Two decades and counting covering community rugby

 Steven White is a leading rugby exponent in the Wellington region, renowned for his passion and dedication to grassroots rugby. Since 2005, he has run the well-known website clubrugby.nz, where he serves as editor, reporter, content creator and historian.

Club Rugby is the only website in New Zealand dedicated exclusively to covering senior club rugby, First XV competitions, and nearly all non-professional community rugby.

In New Zealand, rugby serves as a unifying force, bringing communities together, fostering national pride, and being deeply ingrained in everyday life from a young age. The All Blacks are one of the most successful and recognised international sports teams globally.

However, underneath the All Blacks lies the grassroots rugby community, which serves as the foundation of that success. Rugby clubs foster strong, inclusive communities by promoting personal development, encouraging social connections, and providing economic benefits. Rugby instils teamwork, discipline, and resilience in players, enhancing their confidence, improving employment prospects, and fostering a greater sense of belonging for everyone involved.

In a remarkably positive way, clubrugby.nz has captured this essential space in Wellington by profiling the players, administrators, referees, and volunteers who have made rugby a significant and unique part of the region.

Club Rugby has tracked the rise of current All Blacks like Billy Proctor, Peter Lakai, and Kyle Preston from their high school days, inspiring the next generation to follow in their footsteps.

The website boasts approximately 30,000 followers on Facebook, 13,000 on Instagram, and records over 500,000 annual website hits. Additionally, it maintains a historical archive and database documenting the achievements of these success stories and many others. Plus, there is a dedicated photos website where literally thousands of photo galleries going back about 20 years are stored. Steven and the team call this the ‘hall of records’ and is here: https://clubrugby.smugmug.com/

Club Rugby is a collaborative effort involving a team of writers and photographers, including Adam Julian, Scott MacLean, Mike and Caroline Lewis, Andy McArthur, Russell Potts, Hugh Pretorius, Stewart Baird, Tane Nathan – and several others.

Steven White has worked for The Post, Wellington Rugby Football Union, the Hurricanes and for seven years owned and operated College Sport Media, a website that, as well as covering numerous high profile events, profiled and interviewed dozens of school sports boys and girls who are now seen in the ranks of elite sportspeople in New Zealand and the world in some cases. Indeed, the slogan of College Sport Media was Telling the Stories of Successful Young People, which can equally be applied to the philosophy behind Club Rugby. He also worked in and around first-class cricket as a communications person and analyst for about a decade.

He is a proven storyteller, helping his audience connect with others, find meaning in their experiences, and build positive relationships.

Club Rugby has been online since 2005 – in one form of another – but in 2026 ‘the glass is half full.’ There is considerably more it could be doing to increase coverage or expand.

Support Club Rugby

To support Club Rugby a givealittle page has been set up for one-off or recurring supporter donations. The link for this is: https://givealittle.co.nz/org/communityrugbytrust

This is set up so all donations are anonymous and private, including to the team at Club Rugby.

Additionally, email advertiseclubrugby@gmail.com and Club Rugby will respond accordingly.