wellington ranks as one of New Zealands chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is served by Wellington International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, Wellingtons transport network includes train and bus lines which reach as far as the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the South Island. Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo, his title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers took up the views of the directors with great cordiality, in Māori, Wellington has three names. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a W, and shaking it slightly from side to side twice. The citys location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leads to its vulnerability to strong gales, legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the 10th century. The earliest date with hard evidence for Maori living in New Zealand is about 1280, European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840
13.
Heartland Championship
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The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Mitre 10 Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two competitions to the countrys former domestic competition, the National Provincial Championship. The countrys 27 provincial teams were split into two separate competitions, thirteen of the original teams, plus one merged side created from two other teams, entered the new top-level professional competition, the Air New Zealand Cup. The Lochore Cup, named after Brian Lochore, the Heartland Championship is held annually, and starts in August. Rugby teams from 12 provincial unions compete and this was similar to the structure of the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup, but that competition collapsed its first two phases into one effective in 2007. At the start of Round One, the 12 teams would split into seeded pools of six each, Pool A. Seedings were also based on positions in the years competition. During Round One, each team would play the teams in its pool once. All teams would have two or three home fixtures, with the three highest seeds in each pool at the start of the season receiving the extra home fixture. All teams would advance to Round Two, the top three teams in each pool advance to the Meads Cup, while the bottom three teams enter the Lochore Cup. Round two saw each team in both the Meads and Lochore Cups playing the three teams that it did not play during Round One. The three teams with the most competition points in Round One would play two home fixtures and one away, while the three teams would play one home fixture and two away. All competition points from Round One carried over to Round Two, the top four teams in the Meads and Lochore Cup competitions at the end of Round Two advanced to the semifinals. This round sees the 12 teams playing 8 games each, 1st to 4th on the ladder at the end of the 8 weeks will play off for the Meads Cup, while 5th to 8th play off for the Lochore Cup. The Meads and Lochore Cup winners are determined in four-team single-elimination tournaments. The semifinal matchups are seeded 1-4 and 2-3, with the higher seed receiving home field advantage, the highest surviving seed hosts each Cup final. The remaining teams competed in Division Three of the NPC, ITM Cup National Provincial Championship List of New Zealand rugby union teams Heartland Rugby website
14.
South Canterbury Rugby Football Union
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The South Canterbury Rugby Football Union is a rugby province based in the central South Island city of Timaru, New Zealand. The South Canterbury team play from Alpine Energy Stadium located in Timaru, Club rugby in South Canterbury predated the formation of South Canterbury RFU by at least two decades. The first recorded rugby match in South Canterbury was played on 15 October 1867 between The Timaru and Temuka Clubs at Arowhenua. Eight years later, in 1875, the South Canterbury Football Club was formed, founded by Alfred St. George Hamersley the former captain of the England national rugby union team and resident of Timaru. Soon after on 24 May 1875 a match was played between North and South Canterbury at Ashburton that resulted in a draw, more clubs were formed, such as the Waimate Football Club on 24 May 1876, and Christchurch are recorded as playing Temuka in 1876. The South Canterbury Rugby Football Union was formed in 1888 when it broke away from the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, soon after, a representative match was played on 24 July 1888 against the New Zealand Native Team on the Athletic Grounds, Timaru. South Canterbury has produced a number of All Blacks and are one of the few unions to have played in all three Divisions of the NPC. Also 2011 saw two sell out Super 15 games played at Alpine Energy Stadium in Timaru - the Crusaders vs the Bulls, the South Canterbury Rugby team play from Alpine Energy Stadium, Timaru and they play their rugby in the Heartland Championship. They also compete against Mid Canterbury and North Otago for the Hanan Shield, South Canterbury along with Canterbury, Tasman, Buller, Mid Canterbury and West Coast make up the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise. South Canterbury won the 2nd division South Island in 1976,1977,1981 and the 3rd division in 1986,1991,1998, and the Lochore Cup in 2013. First played for in 1946, the Hanan Shield is based on a challenge system played between North Otago, South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury are the current holders of the Shield after beating Mid Canterbury 17-15 on 13 October 2012
15.
