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The Originals - 1889

The Original team from 1889 is displayed below - these were the first Wairoa Rangers.

From left to right

Back Row: C. Schmitt, C. C. Munro, P. Graham, R. Burnett, H. Ward, H. Taylor

Middle Row:  A. White, P. Hicks, P. McLennan, J. Nicol (Capt), A. Stephens, W. T. Duder, A. Sutherland, J. Condon

Front Row: H. Munro, D. Baird, J. Nicol, H. Turei (Tuesday)

The Wairoa Rangers Rugby team was founded in 1889. Clevedon was then known as Wairoa. In the first season they had 30 players and played the games at the McNicol paddock. Historians are unsure whether this is where the polo fields are currently located, or at some other paddock up McNicol Road. Later they made their home at the A&P Showgrounds. The jerseys were blue and black with white shorts.

The first match was against Taupo Maoris (now Kawakawa Bay) on May 11 1889.The ride by the Taupo team was 4 hours on horseback over muddy tracks to Clevedon and back. After the game they washed in the river. That year they also played Maraetai and Pokeno, and also Panmure and Thames traveling by boat.

In 1893 the Franklin Union was formed with four clubs Pukekohe, Tuakau, Bombay and Wairoa.The Wairoa Rangers won the first championship, and also in 1893, 1896 and 1899. Pukekohe won in 1894, 1895, 1897,and 1898.The games were travelled to on horseback with a stop off at the Jolly Farmer Inn on the way home.

Wairoa dominated a few years later, winning 4 years in a row 1911 - 1914. For these consecutive wins they got to keep the championship trophy the Hawke Cup forever. This is still held and on show at the historic McNicol house in McNicol Road, Clevedon. Rugby stopped for the 1^st and 2nd world wars as many of the players fought in the wars and sadly some did not come home. In 1923 the name was changed to the Clevedon Rugby Club and played in the Manukau Sub Union. The club won championships in 1923 and 1924 then again in 1931, 1932 and the last in 1938 before closing down in 1954 because of dwindling numbers.

In 2005 the team was resurrected for Clevedon district boys to play some games of rugby on Sundays to foster community spirit. In 2009 there will be 4 teams. The enthusiasm by the boys and their fathers has been incredible. It has been very exiting continuing something that started 120 years ago. One of New Zealand's oldest rugby organizations, The Wairoa Rangers.

2011 Season

The 2011 season saw the appearance of a real rugby field at the Clevedon A&P Showgrounds complete with rugby posts. Tony Curran was the main force behind getting the posts up as he liaised with the community groups and the council to steer the way through the negotiations and communications to get these posts up and a rugby field allocated to the Wairoa Rangers - thanks Tony!

This is the first time that the Wairoa Rangers have had a home ground and it was used to great advantage for the annual Father's Day tournament.

The Youngsters - Wairoa Rangers Under 8/9 Team

We had teams from Pukekohe, Patumahoe, Beachlands, Ardmore Marist and Howick out on the 4th September to celebrate our rugby festival. With this year being the Rugby World Cup hosting year in NZ we also had visitors from England - the team from B Sky B were out at the grounds and were blown away by the intensity and quality of the rugby at all levels - check out the UK Sky TV video on the 'In The News' page.

The Wairoa Rangers teams all had wins on the day and the celebrations back at the Clevedon Hotel were up to their usual standard!

On the 10th September we had an away trip to Whangamata for all 5 Wairoa Rangers teams thanks to the organisation and contacts of Mark Auld and Hamish Frizzell. We had a great bus trip down to Whangamata on Saturday morning and all teams played great rugby against some very good opposition from the local Whangamata teams. The Under 17 team played the Strathallan 1st XV and went down by a slim margin of 5-7. This was the only loss of the day - another very successful tournament from the Wairoa Ranger teams.

The after match at the Whangamata Surf Lifesaving Club was very well attended as the Wairoa Rangers players and supporters watched the 2011 World Cup games (France v Japan and Argentina v England). The Mums on the night kept all the boys and girls in line with various interesting methods of drug and alcohol detection for all the youngsters who ventured past!

Sunday morning saw all the Wairoa Rangers Mums and Dads cooking up a huge breakfast and everyone had a great feed of bacon and eggs before heading back to Clevedon on the buses.

2010 Season
The Wairoa Ranger's 2010 season saw the teams playing at the Ardmore Marist rugby grounds at Bruce Pulman Park.
On Father's Day we had teams from Pukekohe and Howick out to play against the Wairoa Rangers teams.
The afetr match function at the Clevedon Hotel was up to its usual standard with a fantastic barbeque put on by the Wairoa Rangers fraternity.

2009 Season

Northland Tour - 26th / 27th September

The Wairoa Rangers Under 8/9 and Under 12/13 teams headed up to Kerikeri to play a couple of local teams with a night out on Urupukapuka Island after the games. It was a fantastic trip with the old adage of "what goes on tour - stays on tour" being the mantra of the weekend.

