Founded in 1927, having acted as a sub-union to Otago since 1904, the North Otago Rugby Football Union has enjoyed reasonable growth over the years.

In 1930, North Otago played host to the All Blacks, playing a match against the national side (losing 6-34) before the All Blacks first test against the British and Irish Lions. North Otago made it's first challenge for the Ranfurly Shield against Otago at Carisbrook on 27 August 1938, losing 0-12. North Otago has made 13 challenges for the Ranfurly Shield over the years, their closest result coming in 1974 with a 3-9 loss to South Canterbury.

The touring Australian side came to the Oamaru Showgrounds on 4 September 1962 to take on North Otago. A win for the visitors was to be expected, but the Australians were sent on their way when North Otago managed a shock 14-13 victory over the tourists.

The mid seventies saw the introduction of the National Provincial Championship, the new competition enabled for better matches and tougher opposition for North Otago. Throughout the early years, wins seemed to be very infrequent although during the nineties North Otago's form began to improve. In 1997, North Otago made their first ever appearance in the NPC Third Division Final, unfortunatey going down to Marlborough 17-32 in Oamaru.

Fortunes continued to improve with the turn of the century. Consecutive finals appearances in 2000, 2001 and 2002 saw North Otago finally claim the NPC 3rd Division title in 2002, in their 75th jubilee year. North Otago were promoted to the 2nd Division of the NPC for 2003, reaching the semi finals in all three seasons before the NPC was restructured at the end of 2005.

The Heartland Championship was introduced for 2006, with North Otago continuing it's record of making the playoffs in each consecutive season. Highlights in the Heartland Championship include winning the Meads Cup in 2007, 2010 and 2019 as well as the Lochore Cup in 2009 and 2016.