Regional rugby

The growth of provincial rugby in New Zealand

The ‘father of New Zealand rugby’

Charles Monro is believed to have introduced rugby to New Zealand. Born near Nelson, he was sent to Christ’s College at Finchley in England, where he played the version of football associated with Rugby School. When he returned to Nelson, Monro suggested that the local football club give Rugby rules a go. Nelson College also adopted the game and the two teams met in New Zealand’s first rugby match at the Botanical Reserve on Saturday 14 May 1870. The club side won 2–0. Monro visited Wellington later that year and a game between Nelson and Wellington was arranged on 12 September. Nelson won this match 2–1.

Auckland rugby team, 1883

Over the next few years rugby clubs sprang up around the colony. In 1879 provincial unions were formed in Canterbury and Wellington to administer rugby at a regional level. A number of other unions emerged over the next decade. In 1892 a New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was formed to standardise the playing and administration of the game. Its foundation members were Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Marlborough, Nelson, South Canterbury, Taranaki, Wairarapa, Wanganui and Wellington. The three major South Island unions – Canterbury, Otago and Southland – initially stayed out of the NZRFU. Internal politics have sometimes been as important in the history of rugby in this country as the actual playing of the game.

Raurimu rugby team, 1907

By 1895 Canterbury, Otago and Southland had affiliated with the central union and the Bush, Horowhenua, Poverty Bay and West Coast unions had also joined. Other unions were created over time – some splitting off from parent unions that had got too large – and some smaller unions amalgamated. In 2015 there are 26 provincial unions, 17 of them in the North Island, where more than three-quarters of the country’s population live.

Timeline of provincial unions

Regional rugby map

• 1879: Canterbury, Wellington
• 1881: Otago
• 1883: Auckland
• 1884: Hawke’s Bay
• 1885: Nelson, Taranaki
• 1886: Manawatu, Wairarapa
• 1887: Southland
• 1888: Marlborough, South Canterbury, Wanganui
• 1890: Bush, Poverty Bay, West Coast
• 1893: Horowhenua (name changed to Horowhenua-Kapiti in 1997)
• 1894: Buller
• 1904: Mid Canterbury (named Ashburton until granted full union status as Ashburton County in 1927; name changed to Mid-Canterbury in 1952), North Otago
• 1911: Bay of Plenty
• 1920: North Auckland (name changed to Northland in 1994), Golden Bay-Motueka
• 1921: Waikato
• 1922: Thames Valley, King Country, East Coast
• 1955: Counties (name changed to Counties-Manukau in 1996)
• 1969: Nelson Bays (amalgamation of Nelson and Golden Bay-Motueka)
• 1971: Wairarapa Bush (amalgamation of Wairarapa and Bush)
• 1985: North Harbour
• 2006: Tasman (amalgamation of Marlborough and Nelson Bays)

Scoring over the years

The value of tries* and kicks has changed over the century and a half rugby has been played in New Zealand. Since 1978 it has not been permissible to drop-kick a goal after taking a mark (with one foot grounded, catching a ball that has been punted by an opponent ).

* In the early days the game was all about kicking. Grounding the ball behind your opponents’ goal line won you the opportunity to ‘try’ to kick the ball between their goalposts.