Coat of arms
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A coat of arms is an heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to a person, family, state. The ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals, the first evidence of medieval coats of arms has been attributed to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry in which some of the combatants carry shields painted with crosses. However, that heraldic interpretation remains controversial, coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in battle in the 12th century. By the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the social classes of Europe. Exactly who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, in the German-speaking regions both the aristocracy and burghers used arms, while in most of the rest of Europe they were limited to the aristocracy. The use of spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers. Flags developed from coats of arms, and the arts of vexillology, the coats of arms granted to commercial companies are a major source of the modern logo. Despite no widespread regulation, heraldry has remained consistent across Europe, some nations, like England and Scotland, still maintain the same heraldic authorities which have traditionally granted and regulated arms for centuries and continue to do so in the present day. In England, for example, the granting of arms is and has controlled by the College of Arms. Unlike seals and other emblems, heraldic achievements have a formal description called a blazon. Many societies exist that also aid in the design and registration of personal arms, in the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland, an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son, wives, undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference. One such charge is the label, which in British usage is now always the mark of an apparent or an heir presumptive. Because of their importance in identification, particularly in seals on legal documents and this has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called heraldry. In time, the use of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, the author Helen Stuart argues that some coats of arms were a form of corporate logo
16.
War
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War is a state of armed conflict between societies. It is generally characterized by extreme aggression, destruction, and mortality, an absence of war is usually called peace. Warfare refers to the activities and characteristics of types of war. Total war is warfare that is not restricted to legitimate military targets. While some scholars see war as a universal and ancestral aspect of human nature, as concerns a belligerents losses in proportion to its prewar population, the most destructive war in modern history may have been the Paraguayan War. In 2013 war resulted in 31,000 deaths, down from 72,000 deaths in 1990, in 2003, Richard Smalley identified war as the sixth biggest problem facing humanity for the next fifty years. Another byproduct of some wars is the prevalence of propaganda by some or all parties in the conflict, the word is related to the Old Saxon werran, Old High German werran, and the German verwirren, meaning “to confuse”, “to perplex”, and “to bring into confusion”. In German, the equivalent is Krieg, the Spanish, Portuguese, the scholarly study of war is sometimes called polemology, from the Greek polemos, meaning war, and -logy, meaning the study of. Studies of war by military theorists throughout military history have sought to identify the philosophy of war, asymmetric warfare is a conflict between two populations of drastically different levels of military capability or size. Biological warfare, or germ warfare, is the use of weaponized biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, chemical warfare involves the use of weaponized chemicals in combat. Poison gas as a weapon was principally used during World War I. Civil war is a war between forces belonging to the nation or political entity. Conventional warfare is declared war between states in which nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons are not used or see limited deployment, cyberwarfare involves the actions by a nation-state or international organization to attack and attempt to damage another nations information systems. Information warfare is the application of force on a large scale against information assets and systems, against the computers. Nuclear warfare is warfare in which weapons are the primary, or a major. War of aggression is a war for conquest or gain rather than self-defense, the earliest recorded evidence of war belongs to the Mesolithic cemetery Site 117, which has been determined to be approximately 14,000 years old. About forty-five percent of the skeletons there displayed signs of violent death, since the rise of the state some 5,000 years ago, military activity has occurred over much of the globe. The advent of gunpowder and the acceleration of technological advances led to modern warfare
17.
Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union
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The Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union within the Gisborne district, in the area surrounding Poverty Bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The mens representative team play from Rugby Park, Gisborne, in 1981, Rugby Park was the scene of clashes between pro-tour supporters and anti-tour protesters prior to a match against the touring South African side. Poverty Bay ultimately lost the game by 6 -24, Poverty Bay won the Third Division of the National Provincial Championship, in 1987 and 2005, and finished as runners-up in the same division in 1994,1995 and 1999. Since 2006, Poverty Bay have competed in the Heartland Championship, since the introduction of the format in 2006, the team have had great success, winning the Lochore Cup on four occasions -2006,2007,2008 and 2011. Poverty Bays placings in the Heartland Championship are listed below, Poverty Bay have never held the Ranfurly Shield, in 1980, Poverty Bay came close to defeating Auckland, losing a hard fought encounter 12 -19. Poverty Bay along with Wellington, Wairarapa Bush, Wanganui, East Coast, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Hosea Gear is the most notable player from the Poverty Bay region to have played for the side. There have been six players selected for the All Blacks whilst playing for Poverty Bay, most notable amongst these players are Ian Kirkpatrick and Richard Tiny White. Other players include John Collins, Brian Fitzpatrick, Lawrie Knight, there have also been players such as Rico Gear, Hosea Gear and Charlie Ngatai who became All Blacks having started their careers with Poverty Bay
18.
