Counties Manukau Rugby Union
Nickname(s)	Steelers
Union	NZRU
Ground	Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
Chairman
Coach	Kevin Putt

The Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union (CMRFU) is the governing body of rugby union in the Franklin district of New Zealand. The Union is based in Pukekohe, and usually plays at Steelers Stadium, Pukekohe. However, due to crowd capacity and other reasons, Counties Manukau's home matches are to be played at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium, which it will share with the New Zealand Warriors, NRL team. Image File history File links CountiesManukauRugby. ... The New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRU) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. ... Mt Smart Stadium, formerly Ericsson Stadium, is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. ... The Auckland Metropolitan Area, or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_New_Zealand. ... A rugby union scrum. ... A true-colour image showing the Auckland area. ... Mt Smart Stadium, formerly Ericsson Stadium, is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. ... The New Zealand Warriors (formerly Auckland Warriors) are a rugby league team based in Auckland, New Zealand who compete in the Australasian based National Rugby League competition. ...

History

The Union was originally formed as a breakaway from the powerful Auckland union, and has only occasionally overcome the dominance of their northern neighbour. The Auckland Rugby Football Union is the governing body of rugby union in the Auckland isthmus territorial authority in the North Island in New Zealand. ...

For a long time, the Union was known simply as Counties, the name Manukau was added in the 1990s.

Counties Manukau in Super Rugby

When Super Rugby began, Counties Manukau was associated with the Blues; but in recent years it has been aligned to the Chiefs. The current Super 14 logo The Super 14 is a rugby union championship competed for by teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. ... The Blues, formerly the Auckland Blues, are a New Zealand rugby union team based in Auckland, New Zealand, and representing the Northland, North Harbour and Auckland unions. ... The Chiefs (formerly known as Waikato Chiefs), are a New Zealand rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand, and representing the Counties Manukau, Waikato, Thames Valley, King Country and Bay of Plenty unions; up until 1999 North Harbour which was swapped with the Blues for Counties Manukau. ...

Waikato Chiefs rugby team logo (fair use) This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Waikato Chiefs rugby team logo (fair use) This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ...

Member clubs include

This is the Counties Manukau Steelers logo which features on the jersey

Papakura district (boundary red, urban area orange) in relation to the Auckland metropolitan area (grey) The Papakura District (informally just Papakura, or Kura) in New Zealand is one of the several recognized districts in Auckland. ... Pukekohe is a town in the Franklin district of the North Island of New Zealand. ... Tuakau is a town in the Franklin district, in the North Island of New Zealand. ... Waiuku from space Waiuku is a small country town in the Franklin district, in the North Island of New Zealand. ... Image File history File linksMetadata CMRFUSteelers. ... Image File history File linksMetadata CMRFUSteelers. ...

Representative

The Steelers colours are red, white, and black horizontal bands. The team traditionally includes the main ethnic groups of South Auckland; namely Māori, Pākehā and Polynesian. The 'Steelers' moniker is a reference to the nearby Glenbrook steel factory. Red may be any of a number of similar colors at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. ... White is the color of things that reflect light of all parts of the visible spectrum equally and are not dull (see grey). ... Black is not a colour. ... South Auckland is a common name for a part of Auckland, New Zealand. ... The word Māori refers to the indigenous people of New Zealand and to their language. ... Pākehā is a term generally used to describe New Zealanders of Anglo/European extraction, but to many Māori it also means non-Māori or foreigner. ... Polynesian is an adjectival form which refers variously to: Polynesian pie Polynesian sauce, a food condiment available at Chick-fil-A the aboriginal inhabitants of Polynesia, and their: Polynesian culture Polynesian mythology Polynesian languages Category: ... Glenbrook is a rural and industrial area in the Franklin district of New Zealand. ...

Air New Zealand Cup

In 2006, the Steelers will play in the Air New Zealand Cup, being one of four unions to be promoted to the new competition.

Apparel will be supplied by adidas. Main sponsor is Custom House. Other sponsors are Tribro Holdings, Dominion Finance and Lion Red. Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer, part of the Adidas Group, which is the second largest sportswear manufacturer worldwide. ... Lion Red is a lager-style beer brewed by Lion Breweries, part of the Lion Nathan group. ...

Wonder years

Counties Manukau rugby enjoyed its heyday in the 1980's. Led by Andy Dalton*, the team established a free-wheeling style of backline play, based on the silky skills and speed of players such as Bruce Robertson* and Robert Kururangi*. Other notable players from that era included Ken Parry, Jack Kani, and Lindsay Raki. From 1995 till 1999, captain Errol Brain led another successful era, with famous players such as Jonah Lomu*, Joeli Vidiri*, Danny Lee*, Tony Marsh, and Jim Coe. The "player drain" of stars such as Lomu (Wellington), Vidiri (Auckland), Lee (Otago), and Marsh (France), signalled a downturn in the fortunes of Counties. More recent high profile losses were Kristian Ormsby, Loki Crichton, John Afoa*, and Sitiveni Sivivatu*. Andrew Grant Dalton, Born 16th November 1951 Born in Dunedin, Andy Dalton finished his schooling at Selwyn College, Auckland where he was in the 1st XV in 1968,69, (captain the latter year) playing mainly as a prop. ... Jonah Tali Lomu (born May 12, 1975) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer who has played 73 times (63 caps) as an All Black after debuting in 1994. ... Ioane Fitu Afoa-(born 16 September 1983) is a New Zealand rugby union player and his position is prop. ... Sitiveni Waica Sivivatu (born 19 April 1982 in Suva, Fiji) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, more specifically a winger. ...

[*] denotes a player who achieved All Blacks selection

First international Australia 3 - 22 New Zealand (15 August 1903) Largest win New Zealand 145 - 17 Japan (4 June 1995) Worst defeat Australia 28 - 7 New Zealand (28 August 1999) World Cup Appearances 5 (First in 1987) Best result Champions, 1987 All Blacks is the name of New Zealands...

External links

• Official site: [1]
• Unofficial sites: [2],   [3],   [4]
• Clubs: -- Ardmore-Marist [5],   [6],    -- Manurewa [7]
• News: TVNZ,   NZHerald