We headed out from the Wairoa Rangers clubrooms at 8:00 am sharp on 2 buses heading north for a showdown with the Kerikeri Rugby Club.

The Wairoa Rangers Under 8/9 team came up against an Under 10 Kerikeri team, however this did not dampen their spirits and with a bit of player swapping they all had a great game against a very good Kerikeri team.

The Under 12/13 team were playing the unbeaten Kerikeri Under 12 team and it was a real ding-dong battle with the score 7-5 to the Wairoa Rangers at half time. The Rangers turned with the wind at their back and Head Coach Steve Baskett gave then strict instructions to use the wind and play in the Kerikeri half of the field. After about 15 minutes they realised that Steve actually had a point and started to use the wind to their advantage. Kerikeri never gave up and the game could have gone either way, but the defense of the Wairoa Rangers won out at the end of the day and they came away with a good victory 7-5.

After the games we were hosted back at the Kerikeri clubrooms for the traditional feast and speeches. All the Wairoa Rangers tourists started to relax at this point and look forward to the rest fo the weekend out in the Bay of Islands. In the tradition of rugby there were plenty of big bottles of Lion Red being looked after. Thanks to our Kerikeri hosts for a great aftermatch - we hope to reciprocate next year down in Clevedon.

The buses then took us out to Paihia where we caught the ferry out to Urupukapuka Island for the night, hosted by Brian Papesch. Everyone got their accommodation sorted out and the Mums did a fantastic job of getting a fabulous meal ready while the Dads organised a Burma Trail for the boys and girls - we also got the bar sorted out in preparation for the long night ahead! Say no more - but a great night with lots of good stories created and debated throughout.

Sunday morning was a perfect morning with the boys and girls out on the kayaks in the bay, lots of swimming off the wharf and then a big BBQ breakfast before packing up and heading back to Paihia. The teams got rides back in the Mack Attack boat and then we were back on the buses and heading back home.

We had 86 people on the tour and the success of the trip was due to the fantastic community spirit shown by everyone. Everyone helped out and getting things done was a piece of cake. You can check out the Northland Tour photos in the Photo Gallery section.

Fathers Day - 6th September

Another fantastic day out at the Clevedon A&P Showgrounds. This year we had teams from Patumahoe (Under 9 Restricted), Howick College (Under 14) and College Rifles (Under 13 Restricted). Unfortunately the Pakuranga team couldn't make it so the Wairoa Rangers Under 10/11 team split and played 7-a-side.

Under 10/11 Wairoa Ranger Team (2009)

The Wairoa Rangers Under 8/9 and Under 10/11 teams kicked off the day at 10:00am  under clear skies and with a good crowd gathered to watch. The Under 8/9 team had a tough match against a talented Patumahoe team and although they won the game 20-15 they spent alot of the 2nd half defending against a persistent Patumahoe attack.

Under 8/9 Wairoa Ranger Team (2009) with their Patumahoe counterparts

The main games started at 11:00 with Howick College up against the Wairoa Rangers Under 14 team and the Under 12/13 team up against College Rifles. The Howick boys were down on numbers so the coach (Mark Roberts) lent them the services of Corey Larsen, Kelly Alexander and Brittany Welsh. The boys and girls were very fortunate to have Tony Welsh pulling on those old boots to ref the game and the Howick College team got off to a blinder - the Wairoa Rangers were soon playing catch up rugby. In the end they never caught up and the Howick boys were delighted with the win. Both teams played in the true spirit of the game and had a great time regardless of the one sided scoreboard tally! There is already talk of organising another game against a Howick College / Beachlands Maraetai combination team.

Under 14 Wairoa Ranger Team (2009)

The Wairoa Rangers Under 12/13 were also beaten by College Rifles who keep the Fathers Day shield. The College Rifles boys presented a spirited haka before kick-off and the Wairoa Rangers stood up to them showing respect for that great New Zealand rugby tradition. The Wairoa Rangers put on a good performance and coach Steve Baskett was proud of the way they played - "... they couldn't have done any more ...".

Under 12/13 Wairoa Ranger Team (2009)

The after match down at the clubrooms (Clevedon Hotel) was another great success with all the boys, girls, Mums and Dads filling up on steak, Hellers sausages, Hellers hamburger patties, Clevedon Coast oysters and salads from the Mums! Ralph and Grant from the Clevedon Hotel were fantastic hosts and everyone joined in another good community get together to celebrate Fathers Day and the fine display of rugby from the Wairoa Rangers teams. We had a few words from the Wairoa Rangers President, Ken Parry, as well as the traditional speeches from the captains of each team - Ryan Alexander (Under 14), Hayden Church (Under 12/13) and William Sager (Under 8/9).

As the day progressed there was some talk of putting together a Wairoa Rangers Presidents team under the leadership of captain Mark Auld. This seemed to be getting alot of support from the Wairoa Rangers Dads so keep an eye out for the big boys fronting at training in their shorts and playing jerseys!

