Bay of Plenty Rugby Union and new sub-unions were formed, the union achieved its first national representation when A.L. McLean was selected for the All Blacks in 1921. McLean was the first of 22 men who have represented New Zealand while wearing the blue and gold hoops, in addition to the many players who received their rugby education in the Bay of Plenty before achieving higher honours elsewhere. As the heartland of Maori rugby the region has produced a large number of Māori All Blacks, while age group and secondary school teams from throughout the union have also established a long and successful heritage that
Radio Bay of Plenty independent local programming and news coverage for the Bay of Plenty with a specific focus on the eastern part of the region. The stations carry and contributes to national news bulletins produced by NZME Radio through Newstalk ZB. One Double X began broadcasting to the Eastern Bay Of Plenty on 1240 kHz at 10:30 am on 30 June 1971. The original company name was Radio Whakatane but changed to Radio Bay Of Plenty in 1978 when the station's AM frequency also changed to 1242 kHz. In the mid-late 1970s 1XX 1240 was also known on air from time to time