History of rugby union in New Zealand

Rugby union has a long history in New Zealand. Today, New Zealand holds tier one status with World Rugby.

Early history and 19th century

Pre-Codification Football

Before Europeans arrived in New Zealand, the

Various codes of football were played in New Zealand in the years following white settlement. Christchurch Football Club, which is now the oldest rugby club in the country, was founded in 1863. It played by its own rules for many years.

Early rugby football

In 1905, as New Zealand's rugby union team, the

In 1902, the governor of New Zealand, the fifth Earl of Ranfurly presented a trophy shield to the Auckland side, who were undefeated in provincial competition that year. The shield became known as the

In 1987, the NZRFU wrote to the

The 1981 Springboks tour of New Zealand was compromised by demonstrations, and the tourists had to be kept under strict security throughout their visit.[8]

Two games had to be cancelled.^[8] The game at Hamilton in the first week of the tour saw 200 protestors rip down a chain fence, sprinkle tacks all over the pitch and then staged a sit-in on the half way line. At the time, a crowd of 25,000 was watching them playing Waikato. Subsequent matches saw the arrival of barbed wire, and police with batons. The match against South Canterbury at Timaru was cancelled because the authorities thought that they would not be able to control the demonstrations there.^[8]

The final test of the tour was buzzed by a Cessna aircraft - some in fact nicknamed it the "Crazy

Musician Bruce Russell received two police convictions as a student leader of protests against the tour.^[9] He was at the University of Otago at the time.

It was a tight game, with Allan Hewson, the New Zealand full-back kicking a long range penalty to win the game 25-22.^[8] As Rod Chester and Nev McMillan described the scene:

"There will probably never be another Test match like this. The tension generated by the closeness and importance of the game, combined with the efforts of the protestors inside, outside and above the ground, made for an exhilarating and yet terrifying afternoon."^[8]

The

The role of the NZ police also became more controversial as a result of the tour.

A planned All Black tour to South Africa in 1985 remobilised the New Zealand protesters and it was cancelled.

Māori and apartheid

New Zealand has a long history of sporting contact with South Africa, especially through rugby union. Until the 1970s this resulted in discrimination against Māori players, since the apartheid political system in South Africa for most of the twentieth century did not allow people of different races to play sport together, and therefore South African officials requested that Māori players not be included in sides which toured their country. Despite some of New Zealand's best players being Māori, this was agreed to, and Māori were excluded from tours of South Africa. Some Māori always objected to this, but it did not become a major issue until 1960, when there were several public protests at Māori exclusion from that year's tour. The protest group Halt All Racist Tours was formed in 1969. Although this was an issue in which Māori were central, and Māori were involved in the protests, the anti-tour movement was dominated by Pākehā (white New Zealanders).

In 1970 the South African government relented and allowed a mixed race (All Black) team to tour South Africa, though Maori players traveled as "honorary whites". In 1973 a proposed

During and after the Tour, many Māori protesters questioned Pākehā protesters' commitment to racial equality, accusing them of focussing on racism in other countries while ignoring it within New Zealand. The majority of Pākehā protesters were not heavily involved in protest after the Tour ended, but a significant minority, including several anti-Tour groups, turned their attention to New Zealand race issues, particularly Pākehā prejudice and the Treaty of Waitangi.

References