Moa
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The moa were nine species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about 3.6 m in height with neck outstretched, when Polynesians settled New Zealand around 1280 CE, the moa population was about 58,000. Moa belong to the order Dinornithiformes, traditionally placed in the ratite group, however, their closest relatives have been found by genetic studies to be the flighted South American tinamous, once considered to be a sister group to ratites. The nine species of moa were the only wingless birds lacking even the wings which all other ratites have. They were the dominant herbivores in New Zealands forest, shrubland and subalpine ecosystems for thousands of years, Moa extinction occurred around 1300 CE -1440 CE ±20 years, primarily due to overhunting by Māori. The spine was attached to the rear of the rather than the base. This would have allowed them to graze on low-elevation vegetation, while being able to lift their heads and this has resulted in a reconsideration of the height of larger moa. Although there is no surviving record of what sounds moa made, the trachea of moa were supported by many small rings of bone known as tracheal rings. These are the only known to exhibit this feature, which is also present in several other bird groups including swans, cranes. The feature is associated with deep, resonant vocalisations that can travel long distances, research published starting in 2010 has found that the moas closest cousins are small terrestrial South American birds called the tinamous which are able to fly. Previously, the kiwi, the Australian emu, and cassowary were thought to be most closely related to the moa, although dozens of species were described in the late 19th century and early 20th century, many were based on partial skeletons and turned out to be synonyms. Currently, eleven species are recognised, although recent studies using ancient DNA recovered from bones in museum collections suggest that distinct lineages exist within some of these. A2009 study showed that Euryapteryx curtus and Euryapteryx gravis were synonyms, a 2010 study explained size differences among them as sexual dimorphism. A2012 morphological study interpreted them as subspecies instead, ancient DNA analyses have determined that there were a number of cryptic evolutionary lineages in several moa genera. These may eventually be classified as species or subspecies, Megalapteryx benhami which is synonymised with M. didinus because the bones of both share all essential characters. Size differences can be explained by a north-south cline combined with temporal variation such that specimens were larger during the Otiran glacial period, similar temporal size variation is known for the North Island Pachyornis mappini. Some of the size variation for moa species can probably be explained by similar geographic. The earliest moa remains come from the Miocene Saint Bathans Fauna, known from multiple eggshells and hindlimb elements, these represent at least two species of already fairly large sized species
19.
Auckland Rugby Union
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The Auckland Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Its colours are blue and white in a hooped design. The ARFU govern the running of the Auckland representative team which have won New Zealands first-tier domestic competition National Provincial Championship 16 times—more than any other team and their most recent victory was the 2007 competition. Auckland also acts as a feeder to the Blues, who play in the Super Rugby competition. The union is coached by Paul Feeney the union also administers all club rugby within the region, including the Gallaher Shield, as well, the union is responsible for school rugby. The Auckland Rugby Football Union was officially formed in 1884, when it joined the Canterbury, Wellington, Auckland has been the most successful union in New Zealand rugby history, having won a record 16 ITM Cup titles. Auckland also holds the record for the most Ranfurly Shield wins, successful defences, in 1996, with the advent of professional rugby union, Auckland became the host, and primary feeder, to the Blues, known from 1996–99 as the Auckland Blues. There have been many notable eras in the teams history and 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, 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 New Zealand NPC titles available in that time – a period that included 61 Ranfurly Shield defences, Auckland went undefeated for six seasons from 1897, and there was an undefeated run in the early 1920s under Sir Vincent Meredith. The 1960 to 1963 period, known as the Golden Era, was summed up in The Golden Years written by Don Cameron in 1983. Auckland were the first holders of the Ranfurly Shield in 1902 and have won 153 out of 194 shield matches – the most successful record of any provincial union. Notable periods include from 1905 to 1913, when they defeated 23 successive challenges,1960 and 1963, when 25 challenges were defeated,1985 to 1993, Auckland most recently held the shield between 2007 and 2008, when 5 challenges were defeated. In 1993, Auckland defeated the British Lions by 23–18 during their tour to New Zealand, with six titles in the 1990s, and four so far in the new century, Aucklands domination of the New Zealand rugby landscape continues. The 2007 team is the first since the 1990 side to remain unbeaten in a season and win the Ranfurly Shield and their womens team, known as the Auckland Storm, are the most successful womens team in New Zealand. They are the current National Champions, and have won 13 of the 14 Womens Provincial Championship, among the earliest founding clubs in Auckland were Grafton, Ponsonby and College Rifles, Marist, University, Grammar and Suburbs. He became the sole selector to the Auckland team, leading the side to eight successive Ranfurly Shield wins and he then joined the army at a relatively late age, and was killed in the Passchendaele offensive in 1917 aged 43. His Ponsonby side has dominated the Gallaher Shield, winning it 33 times, the Auckland Rugby Football Union consists of 20 clubs from the Auckland isthmus
20.
