Sports

All Black Kees Meeuws performs a haka, a Maori war dance, before a rugby game.
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Our climate and geography make the country a natural arena for all kinds of adventurous sporting pursuits - fishing, hunting, kayaking, skiing, snowboarding and much more. Every year several multisport endurance races lure competitors from all over the world - the Coast to Coast, which traverses the South Island, is the most well known. Taupo’s annual Ironman triathlon is another fantastically scenic challenge.

As you probably know, we’re also very big on winter team sports - rugby, netball, rugby league and hockey. If you’re a rugby player, and you’ve always wanted to train in the land of the All Blacks, there’s a great opportunity waiting for you in Rotorua.

The most popular summer spectator sport in New Zealand is cricket, especially the one-day games at international level. Other popular summer sports include sailing, motor racing, softball, tennis and horse-racing.