Wellington (National Provincial Championship)

Wellington
Official WRU emblem
UnionWellington Rugby Football Union
NicknameLions
Founded1879 (1879)
LocationThorndon, Wellington, New Zealand
GroundHnry Stadium (Capacity: 34,500)
CEOTony Giles[1]
CoachTrent Renata
CaptainCaleb Delany
Most appearancesBernie Fraser (121)
Top scorerAllan Hewson (893)
Most triesBernie Fraser (105)
LeagueNational Provincial Championship
202510th
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 Hnry 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 2026 Hilux NPC season is:

2026 Wellington squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose forwards

Halfbacks (scrum-halves)

First five-eighths (fly-halves)

Midfielders (centres)

Outside backs

(c) denotes the team captain.
Bold denotes internationally capped players.
ST denotes a short-term signing.
DEV denotes a development squad member.
Injured denotes an injured player.
  1. ↑ Bean wasn't named in the original Wellington squad, but was announced in the side for Round 1.[2]
  2. ↑ Crichton wasn’t named in the original Wellington squad, but was announced in the side for Round 5.[3]
  3. ↑ Davis-Lenz wasn't named in the original Wellington squad, but was named as a late inclusion in the side for Round 4.[4]
  4. ↑ Saumaki wasn't named in the original Wellington squad, but was announced in the side for Round 2.[5]
Source: [6][7]

Honours

Wellington have been overall Champions on six occasions. Their first title was in 1978 and their most recent title was in 2024. Their full list of honours include:[8][9]

National Provincial Championship First Division
Mitre 10 Cup Championship Division
Bunnings NPC

Current Super Rugby players

Players named in the 2025 Wellington Lions squad, who also earned contracts or were named in a squad for any side participating in the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.[10][11][12][13][14][15]

Player Team
Asafo Aumua Hurricanes
Tjay Clarke Hurricanes
Caleb Delany Hurricanes
Losi Filipo Moana Pasifika
Jackson Garden-Bachop Moana Pasifika
Callum Harkin Hurricanes
Riley Higgins Hurricanes
Du'Plessis Kirifi Hurricanes
Peter Lakai Hurricanes
Siale Lauaki Hurricanes
Ruben Love Hurricanes
Xavier Numia Hurricanes
Hugo Plummer Hurricanes
Kyle Preston Crusaders
Billy Proctor Hurricanes
Matt Proctor Force
Ardie Savea Moana Pasifika
Julian Savea Moana Pasifika
PJ Sheck Blues
Brad Shields Hurricanes

References

  1. ↑ "Tony Giles to lead Wellington Rugby". Wellington Rugby (Press release). 21 September 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  2. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (29 July 2026). "Your first Mode Technology Wellington Lions team of 2026 is here!". Retrieved 2 August 2026 – via Instagram.
  3. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (26 August 2026). "The Mode Technology Wellington Lions will proudly represent Wellington's club rugby community when they take on Counties Manukau in Round 5, with 14 of the 15 players in the starting line-up representing local Wellington rugby clubs". Retrieved 28 August 2026 – via Instagram.
  4. ↑ "Otago vs Wellington - Team Sheets & Lineup". RugbyPass. 23 August 2026. Retrieved 23 August 2026.
  5. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (5 August 2026). "Team list, Round 2. The squad is locked in". Retrieved 8 August 2026 – via Instagram.
  6. ↑ @wgtnrugby; (21 July 2026). "The squad is set. Here's our team for the 2026 Hilux NPC". Retrieved 21 July 2026 – via Instagram.
  7. ↑ "New names galore in 2026 Lions squad". clubrugby.nz. 21 July 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "National Provincial Championship winners, 1976–2014". Te Ara. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "Mitre 10 Cup". Rugby Heartland. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Game Readiness and Maturity Key in 2025 Hurricanes Squad". Hurricanes (Press release). 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  11. ↑ "Moana Pasifika name squad for 2025". Moana Pasifika (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "Hurricanes team named to play the Crusaders in opening round". Hurricanes (Press release). 12 February 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  13. ↑ "2025 Crusaders squad announced". crusaders.co.nz (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  14. ↑ "Four more round out 2025 Western Force Super Rugby squad" (Press release). Western Force. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  15. ↑ "We're ready to take the handbrake off". Blues (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.