HMS Endeavour
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The navy renamed and commissioned her as His Majestys Bark the Endeavour. She departed Plymouth in August 1768, rounded Cape Horn, and she then set sail into the largely uncharted ocean to the south, stopping at the Pacific islands of Huahine, Bora Bora, and Raiatea to allow Cook to claim them for Great Britain. In September 1769, she anchored off New Zealand, the first European vessel to reach the islands since Abel Tasmans Heemskerck 127 years earlier. In April 1770, Endeavour became the first ship to reach the east coast of Australia, Endeavour then sailed north along the Australian coast. She narrowly avoided disaster after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef and he then beached her on the mainland for seven weeks to permit rudimentary repairs to her hull. On 10 October 1770, she limped into port in Batavia in the Dutch East Indies for more substantial repairs, her crew sworn to secrecy about the lands they had visited. She resumed her journey on 26 December, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 13 March 1771. Largely forgotten after her voyage, Endeavour spent the next three years sailing to and from the Falkland Islands. As of 2016 her wreck had not been located but was thought to be one of a cluster of five in Newport Harbor. Relics, including six of her cannon and an anchor, are displayed at maritime museums worldwide, a replica of Endeavour was launched in 1994 and is berthed alongside the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney Harbour. The US space shuttle Endeavour is named after the ship and she is depicted on the New Zealand fifty-cent coin and she was ship-rigged and sturdily built with a broad, flat bow, a square stern, and a long box-like body with a deep hold. A flat-bottomed design made her well-suited to sailing in waters and allowed her to be beached for loading and unloading of cargo. Her hull, internal floors, and futtocks were built from white oak, her keel and stern post from elm. Plans of the ship also show a double keelson to lock the keel, floors, some doubt exists about the height of her standing masts, as surviving diagrams of Endeavour depict the body of the vessel only, and not the mast plan. If correct, this would produce an oddly truncated mast a full 9 feet shorter than the standards of the day,1794 at the top of this page. The replica standing mizzen is built to this shorter measurement and stepped in the hold on the keelson, on 16 February 1768, the Royal Society petitioned King George III to finance a scientific expedition to the Pacific to study and observe the 1769 transit of Venus across the sun. The Royal Society suggested command be given to Scottish geographer Alexander Dalrymple, whose acceptance was conditional on a brevet commission as a captain in the Royal Navy. However, First Lord of the Admiralty Edward Hawke refused, going so far as to say he would cut off his right hand than give command of a navy vessel to someone not educated as a seaman
21.
Auckland
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Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the most populous area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,495,000, which constitutes 32 percent of New Zealands population, a diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. It has also been called Ākarana, the Māori pronunciation of Auckland, the Auckland urban area ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous, the section from Waiwera to Whangaparāoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay, the surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two major bodies of water. The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich, Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson and he named the area Auckland for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It was replaced as the capital in 1865, but immigration to the new city stayed strong, today, Aucklands Central Business District is the major financial centre of New Zealand. Auckland is classified as a Beta World City because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism. Aucklands landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, the isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks, Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when European settlement of New Zealand began, there is, however, nothing to suggest that this was the result of a deliberate European policy. Auckland was officially declared New Zealands capital in 1841 and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson was seen as a choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads
22.
