Otago rugby - Regional rugby | NZHistory, New Zealand history online

Australian miners introduced Victorian Rules to Otago, and there was a brief flirtation with Association Football’s ‘dribbling game’ before Otago men enthusiastically grasped rugby. In 1881 a union of 11 clubs stretching from Ōamaru to Invercargill was established. Southland broke away in 1887, beginning one of New Zealand’s strongest inter-provincial rugby rivalries. These two unions have played each other more often than any other New Zealand provincial teams. Otago’s 2010 Ranfurly Shield challenge against Southland was the 232nd match between the two southern unions. While Southland has had the better of recent fixtures, Otago holds a commanding overall lead with 142 victories to Southland’s 80. Ten games have been drawn.

Between 1935 and 1950 Otago and Southland had a stranglehold on the Ranfurly Shield, trading possession of the coveted Log o’ Wood. Sixty years would pass before the two southern unions met again in the Ranfurly Shield. In August 2010 Southland repelled Otago 16–12 in a typically hard-fought match between the old rivals.

With its own representative on the Rugby Football Union in England, the Otago union spurned the nationwide efforts in 1892 to form a New Zealand Rugby Football Union. But frustration at the Home unions’ indifference to the colonial game and its inability to play matches against unions affiliated with the national body led Otago to join the NZRFU in 1895.

More than 150 players have worn both the blue and gold of Otago and the black jersey of New Zealand. As a university town, Dunedin has attracted players from all over the country. The city’s University Club has produced more All Blacks than any other club in the country. Dunedin’s ‘scarfies’ (university students), whether as players or fans, have helped spread support for Otago beyond its own borders in a way that is unique in New Zealand.

Otago plays in the professional ITM Cup. Along with North Otago and Southland, Otago is part of the Highlanders Super Rugby franchise.

Richard Knight played a record 170 games for Otago between 1981 and 1992. His teammate Greg Cooper scored a record 1520 points for the union between 1984 and 1996, as well as 63 points for the All Blacks in seven tests.

The Brook

Dunedin’s Carisbrook ground looms large in the history of Otago rugby. The curtain came down on 'The Brook' as a venue for test and first-class rugby in Dunedin in 2011, when the roofed Forsyth Barr Stadium in the north of the city opened in time to host Rugby World Cup matches. Nicknamed ‘The House of Pain’ by those marketing Otago rugby in the professional era, Carisbrook was a tough venue for visiting teams. Otago players apparently gave it the nickname because of how much they suffered at practices, but it was soon used to intimidate visiting sides. In over a century of test rugby at the venue it also became a tough venue for visiting teams. Prior to the final All Blacks game there in July 2011 the All Blacks had lost only five of their 37 tests at Carisbrook.

Otago has inflicted its fair share of pain on visiting teams, especially those from the British Isles. The Anglo-Welsh (the forerunner of the British Lions) were defeated 9–6 in 1908, and their successors were defeated in 1950, 1959, 1966 and 1993. England lost in 1963, Australia in 1972 and 1978, and the Springboks in 1994.

The antics of the ‘scarfies’ on the ground’s terraces did much to give Carisbrook its unique atmosphere. Former Welsh captain Eddie Butler had mixed emotions when he heard of its imminent demise. ‘There is nothing the outside world should like to see more than its closure … but hell, we need these special places, where opponents tread with trepidation’.

Until a new stand was built in 1998, the ‘Scotsman’s Grandstand’ – a railway embankment above the ground – offered fans a free view of the ground. Passing trains stopped or slowed to a crawl to give passengers a chance to watch the action.

Movers and shakers

The organiser of the first New Zealand team to tour overseas in 1884 was Dunedin’s Samuel Sleigh.

The best coach never to coach the All Blacks?

‘Young Vic’ Cavanagh had an ability to get the most out of his teams. One story has it that in the 1947 shield defence against Auckland, Otago finding itself down 12–3 at halftime was given the silent treatment by the coach. When the referee blew his whistle to signal that the players should return to the field, he finally broke his silence: ‘Come on girls, out you go again’. Otago won the match 18–12.

Many believe that Cavanagh should have coached the 1949 All Black team in South Africa, especially as this included 11 Otago players. Others thought he was only interested in ‘his’ players. The 1949 captain and later Auckland and All Black coach Fred Allen was not among the latter. The All Blacks lost the series 4–0 and Cavanagh remains perhaps the best coach never to have coached the All Blacks.

The iconic 1905 All Blacks – the ‘Originals’ – were coached by another Otago man, Jimmy Duncan. Otago-born Tom Ellison was captain of the first team selected by the NZRFU in 1893 (17 Otago men have followed him in this role). It was also Ellison who suggested that the national side wear a plain black jersey with a silver fern.

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