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A Wellington XV plays the Taranaki NPC squad in their second and final NPC pre-season match on Friday afternoon in coastal Taranaki, in a fixture dubbed the 'Battle of the Beach.' Check out the home team's livestream of the encounter below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glwCJeghjtQ The teams are: Wellington (as received): 1. Jake Turnbull (USA) 2. James O’Reilly (HOBM) 3.
Wellington Lions
New names galore in 2026 Lions squad
By Club Rugby contributors Wellington Lions supporters will be banking on an outside player injection being the winning formula in this year’s National Provincial Championship. The squad is in the graphic here: The five-time NPC champions will be hoping that the arrival of several new players will offset the loss of a
Pioneers of rugby in Wellington 121: Bill Freeman
One of Wellington rugby’s most famed coaches, Bill Freeman was Wellington A representative coach between 1964-70. Under his coaching, Wellington teams enjoyed several memorable wins over the space of a few years, including twin victories over the touring Springboks and British and Irish Lions in 1965 and 1966, and for introducing
Wellington Lions v Bay of Plenty facts and figures
Stanley Solomon was Wellington's top try scorer in 2025 with eight tries and finished the regular season in second-equal place on the try scorers list. Each week throughout the NPC, Hurricanes and Wellington statistician Peter Marriott provides the numbers and statistics, records and happenings that you need to know about the game that
Lions heading bringing their curtain down while Heartland teams part of bumper last round
By Scott MacLean Just two matches in the lower North Island this weekend. The Wellington Lions are at home for their final match, while Wairarapa-Bush are also at home for their final round-robin match but hoping it is not their last at home. Horowhenua-Kapiti are playing away. Representative As covered in Monday’s