Pukekohe - 30th August

The Wairoa Rangers 2009 season got off to a great start last weekend (30th August) with all four teams playing out at Pukekohe against teams from the Pukekohe club and the Under 14 team playing against Karaka Under 13 Open. All teams, apart from the Under 8/9 Blue team, came away with wins and all games were played in great spirit, which is a credit to the Wairoa Rangers and the Pukekohe Rugby club. We had a good BBQ feed at Pukekohe after the games with speeches from the Wairoa Rangers captains - Ryan Alexander, Luke Seabrook, Sam Rex and Toby Seabrook. 

The Under 14 team had a great game by all accounts with the first try scored by Kelly Alexander on the wing. Even though the boys and girls (Kelly and Brittany) have only been together for a couple of practices they did their coach (Mark Roberts) proud with some fine rugby against a bigger Karaka team to come away with a convincing 45-5 win.

The Under 12/13 team played like the All Blacks apparently and they were all obviously listening to their coach, Steve Baskett, as he was all smiles after the game. Playing against the Pukekohe team who made it to the Under 13 Restricted Semi Final it was a great result to come away with a 22-7 win after being 7-7 at half time.

The Under 10/11 team also had a win against a very competitive Pukekohe Under 11 Restricted team. Led by Sam Rex the team pulled together to put on a great display of rugby for their coaches (Bruce Eyre and John Rex) and the large crowd of spectators. The end result was 19-5 to the Wairoa Rangers after a tough match.

The Under 8/9 team was split into two (Wairoa Rangers Blue and Wairoa Rangers Black) for consecutive games against 2 Pukekohe Under 8 and Under 9 teams. The Blue team was led by Toby Seabrook and although they lost both games they were very competitive and played with great heart and good spirit right to the end - 60 minutes of solid rugby. The Black team, led by William Sager, had two good wins against Pukekohe.

A big thanks to David French, Adam Cochrane and the Pukekohe club for hosting these games and plans are already underway to get together at the end of the 2010 season for another fixture, hopefully at the new Wairoa Rangers home grounds in Clevedon.

2008 Season

Annual Fathers Day Game - 7th September

Unfortunately we couldn't claim the Fathers Day Shield this year, but the Wairoa Rangers team put on a courageous and gutsy performance against a much larger College Rifles City XV with the final score being 21-7 to the City team. The full match report will be posted soon. The photos have been posted in the Photo Gallery pages.

The Curtain Raiser this year was a great success with the Under 8 Wairoa team being joined by 4 Under 7 boys who displayed a great performance of mauling and tackling. Tom Corson, Sean Feeney, Josh Frizzell and Ethan Wade all played great rugby and showed that they are ready for their first year of tackle next year! The Wairoa Red Under 8 team was victorious with a 45-40 win over the Wairoa Blue Under 7 / 8 team. The size and power showed out in the end with the Under 8 team, led by William Sager, having a bit more experience than the combined Under 7 / 8 team led by Toby Seabrook. The photos have been posted in the Photo Gallery pages.

The after match in the clubrooms was well received again and the Fathers Day Shield was handed over by the Wairoa Rangers captain Tim Wheeler. The Wairoa Rangers President, Ken Parry, made his first public appearance with a stirring speech recalling the early days of Wairoa Rangers rugby.

Off to a good start this year with a good 59-0 win over the Te Kauwhata Under 12 Restricted side.

The day started with a bus trip down to Te Kauwhata in driving rain. Team Management commandeered the back of the bus after an initial occupation by the Wairoa Rangers!

Pretty wet in Te Kauwhata also - but perfect for a game of rugby and the Wairoa Rangers came out firing. The forwards drove forward and a mauled well to get excellent possession for the backs, who handled the ball perfectly in the wet weather to spin it out through the back line.

The Wairoa Rangers maintained the pressure throughout the game to keep Te Kauwhata off the scoreboard - which displayed great character as the Te Kauwhata team played well, but just could not keep up with the intensity of the Wairoa Rangers.

2007 Season

The Wairoa Rangers went up against the City team from College Rifles and University clubs at the Clevedon Showgrounds on Fathers Day 2007 in the annual City v Country rugby game.

This year we had a Curtain Raiser consisting of the Ardmore Marist Small Blacks 2 team (Under 7). The Blue team led by Toby Seabrook won 9-8 in an extremely close and exciting game, defeating the Red team led by Puruhi Kahi.

The main event was won by City this year with a 14-10 win over the Wairoa Rangers, led by Hayden Church.

This was another very close game with two tries each and the kicking from the City team giving them the game. The Country boys and girls had their chances, but the City boys defended very well and came out with the victory.

We had the customary after match function at the Clevedon Hotel Garden Bar and this was well attended as usual by Mums, Dads, and all the kids. There was plenty of food (along with oysters from Clevedon Coast) and the City folks were farewelled by the Country Dads with a couple of flagons and a bottle of port for the bus trip home.

With the series now sitting at 2-1 in favour of the City team, the Country boys and girls are already looking forward to levelling the series next year!