The Central Vikings Rugby Union was founded in December 1996 with the merger of the Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu unions.

The Vikings were formed with the hopes of lifting themselves out of the 2nd division and to be competitive in the 1st division. The Central Vikings had two All Blacks in the team which included Bull Allen and Christian Cullen as well as featuring various Super 12 players such as Chiefs star Mark Ranby who later became an All Black himself. The Central Vikings finished 2nd in 1997 when they were beaten 63–10 by Northland but even if they had won, they weren’t allowed to progress into the 1st division. They finished 1st in 1998 when they beat the then Nelson Bays team, now part of Tasman Makos. They were subsequently allowed to progress to the 1st division. The Vikings however got into financial trouble and they split back to Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu for the 1999 season.

The Vikings were largely hindered in their second season after not only losing All Black legend Christian Cullen but also losing the then All Blacks Coach John Hart after Hart was advised he could not coach NPC, Super Rugby and All Black teams at the same time. Despite of these disadvantages the Vikings went on to win the second division and were picked to be a major force in the first division before financial problems prevented them from advancing and ultimately caused the end of the Vikings.

Controversy

In December 1997 a special meeting of the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Football Union was held to decide the future of the Central Vikings Rugby Union. Eight of the Hawke’s Bay Union’s 21 clubs called the meeting to seek agreement for Hawke’s Bay to withdraw from the Vikings. A vote on a resolution calling for Hawke’s Bay to withdraw from the combined Hawke’s Bay–Manawatu team was lost, 7–12, in a secret ballot. Once the resolution was lost, HBRFU president Tom Mulligan said there was no reason for the meeting to continue. The Vikings were then given the all-clear to continue as an NPC second division rugby team.

Fixtures/Results

1997 Season

The Central Vikings played their first match against Fiji in Palmerston North on June 2, 1997.

Date	Comp	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
02-05-97	PS	Central Vikings	10	Fiji	19
06-08-97	PS	Central Vikings	38	Wellington	21
23-08-97	NPC	Central Vikings	72	Thames Valley	0
30-08-97	NPC	Wanganui	6	Central Vikings	42
06-09-97	NPC	King Country	35	Central Vikings	41
13-09-97	NPC	Central Vikings	90	Nelson Bays	21
20-09-97	NPC	South Canterbury	7	Central Vikings	87
26-09-97	NPC	Northland	42	Central Vikings	13
03-10-97	NPC	Central Vikings	10	Bay of Plenty	31
11-10-97	NPC	Central Vikings	95	Wairarapa Bush	12
19-10-97	NPC	Bay of Plenty	6	Central Vikings	29	Semi final
25-10-97	NPC	Northland	63	Central Vikings	10	Final

• Note – PS = Pre Season, NPC = National Provincial Championship
• Overall Season standing: 2nd

1998 Season

Former Manawatu rugby captain and All Black trialist Andrew McMaster returned from Ireland, where he had four years coaching the Monkstown club, to join the Central Vikings as the new Vikings assistant coach. The Central Vikings had a non-championship match against Southland on 1 August 1998. Southland only just managed to hold on to the game, although they scored five tries to the Vikings two. Southland 31 (P Taylor 2, P Alatini, B Leckner, P Miller tries; A Kimura 3 cons)

Central Vikings 29 (A Powdrell, D Bellamy tries; J Cunningham 2 cons, 5 pens). Halftime 19-13 to Southland.

Date	Comp	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
01-07-98	PS	Central Vikings	30	New Zealand Marist XV	29
01-08-98	PS	Central Vikings	29	Southland	31
22-08-98	NPC	Central Vikings	79	Wairarapa Bush	12
29-08-98	NPC	Central Vikings	43	Marlborough	11
05-09-98	NPC	Thames Valley	5	Central Vikings	52
12-09-98	NPC	Nelson Bays	18	Central Vikings	34
19-09-98	NPC	Central Vikings	25	Wanganui	12
26-09-98	NPC	Wairarapa Bush	3	Central Vikings	55
03-10-98	NPC	Bay of Plenty	19	Central Vikings	37
10-10-98	NPC	Central Vikings	29	King Country	8
17-10-98	NPC	Central Vikings	23	King Country	20	Semi final
24-11-98	NPC	Central Vikings	33	Bay of Plenty	18	Final

• Note – PS = Pre Season, NPC = National Provincial Championship
• Overall Season standing: 1st