Wheelchair Rugby - Team New Zealand

General
New Zealand are competing at the Paralympic Games for the first time since 2008 and secured their spot in Tokyo though their performance at the 2019 Asia-Oceania Championship in Gangneung. Their victory over hosts Republic of Korea in the bronze medal match secured New Zealand's qualification for the 2020 Games due to champions Australia and runners-up Japan having already qualified.

New Zealand may have been absent from the last two Games but they have tasted success on the Paralympic stage. They won bronze when wheelchair rugby appeared as a demonstration sport at the 1996 Games. Then in 2000 they were agonisingly defeated 40-39 by hosts Australia in the semifinals before bouncing back to see off Canada and claim bronze. Four years later in Athens, the New Zealand team gained revenge over Australia in the group stage before beating Canada once again, this time in the gold medal match. Single-point defeats to Australia and Great Britain at the 2008 Games in Beijing meant New Zealand missed out on the semifinals, eventually finishing fifth.

Since New Zealand won world championship silver in 2006 on home soil, they have fallen short of medal contention at the tournament. At the 2018 edition in Sydney, they beat Ireland twice but lost to Australia, Japan, Denmark, Sweden and Colombia, ranking 11th out of 12 teams. They ranked eighth out of 12 teams at the 2014 edition in Odense.