Super Rugby
Players from Wellington who are eligible to play in the Super Rugby generally play for the Hurricanes, and traditionally contribute the core of the Hurricanes squad. This position is largely due to the Wellington basing of the Hurricanes. Further, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay, two Hurricane provinces and prolific talent producers, had long been mired in the second half of the National Provincial Championship, allowing Wellington to lure the better players of these provinces with ease (Christian Cullen from Manawatu for example). The reorganisation of provincial rugby in 2006 brought all three provinces and Taranaki into the top-level Air New Zealand Cup, now the ITM Cup, but Wellington have maintained their regional dominance.
Since Super Rugby's inaugural season in 1996 the Hurricanes have had positive results. They first reached the semi-finals in 1997 where they lost to the Australian side the ACT Brumbies. After a number of years they started to gain some consistency reaching the finals in four of six years, although falling one game short of the grand-final losing in the semis on both occasions to the Crusaders in 2003 and 2005. The following year in 2006 the Hurricanes reached their first Super Rugby Grand Final where they lost the game 19 - 12 to none other than the Crusaders. A return to finals rugby came in both 2008 & 2009 but again the Canes couldn't reach the grand final, bowing out in the semis yet again.
Read more about this topic: Wellington Rugby Football Union