1870
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By: Alan Turley is a former Nelson City councillor and noted rugby historian. He has written two books, They Gave Us Rugby and Rugby: The Pioneer Years.
Boots, knickerbockers and all
As one historian put it, "rugby had taken off like fire in the pig fern"
Who would have thought that a mere 19-year-old youth would become an influential figure in determining the future social history of New Zealand?
The year was 1870. Charles Monro, who had played the Rugby School game at Christ's College in Finchley, near London, arrived back home in Nelson with four oval balls and the idea of introducing rugby to his home town.
Rugby at that time was the largest sports code of any kind in England, apart from cricket. It was the prerogative of the English upper classes, played by most of the public secondary schools and by elite football clubs. You had to have the appropriate credentials and belong to the right social class to play.
This was in sharp contrast with New Zealand, an evolving egalitarian society, where the game would be eagerly embraced by working-class gold miners, farm labourers and town youths. Rugby was an event that was waiting to happen in the young colony.
In 1870, Nelson was a town of about 5200 with no regular winter sports activity.
During Monro's absence, in 1868, a football (hybrid type) club had been formed at the instigation of bank clerk Robert Tennant. Monro's suggestion of a game of rugby was warmly received by both Nelson College and the Nelson Football Club.
After tutelage of both teams by Monro, the game was played on Saturday, May 14, 1870 at the Botanical Reserve.
It was perhaps chance that Nelson was the first town in New Zealand to play rugby.
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One-off games of hybrid football were already being played in other centres, and the influence of English public school expatriates was soon to be felt as rugby began to take hold.
Nelson club players Monro, Tennant and Alfred Drew, "the club maker", would also be successful in introducing the game to other centres.
Within five years, there were 15 rugby clubs in New Zealand. A further 20 were formed in 1876, as clubs playing hybrid football switched to rugby.
Nelson made another important contribution to New Zealand rugby in 1876, when a Nelson College team travelled to Wellington and played Wellington College at the Basin Reserve on July 20.
This was the first game of inter-secondary school rugby to be played in New Zealand, and probably the first inter-secondary school game to be played outside Britain.
A member of the Nelson College team, JP Firth, later as headmaster of Wellington College, did more to establish the secondary school game in New Zealand than any other person. He was regarded as the doyen of secondary school rugby and as one of the country's greatest headmasters.
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Players from Nelson College (in white) try to block a player of Nelson Rugby Club during the re-enactment of the first rugby match ever played in New Zealand. Photo by Reuters.
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Another significant contributor to the establishment of rugby was the introduction of Sir Julius Vogel's Public Works Act of 1870.
As the act gradually began to take effect, improved roads, regular coastal shipping and a limited rail network helped to spread the game throughout the country over the next 30 years.
As rugby became established in other centres, particularly Auckland, Canterbury and Otago, Nelson ceased to have a leading role.
By 1890, rugby had come of age in New Zealand.
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The 1873 Nelson Rugby Football Club.
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In its first 21 years, more than 700 clubs had been established. As one historian put it, "rugby had taken off like fire in the pig fern". It was the paramount winter sport, with Victorian rules (now known as Australian rules) and soccer the only other codes.
It was due to the efforts of GP Firth and Montague Lewin of Canterbury that Victorian rules, despite strenuous efforts, failed to gain a significant foothold in the country, and it ceased to exist with the outbreak of war in 1914.
The New Zealand Rugby Football Union was formed in 1892, largely through the efforts of Edward Hoben, and by 1900 there were 20 provincial unions affiliated to it.
What had been a spontaneous yet rather disorganised shambles began to adopt the paraphernalia of rules and order.
The beginning of the 20th century effectively signalled the end of the pioneer period of New Zealand rugby.
Gone were the days when the players were also the referees, coaches and administrators of the game. By now, there were over 20 male secondary schools in the country, an ideal nursery in which to grow and consolidate the game.
It had been an amazing 30 years, during which rugby had not only taken root but had grown and developed as a national institution.
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Date: 15 August 1903
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground Competition: New Zealand 1903 Tour
Result: Australia 3 - 22 New Zealand
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In 1903, New Zealand played its first international test match, against Australia in Sydney.
In 1905, a new institution was born when the New Zealand national team was dubbed "the All Blacks" for the first time, during a tour of England.
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But what happened to Charles Monro, the callow 19-year-old who started it all?
He remained in Nelson as coach of the Nelson Rugby Football Club until 1875, when he shifted to Marlborough to help manage Bankhouse, the family farm near Renwick.
In 1887, he took up 20 hectares of land on the Fitzherbert Hills, near Palmerston North, which he named Craiglockhart.
Monro prospered as a gentleman farmer with timber milling and flax milling interests. An excellent boxer and a noted singer of Italian opera, he introduced the Japanese plum to New Zealand and became an authority on river protection and erosion control measures.
Monro played no further part in the game of rugby in New Zealand. The only recognition he received occurred in 1930, when, at the age of 79, he was the guest of the NZRFU at the fourth test in Wellington between New Zealand and the British Isles Lions.
Monro's achievement is remarkable when viewed in the context of the time.
New Zealand had been a self-governing colony for only 14 years, since 1856, and was still being pioneered and governed by Englishmen, born in England.
One of the first Pakeha children born in this country, Monro was arguably the first native-born New Zealander to ascend the stairway of achievement. His legacy was both unparalleled and far-reaching. But he remains all but forgotten.
Charles John Monro died on April 9, 1933, aged 83. He and two of his Nelson clubmates, Alfred Drew and Robert Tennant, lie buried within 50 kilometres of each other in the Manawatu.
Re-enactment of the first game of Rugby, 2011
The 18 a-side game, played at the Botanics on 20th September, 2011 re-enacted the original match between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Club.
The Rugby Club team, captained by Chris Pugh, included 15 current players and 10 retired players; the Nelson College team was their current First XV. The game was played according to the "Rugby Laws"[PDF] for 1870, as introduced by Charles Monro.
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The crowd of Nelsonians gathered at The Botanics one May day in 1870 had no idea that they were witnessing the birth of a New Zealand tradition, rugby.....
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The first recognised game of rugby played in New Zealand took place on Saturday, May 14, 1870 between a Nelson College side and the Nelson Football Club.
A crowd of around 200, including “a fair sprinkling of ladies and a goodly number of the opposite sex,” gathered at The Botanics to watch a new version of football, brought to New Zealand by Charles Monro.
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Each team had 18 players, a number agreed by the captains before the match, made up of 10 forwards, three half-backs, three three-quarters and two fullbacks. The college team was decked out in tight-fitting shirts and blue caps, while the “town” team sported street clothes, having no particular uniform.
http://www.theprow.org.nz/new-zealand-first-game-of-rugby/#.UNNx-G_hobw
http://www.theprow.org.nz/new-zealand-first-game-of-rugby/#.UNNx-G_hobw
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Nelson has celebrated its rugby roots with a re-enactment of the first game of rugby ever played in New Zealand.
Some 6000 people, including many dressed up in Victorian costume, attended the match at the Botanic Reserve, the site of the original game played between the Nelson Rugby Football Club and Nelson College in 1870.
The game was played by the same two teams in replica uniforms, with a replica rounded ball specially made for the event.
Some 6000 people, including many dressed up in Victorian costume, attended the match at the Botanic Reserve, the site of the original game played between the Nelson Rugby Football Club and Nelson College in 1870.
The game was played by the same two teams in replica uniforms, with a replica rounded ball specially made for the event.
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