Wellington (National Provincial Championship)

Wellington
	Official WRU emblem
Union	Wellington Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)	Lions
Founded	1879; 145 years ago
Location	Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand
Ground(s)	Sky Stadium (Capacity: 34,500)
CEO	Matthew Evans
Coach(es)	Alando Soakai
Captain(s)	Du'Plessis Kirifi
Most appearances	Bernie Fraser (121)
Top scorer	Allan Hewson (893)
Most tries	Bernie Fraser (105)
League(s)	Bunnings NPC
2023	1st ; Semifinalist
	Team kit
	Team kit
Official website
	www.wellingtonlions.co.nz

Wellington (often known as the Wellington Lions) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington, New Zealand. The union was originally established in 1879, with the National Provincial Championship established in 1976. They now play in the reformed National Provincial Championship competition. They play their home games at Sky Stadium in Wellington. The team is affiliated with the Hurricanes Super Rugby franchise. Their home playing colours are black and gold.

Current squad

The Wellington Lions squad for the 2024 Bunnings NPC is:^[2]

Wellington Lions squad
Props Bradley Crichton Yato Kamimori Kazuki Kato Siale Lauaki Xavier Numia Senio Sanele PJ Sheck Hookers Leni Apisai Asafo Aumua James O'Reilly Harry Press Penieli Poasa Locks Caleb Delany Akira Ieremia Filo Paulo Hugo Plummer	Loose forwards Sione Halalilo Du'Plessis Kirifi Peter Lakai Dominic Ropeti Ardie Savea Brad Shields Halfbacks (scrum-halves) Mitch McLeod TJ Perenara Kyle Preston First five-eighths (fly-halves) Jackson Garden-Bachop Callum Harkin	Midfielders (centres) Riley Higgins Billy Proctor Matt Proctor Julian Savea Peter Umaga-Jensen Outside backs Tjay Clarke Losi Filipo Ruben Love Pepesana Patafilo Stanley Solomon

(c) Denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped, ^REP denotes a replacement squad player.

Honours

Wellington have been overall Champions on 5 occasions. Their first title was in 1978 and their most recent title was in 2022. Their full list of honours include:^[3]^[4]

National Provincial Championship First Division

Winners: 1978, 1981, 1986, 2000

Mitre 10 Cup Championship Division

Winners: 2017

Bunnings NPC

Winners: 2022

Current Super Rugby players

Players named in the 2023 Wellington Lions squad, who also earned contracts or were named in a squad for any side participating in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season.

Player	Team
Asafo Aumua	Hurricanes
Caleb Delany	Hurricanes
Riley Higgins	Hurricanes
Du'Plessis Kirifi	Hurricanes
Peter Lakai	Hurricanes
Siale Lauaki	Hurricanes
Ruben Love	Hurricanes
Xavier Numia	Hurricanes
James O'Reilly	Hurricanes
Pepesana Patafilo	Moana Pasifika
TJ Perenara	Hurricanes
Hugo Plummer	Highlanders
Billy Proctor	Hurricanes
Matt Proctor	Rebels
Ardie Savea	Hurricanes
Julian Savea	Moana Pasifika
PJ Sheck	Blues
Brad Shields	Hurricanes
Peter Umaga-Jensen	Hurricanes

References

^ "Staff Members". Wellington Rugby. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
^ "Wellington Lions name squad for 2024 Bunnings Warehouse NPC season". Wellington Rugby (Press release). 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
^ "National Provincial Championship winners, 1976–2014". Te Ara. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
^ "Mitre 10 Cup". Rugby Heartland. Retrieved 17 September 2020.

External links

[1] "Staff Members". Wellington Rugby. Retrieved 10 September 2020.

[Wellington_Lions_name_squad_for_2024_Bunnings_Warehouse_NPC_season-2] "Wellington Lions name squad for 2024 Bunnings Warehouse NPC season". Wellington Rugby (Press release). 28 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.

[3] "National Provincial Championship winners, 1976–2014". Te Ara. Retrieved 17 September 2020.

[4] "Mitre 10 Cup". Rugby Heartland. Retrieved 17 September 2020.

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