Wellington rugby celebrated its 125th Jubilee in 2004 and fittingly the year provided numerous highlights both on and off the field.
The Vodafone Wellington Lions had an outstanding year and ended the regular season of the Air New Zealand NPC as top qualifiers for the first time since the playoff system was introduced in 1992 and for the first time overall since 1986. The team played positive attacking rugby throughout, and big back-to-back wins over Taranaki and Northland saw the fans flock to Westpac Stadium for their first ever home semi-final and second successive final that followed. Average NPC crowd attendance was 27,256 and was 10,000 greater than any other First Division union.
Led by Rodney So’oialo in his first year as captain, they beat Waikato 28-16 in the semi-final, but were unable to repeat their first round win over Canterbury, the young Lions team defeated 27-40 in what was also their fourth NPC final in the past six years.
Subsequently, six players - Tana Umaga, Jerry Collins, So’oialo, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Piri Weepu - made the All Blacks end of year tour to Europe, the highest Wellington representation since 1984. All six were named in the 22 to play in the Test against France, marking for the largest representation of Wellington players in a Test team since 1932 when six players started against Australia.
Umaga was selected as All Blacks captain in 2004, joining an elite group of Wellington representatives to achieve the honour of captaining the national side. The Bledisloe Cup victory in Wellington maintained the record of a Wellington All Black captain never losing a Test played in the capital.
There were also four Wellington players in the World Cup winning New Zealand U19 side, with lock Jeremy Thrush winning the IRB U19 Player of the Year award. Furthermore, four players participated in the World Cup winning New Zealand U21 side and another selected but ruled out through injury.
The Hurricanes had a disappointing season in 2004, finishing 11th in the Super 12 with four wins. However the side finished the season unbeaten at Westpac Stadium for the first time.
The union’s 125th anniversary was celebrated in style. The first of these was the publication of the book ‘Winds of Change’, spanning the period 1979-2004. Additional events included a street parade and a three-week long exhibition supported by the New Zealand Community Trust. The anniversary also became the focal point of the Lions season launch, the Old Timers’ Day and the Wellington Rugby Tui Awards Dinner which featured a memorable ‘This Is Your Life’ element to it.
Northern United won their first major club championship title when they won the 75th Jubilee Cup in August. Petone won the Swindale Shield and Upper Hutt the Hardham Cup. Registered player numbers were up four per cent on the previous year, increasing numbers to 10,400 in 2004.
The financial surplus of $1,593,008 in 2004 was outstanding and set a new record for the union.