Rugby made considerable progress in the city after its reintroduction, and a number of new clubs were created. Apart from the Union Club and the High School Club, which were established in 1871, the Balclutha Club was established in 1876, and, following Dunedin's successful tour, the Zingari Club was established in 1878, and the Montecillo Club was established in 1879. The original seven clubs, along with the Balclutha Club, formed the Otago Rugby Union. This union merged with four other unions to form the New Zealand Rugby Union in 1890.
The University Club was established in 1882 by students of the university who had played for the High School Club. This led to the creation of a second division within the ORU, known as the "Second Division". In 1883 this division also merged with other clubs to form the Otago Northern Rugby Football Union. This union later merged with the Central Otago Rugby Football Union to form the Southland Rugby Football Union in 1897. The Southern Cross Rugby Football Club was established in 1889 by French immigrants to New Zealand. This club eventually became one of the most successful in the country, winning the National Provincial Championship twice-1905, 1906-7. They also won the Ranfurly Shield three times - 1905, 1907, 1908. The Otago Junior Rugby Football Union was founded in 1896, and two years later became part of the ORU. This union eventually collapsed in 1900, but was revived in 1902 when it merged with another union to form the Otago Metropolitan Rugby Football Union.
The New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was established in 1892, 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949, it became a member of the International Rugby Football Board, now known as World Rugby, the world's governing organization of rugby union. The NZRFU has jurisdiction over international and national team events and championships within New Zealand, as well as the administration of domestic rugby competitions.
The union has offices in Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Wellington, and London. It also has representatives located around the world at every Rugby World Cup host city during the tournament months.
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New Zealand is a country that covers 332,000 square miles with a population of 4 million people. It lies south of Australia across the Tasman Sea. New Zealand is made up of two major regions: North Island and South Island. Both contain many cultures and languages. However, due to their remote locations, they have been isolated from foreign influence for many years. The indigenous culture of both islands is made up of several different tribes or nations. These include the Maori, who live mainly on the north island; and the Polynesian settlers, who arrived on the west coast of the south island.
In 1769, James Cook landed on what would become the main island of New Zealand. In 1820, Britain and France fought a war over which nation should control New Zealand.
In the same year, the Auckland cricket squad represented the association in their inaugural game against Canterbury. After Canterbury and Otago, and shortly before Wellington, they were the third major association to be established in New Zealand. The initial match was played at Eden Park in Auckland; this was also the home ground of the national rugby union team. In fact, it was here that most early cricket matches in New Zealand were played.
New Zealand's first Test match was held at Christchurch from 14 February to 18 February 1877. The tourists won the first Test match by an innings and 157 runs to claim the first-ever Test victory. The following season saw New Zealand play its first official international match when it took on Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The tourists lost the match by an innings and 115 runs but nevertheless, this match is regarded as the first-ever One Day International (ODI) match. In 1980, New Zealand played its first T20I match against Australia. The hosts won the match by eight wickets.
After the 1880-81 season, which saw no major cricket until the establishment of the New Zealand National Cricket Association in 1886, no further records exist of New Zealand teams or players. It is presumed that many of the pioneers who had come out to Australia stayed there and played cricket for various clubs.
RCD Mallorca is the Balearic Islands' oldest club. Adolfo Vazquez, a republican engineer, created the team in 1916 and called it Alfonso XIII Football Club after the then-Spanish king. The original stadium, Buenos Aires, was opened on March 25, 1916, with an 0-8 loss to Barcelona. In 1919, the team moved to its present location, La Romareda, and has been playing there ever since.
The club's first international game was a 1-6 defeat to Argentina's Newell's Old Boys in a friendly played in Madrid on September 15, 1924. Alfredo Di Stéfano scored the only goal of the game.
RCD Mallorca has won five championships (1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, and 1958) and has appeared in the European Cup three times (1967-68, 1969-70, and 1971-72). The club currently plays in the top division of Spanish football, the Segunda División.
They have had many famous players over the years including Juan Manuel Asensi, Miguel Ángel Lotina, Jose Mari Bakero, and Sergio Ramos. Current players include Sergio Escudero, Sergi Enrich, and Marc Cucurella.
RCD Mallorca has a large following in both the Balearic Islands and Spain as a whole.
Auckland are a professional New Zealand rugby union side located in Auckland, New Zealand. They were founded in 1976 and compete in the National Provincial Championship. Eden Park in Auckland is where they play their home games. The team is part of the Blues Super Rugby franchise.
They are one of two teams from New Zealand (the other being Canterbury) to have never been relegated from the top division of their national league system.
Their nickname is the "Titans", which dates back to the early days of New Zealand rugby when all New Zealand teams competed against each other in an effort to prove who was best. This tradition has continued with today's Auckland team playing against the Crusaders from Christchurch every year in what is known as the "City Clash".
The Titans won the inaugural season of the NPC, defeating Waikato in the final. Since then they have been regular winners, most recently in 2012/2013 when they defeated Wellington 24-17 in the final at Westpac Stadium.
Current coach [Jono] McFarland took over the role after the resignation of [Brian] Smith. He had previously been assistant coach under Smith. Former All Black captain Michael Jones is the chairman of the board that runs the club.
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