Waikato

Waikato's breakthrough came in the very first season of the National Provincial Championship, when they beat Otago 40–5 in the 1992 final to lift the inaugural title.

The union was formed in 1921 when Hamilton's sub-unions agreed to pool their players under one banner. The red, yellow and black strip followed later, adopted in 1928 by combining the gold and black of the Hamilton club with the red and black of Old Boys. The nickname Mooloos was borrowed in the 1950s from a Jersey cow paraded as a mascot during the union's first spell holding the Ranfurly Shield, won in 1951 against North Auckland. Five years later Waikato became the first provincial side to beat a touring Springbok team since the war.

Rugby Park had been home since 1925, but the union moved into the newly built FMG Stadium Waikato in 2002. The two meet for the Stan Thomas Memorial Trophy. Damian McKenzie is the name most associated with Waikato rugby today.

A second title arrived in 2006, the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup, beating Wellington 37–31, and a third in 2021 with a 23–20 win over Tasman — the same year the union's women's side took its first Farah Palmer Cup.