Auckland Region
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The Auckland Region is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, the countrys largest urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland metropolitan area, smaller towns, rural areas, with 34 percent of the nations residents, it has by far the biggest population and economy of any region of New Zealand, but the second-smallest land area. On 1 November 2010, the Auckland Region became a unitary authority controlled by the Auckland Council, replacing the previous regional council, in the process, an area in its southeastern corner was transferred to the neighbouring Waikato Region. The name Auckland Region remains present in casual usage, the region ends within a few kilometres of the mouth of the Waikato River. It is bordered in the north by the Northland Region, and it also includes the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. In land area it is smaller than all the other regions and its highest point is the summit of Little Barrier Island, at 722 metres. The Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea form the coastline around the Auckland region, the east coast is lapped by the waters of the Hauraki Gulf, an arm of the Pacific sheltered by a considerable number of small and large islands, notably Great Barrier Island in the northeast. An arm of the Gulf, the Waitemata Harbour, forms the main harbour of Auckland city, the mainland coastline is 1,613 kilometres long, with the total coastline being 3,100 kilometres. Much of the marine area comprises sensitive tidal inlets and estuaries and semi-enclosed Waitemata, Manukau. To the west lie two large natural harbours, the Kaipara and the Manukau, both of these have treacherous entrances and are little used by shipping. The Kaipara Harbour is one of the worlds largest natural harbours, Auckland Airport is located on the edge of the Manukau Harbour. The region is blessed with fine beaches, especially on the Tasman coast south of the Kaipara. These include Muriwai and Piha beaches, the Auckland Region is built on a basement of greywacke rocks that form many of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf, the Hunua Ranges, and land south of Port Waikato. The Waitakere Ranges in the west are the remains of a large andesitic volcano, the main isthmus and North Shore are composed of Waitemata sandstone and mudstone, and portions of the Northland Allochthon extend as far south as Albany. Little Barrier Island was formed by a relatively isolated andesitic volcano, the Manukau and South Kaipara Harbours are protected by the recent sand dune deposits of the Awhitu and South Kaipara Peninsulas. Recent basaltic volcanic activity has produced many volcanic cones throughout the Auckland Region, much of Aucklands urban area lies on top of the dormant Auckland Volcanic Field. The region is dotted by 49 volcanoes of varying age with the oldest being in the region of 150,000 years old, the most recent eruption occurred approximately 600 years ago, ending a few hundred years of activity during which Rangitoto Island was formed. Each volcanic eruption has tended to be bigger than the previous, all of the volcanoes are relatively small, most being less than 150 metres in height
23.
Eden Park
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Eden Park is New Zealands largest stadium. Located in central Auckland, New Zealands largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. Although used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer, it has hosted rugby league, in 2011 it hosted pool games, two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final of Rugby World Cup 2011. In doing so it became the first stadium in the world to host two Rugby World Cup Finals, having held the final in 1987. It was a venue for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, which was hosted by Australia. Eden Park has been a sports ground since 1900, the park began as a cricket ground in 1903, and was due to the vision of one Harry Ryan, a cricket enthusiast who approached landowner John Walters to lease part of his land as a sports field. Ryan knew or at least imagined better and that bit of land was in fact located just up the road from Cabbage Tree Swamp, now Gribblehirst Park. Interestingly, those who saw Ryans vision as madness most likely felt vindicated when, in 1907, the same thing happened again later in the year. In 1913 the park was leased to the Auckland Rugby Union so it became both a summer and winter sporting venue, and in 1921 hosted the first international event, a NZ v South Africa Test. The Western part of the ground was just open space until 1950 when a stand was erected for the British Empire Games. In 1956 a permanent stand was built, but subsequently moved to North Harbour Stadium, the name ‘Eden Park’ settled into general usage around 1912, soon after it had been taken over by the Auckland Cricket Association. Still the home of Auckland Cricket, Eden Park has hosted many international Tests, One Day International, Rugby arrived in 1913 when, after negotiations with the Auckland Cricket Association, Auckland Rugby was granted a 21-year lease for games during the winter season. The first rugby test was held on 27 August 1921, when the Springboks beat the All Blacks 5–9 before a crowd of 40,000, the Auckland Rugby Football Union officially made Eden Park its home in 1925. In 1926 a Trust was set up to manage Eden Park primarily for the benefit of Auckland Cricket, the Trust still manages the Park. In 2013 the New Zealand Warriors announced they would be playing three games at Eden Park in the 2014 NRL season. In 2015, it hosted four matches during the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the $256 million redevelopment completed in October 2010 provided a permanent capacity of 50,000 with a further 10,000 temporary seats for the 2011 Rugby World Cup games. This is the largest of any New Zealand sports arena, temporary seating in front of the North Stand and the West Stand is required for the capacity to be reached. Due to sight-screens and the area required for cricket matches
Taranaki
Southland
Auckland
Northland
Wellington
Waikato
Hawke's Bay
Canterbury
Marlborough
South Canterbury
Manawatu
Bay of Plenty
North Harbour
Otago
Counties Manukau
Wairarapa
Manawhenua