# Mid Canterbury Rugby Football Union

The Mid Canterbury Rugby Football Union (MCRFU) is a rugby province in the South Island of New Zealand.

## History

The Mid Canterbury Rugby Football Union was formed in 1904 as Ashburton Country, first as a sub-union of the South Canterbury Rugby Football Union and then of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union. The union gained full status in 1927, and changed its name to Mid Canterbury in 1952.

## Clubs

Mid Canterbury Rugby Football Union is made up of 9 clubs:
* Allenton
* Celtic
* Collegiate
* Hampstead
* Methven
* Mount Somers
* Rakaia
* Southern
* Tinwald

## Provincial representative rugby

The Mid Canterbury team play from Ashburton Showgrounds, Ashburton.

### National Provincial Championship (NPC)

In the NPC Mid Canterbury won:
* the 2nd division South Island in 1980 and 1983
* the 3rd division in 1994 and 1998.

### Heartland Championship

In the Heartland Championship which commenced in 2006 Mid Canterbury have won:
* the Meads Cup in 2013 and 2014
* the Lochore Cup in 2017.
Heartland Championship Results :
| Year | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Place | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Year | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | Place | Qual | SF | F |
| 2006 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 155 | 178 | −22 | 3 | 19 | 4th | Meads Cup | Lost 17–30 to Wanganui | — |
| 2007 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 213 | 151 | +62 | 4 | 28 | 2nd | Meads Cup | Lost 0–18 to Wanganui | — |
| 2008 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 225 | 129 | +96 | 5 | 33 | 2nd | Meads Cup | Won 38–24 against North Otago | Lost 12–27 to Wanganui |
| 2009 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 196 | 133 | +63 | 2 | 30 | 1st | Meads Cup | Won 19–17 against South Canterbury | Lost 13–34 to Wanganui |
| 2010 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 179 | 94 | +85 | 5 | 25 | 2nd | Meads Cup | Lost 24–40 to North Otago | — |
| 2011 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 180 | 143 | +37 | 6 | 26 | 4th | Meads Cup | Lost 22–32 to Wanganui | — |
| 2012 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 158 | 162 | −4 | 5 | 17 | 7th | Lochore Cup | Lost 20–48 to South Canterbury | — |
| 2013 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 232 | 131 | +101 | 5 | 33 | 1st | Meads Cup | Won 28–25 against West Coast | Won 26–20 against North Otago |
| 2014 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 258 | 139 | +119 | 4 | 26 | 3rd | Meads Cup | Won 29–22 against Poverty Bay | Won 36–13 against Buller |
| 2015 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 295 | 228 | +67 | 6 | 34 | 2nd | Meads Cup | Lost 11–26 to Wanganui | — |
| 2016 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 278 | 198 | +80 | 7 | 27 | 5th | Lochore Cup | Lost 24–36 to North Otago | — |
| 2017 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 275 | 224 | +51 | 3 | 26 | 1st | Meads Cup | Won 56–22 against Poverty Bay | Won 47–15 against West Coast |
| 2018 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 225 | 233 | −8 | 7 | 19 | 8th | Lochore Cup | Lost 24–34 to Horowhitu-Kapiti | — |
| 2019 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 161 | 236 | −75 | 4 | 10 | 11th | No | — | — |
| 2021 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 226 | 209 | +17 | 4 | 24 | 6th | No | — | — |
| 2022 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 214 | 249 | −35 | 6 | 18 | 8th | Lochore Cup | Won 31–15 against North Otago | Lost 20–25 to Ngati Porou East Coast |
| 2023 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 221 | 245 | −24 | 8 | 16 | 9th | No | — | — |
| 2024 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 297 | 215 | +82 | 6 | 30 | 4th | Meads Cup | Won 17–16 against South Canterbury | Lost 29–37 to Thames Valley |
There was no Heartland Championship in 2020 due to Covid 19 restrictions.

### Hanan Shield

The Hanan Shield is one of the most prestigious trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1946, the Hanan Shield is based on a challenge system played between North Otago, South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury.

### Ranfurly Shield

Mid Canterbury have never held the Ranfurly Shield. Unsuccessful challenges include:

## All Blacks

There have been 3 players selected for the All Blacks whilst playing their club rugby in Mid Canterbury.
* Denis Cameron: All Black number 614, who played 8 games as a wing on the 1960 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and South Africa.
* Grant Perry: All Black number 813, who played 1 game as a hooker on the 1980 tour to Fiji.
* Jock Ross: All Black number 830 who played 5 games as a lock on the 1981 tour to France and Romania

## Super Rugby

Mid Canterbury along with Canterbury, Tasman, Buller, South Canterbury and West Coast make up the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise.