About the Club

Napier Pirate Rugby & Sports Club is one of the oldest and longest established sports clubs in New Zealand and is the only rugby club in Hawke’s Bay that is affiliated to the New Zealand Universities RFU.

While the main activities of the Club centre around rugby in all grades, from senior to schoolboy, the Club is also very proud to be represented by four women’s netball teams, a cricket team, men's and women's rugby league teams and a women's softball team.

Our existence is based on a long and proud history. Whilst other Hawke's Bay clubs have lost their identity through amalgamation or recess, Napier Pirate Rugby & Sports Club has prevailed for 127 years.

We are a family oriented club that takes great pride in our support of grass roots rugby. The Napier Pirate Junior Rugby Club has a strong presence in Hawke’s Bay competitions and the true family nature of the Club is best demonstrated by the fact that many parents of the Junior Grade players are playing members in our Senior Grade teams.

The Early Years

Napier Pirate Rugby & Sports Clubs origins date back to 1886 when the Club was formed and joined six other Clubs as an affiliate of the fledgling Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union (HBRFU). These were the earliest days of local rugby, with the union itself only a couple of years old. At the time, the Club played on Clive Square and held its meetings and social gatherings in the Terminus Hotel (now the Burger King site). Club colors adopted were an all black strip along with the widely respected insignia of a skull and crossbones which we have recently reinstated to our uniform.

The Club had some good first up results after the original junior team lost its opening match, it went on to win the junior championship in the inaugural season. In 1887 the first senior team was formed and after losing in the play-off for the 1888 title by the barest of margins 0-3, went one better in 1889 to become champions. The juniors also won their title that year, losing just two matches in the process.

Some memorable performances were put in by the Club in its first 50 or so years, along with the inevitable lows. In the period 1919-28, the senior team was the most feared in Hawke's Bay rugby, champions six times and runners-up in two other years. The province's team in the first Ranfurly Shield era 1922-27 was littered with Pirates, with seven or eight players in the squad during these heady days. 1928 was arguable Pirates greatest year with three major trophies occupying the trophy cabinet, with junior teams also tasting success during these times.

From 1889 to 1928 Pirates won the Napier / Hastings Competition 14 times over the 40 year period, which included WW1.

1889 / 1890 / 1893 / 1895 / 1896 /1911 / 1913 / 1914 / 1920 / 1921 / 1923 / 1925 / 1927 & 1928

This was all pre Maddison Trophy Days.

In 1932(22 July) the HBRU made the decision to re=allocate the Maddison Trophy to the winner of the Napier-Hastings comptition.

However in HBRU Minutes 5 August 1932: It was decided that when the Maddison Trophy is allocated to Senior Competition, all names from the Senior Cup be transferred thereto.

Noting that the wins above are reconised as Maddison Trophy wins ( this is confirmed by information sourced from Doug Laing also.

In 1933, the Club moved to its own gymnasium at McLean Park, where it operated from for over 40 years. In 1946, 20 returning servicemen bolstered the senior team to win the Napier title that season. Among the 223 registered members and four playing teams in the Club at the time,

1946 saw us be honoured with our first All Black Harry Frazer (All Black #456 ) who played 15 matches , 5 Tests, for the men in black in both New Zealand and South Africa.

In 1960, the Club changed its name to Colenso Pirate Rugby Club to build on a relationship developed with the new Colenso High School. As the focus of the use of McLean Park, where our Club was then situated, shifted towards supporting the provincial team, the Club decided to relocate to new premises and in 1975 opened the magnificent Clubrooms at Tamatea Park. While the premier team wasn't achieving the heady results of earlier decades, lower grade teams regularly tasted success and championship trophies regularly occupied the Club's trophy cabinet.

The late eighties rekindled memories of the glorious past when the premier team twice reached the finals of the Maddison Trophy competition. Ten years later, the Club then embarked on a new programme to bring greater success to the Club. The components in this plan included a shift of the Club headquarters to the Tamatea Tavern complex, a change of name to the Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports Club, and the bolstering of the executive committee with a mix of old and new faces.

In 2010 Israel Dagg became our second All Black ( All Black # 1101, playing 66 tests and scoring 138 points , all via Tries)

At the AGM in 2013 members voted overwhelmingly to return to their former premises at Tamatea Park.  2014 promises to be an exciting and eventful year in our history as we restore our premises and re-open our own rooms and bar.

The executive committee continues to strive to provide the best possible facilities and equipment and works closely with Hawke's Bay rugby to develop the best possible rugby for the benefit of the Club and province.

In the 2004,  2005, 2011,  2012 and 2015 seasons, the Club's premier rugby team won the top local rugby trophy, the Maddison Trophy, for Hawkes Bay wide senior club competition. Between 1988 and 2020 Pirates have lost 4 semi finals - 1994, 2002, 2008 & 2010 and 1 final in 2009.

It has also supplied a number of rep players for the Hawke's Bay NPC team. In the lower senior grades, the Club has fielded a further three or four teams including a Women's Rugby Team, to ensure it is able to offer rugby players of all levels and abilities a game at their level.

On any given winter Saturday morning, over 280 children wearing the Club's trademark black and white colours in schoolboy J.A.B. competitions. Ladies netball teams play both social and senior levels in their netball competition.

By introducing cricket, softball and rugby league as associate sports we have expanded our membership base and are establishing ourselves as a true sports club.  As a club, we have been included in the exciting development and further expansion of the Park Island sporting complex and look forward to a move there when the city council plan comes to fruition in the near future.

Information sourced from

HBRFU

Adrian Hill - HB Rugby Historian

Doug Laing

Kerry lEWIS

Terry Brown

Various other club stewarts.

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