In a country where rugby is often referred to as a religion, hosting and winning the first Rugby World Cup was a big deal. The story of how the tournament came about mixes the worlds of sport, politics and money.
In June 1982 soccer seized the country’s imagination, when the national side – the All Whites – took on the best in the world at the World Cup finals in Spain. To get there, the team had to battle through an epic qualifying schedule of 15 games.
Relive some of the highs and lows in the history of New Zealand's most popular summer team sport, cricket. Although the game has been played here since the 1830s, international success – especially against traditional rivals England and Australia – was a long time coming.
For 56 days in July, August and September 1981, New Zealanders were divided against each other in the largest civil disturbance seen since the 1951 waterfront dispute. The cause of this was the visit of the South African rugby team – the Springboks.
A Scottish immigrant woman describes playing indoor activities and basketball and walking in the bush with friends. Extract from Journey for Three, NZ National Film Unit Laboratories,1950.
The mid-century decades brought more mass participation in sport, the consolidation of many national competitions, and greater achievement at international level.
Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence Wright was a doctor in the Medical Corps. At Gerawla he helped set up the hospital, but was also sports officer, responsible for making a rugby field as he describes here
The title of 'The Originals' was bestowed on the next New Zealand rugby team to tour Britain, that of 1905-6, but even though it was soon forgotten, the Natives' tour was to have enduring significance for New Zealand rugby and society.
Since rugby went professional in 1995 countries like Australia, England and France have challenged New Zealand and South Africa's claims to be the two powerhouses of world rugby.
Keeping sport and politics separate was becoming increasingly difficult. In July 1969 HART (Halt All Racist Tours) was founded by Auckland University students with the specific aim of opposing sporting contact with South Africa.
The All Blacks accepted an invitation to tour South Africa in 1976, a time when world attention was firmly fixed on the republic because of the Soweto riots.
After playing nine matches in New Zealand and two in Melbourne in the southern winter of 1888 (with only two losses), the Natives set off for Britain by steamer.
The tour supporters were determined that the first Springbok visit to New Zealand since 1965 would not be spoiled. The anti-tour movement was equally determined to show its opposition to it.
Between their first and last matches in Britain, the Natives played on average every 2.3 days, compared with the modern routine of twice a week for parties of 30 or more.
Although 'hacking' (tackling players carrying the ball by kicking them) and tripping had been banned in the 1870s to make the game safe enough to appeal to 'gentlemen', rugby remained dangerous.
In Hamilton the protestors occupying the pitch had chanted 'The whole world is watching'. The same applied to New Zealand as a nation. Some believed the tour was an opportunity to address racism in New Zealand and show solidarity with the oppressed black majority in South Africa.
In 1888, while the gentlemen who ran the Rugby Union and the Empire were based in southern England, and the England test was played in London, the playing strength of the English game was in the north.
The New Zealanders were given little hope against their opposition in Group 6, which was dubbed the ‘pool of death’. This group included the cup favourites, Brazil, plus powerful sides from the Soviet Union and Scotland.
What effect did the Natives' tour have on rugby and wider New Zealand society? It showed that New Zealanders could compete on equal terms with representatives of the imperial centre at rugby in a way they were embarrassingly unable to do at cricket
The story of New Zealand
writing wouldn't be complete without acknowledging the important role sport has
played as a source of inspiration for many New Zealand writers. For some
writers sport is a subject of loathing, but the reality is Kiwis can't seem to
get enough of sports books.
The sports writer Peter Heidenstrom rated Yvette Williams as his 'New
Zealand Athlete of the Century'. There is no doubt that she was one of
our greatest-ever athletes - and probably the most versatile.
All Black captain David Kirk kisses the Webb Ellis Cup at Eden Park after the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and France on 22 June 1987.
The cult of masculinity had one positive spin-off: Arthur Lydiard. A runner of iron will but limited natural ability, he discovered that as he ran further he got fitter.
Women's sport matured in New Zealand after 1945. Mass participation in a period of prosperity, and increased mobility thanks to the now-common motor car, were crucial factors.
Sports participation and spectatorship were the only daytime leisure activities to rival home-centred pursuits such as gardening in this period. New Zealand's hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 1950 encouraged participation in sport and confidence in our ability to compete at international level.
