Gallery
NZ Natives'
Rugby Tour
Maori and Rugby |
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Several forms of football, including early forms of rugby, soccer, and Australian Rules, had been played in New Zealand since the 1860s. While these were initially associated with the settler elite (rugby was adopted at Nelson College in 1870) and the military (frontier Armed Constabulary units with time on their hands played football in the early 1870s), other colonists accustomed to hard physical labour also soon gloried in the pursuit of inflated pigs' bladders. From early colonial times Maori had eagerly competed against Pakeha in boats and on horses. Cricket seemed too arcane � what was the point of a game which often had no winner? � but football appealed. In 1872, 'Wirihana' became the first recorded Maori rugby player when he turned out for Wanganui 'Country' in a 20-a-side fixture against their urban counterparts (the scoreless match was replayed and eventually abandoned when the Town captain led his men from the field in protest against their rivals' 'rough-and-tumble' tactics). While some all-Maori clubs were formed, such as Kiri Kiri near Thames, mixed-race teams were more common in areas with substantial Maori populations, such as Poverty Bay. Maori in areas which had been 'loyal' to the Crown during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s seem to have taken up rugby sooner than those living elsewhere. It appears that the teams which represented the provincial unions that were formed from 1879 were selected on the basis of merit. Jack Taiaroa and Joseph Warbrick were key members of the first representative New Zealand team, which toured New South Wales in 1884. Taiaroa was the son of the politician H. K. Taiaroa. A halfback, he had apparently played for his province at the age of fifteen; his 'brilliant runs' saw him singled out in advertisements for matches. |
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