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.
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.
The mid-century decades brought more mass participation in sport, the consolidation of many national competitions, and greater achievement at international level.
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.
The third and final test would decide the series. Peter Burke, the All Blacks manager later described it as 'a magnificent game' and felt that the All Blacks had a 'job to do for New Zealand rugby and the rugby-loving people of New Zealand'. Once more, off-field events overshadowed the game itself.
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.
We present ourselves to the world by the way we dress and wear our hair. Whether we have carefully selected from a full wardrobe or simply grabbed the first thing at hand, our clothing is indicative of our lifestyles, our choices, the times and places in which we live.
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.
During the final year of a Governor-General's term of office, the larger towns and cities put on official farewells and functions, such as this New Zealand Maoris versus New Zealand rugby match.
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.
This is the official souvenir programme from the third test in the first series played between the Springboks and the All Blacks in 1921. Played at Athletic Park, the score was 0–0 and the series was drawn 1–1.
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
This scene shows action from the second test of the 1956 series at Athletic Park. The Springboks won 8–3 but the All Blacks prevailed in the series 3-1.
Map showing opinion on the Springbok tour around New Zealand. Opinion on social and political issues often differed sharply between the cities and the rest of New Zealand.
In 1999 Colin Meads was named as New Zealand's Player of the Century and the International Rugby Hall of Fame rated him ‘the most famous forward in world rugby throughout the 1960s.’
Joe Warbrick was the captain, coach and selector for the New Zealand Natives' tour of Britain in 1888-89, the first New Zealand representative rugby team to tour beyond Australia.
Jersey worn by Stan Young during the Second New Zealand Expeditionary
Force (2NZEF) rugby team tour of the United Kingdom, Ireland, France
and Germany, 1945-1946.
The Freyberg Cup - named after General Bernard Freyberg DSO VC - is a
New Zealand Army rugby trophy first played for by units of the Second
New Zealand Division during the Second World War
A deflated rugby ball used in a game between 19 Battalion, Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force and 1 Battalion, Welch Regiment in Egypt, 6 April 1940.
Tom Ellison was captain of NZ's first official rugby team
in 1893. He invented the wing forward position and in 1903 wrote one of the game's
first coaching manuals. Off
the field he worked as an interpreter in the Native Land Court and became one of the first Maori to be admitted to the Bar.
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.
Dave Gallaher was captain of the1905 ‘Originals’ rugby team, the first to be known as the All Blacks. His death while fighting overseas during the First World War ensured that he acquired a mystique that transcended sport.
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.
Thirteen former All Black rugby players were killed in the First World War. The most famous of these was Sergeant Dave Gallaher who captained the All Black Originals.
Sporting ties with South Africa during the apartheid years became a source of great debate and division in New Zealand society. Kiwi Records released a 45 to mark the 1960 All Black rugby tour.
A 1981 All Black, Doug Rollerson, and flour-bomb pilot Marx Jones provide opposing views on the tour in this 2006 interview. Both are adamant that they were right in the stance they took at the time.
The Poverty Bay team travelled to the game in the back of a meat truck to avoid detection by protestors. This set the pattern for the remainder of the tour, with each side trying to outsmart the opposition on game day.
The Citizens' All Black Tour Association, of which Ngai Tahu leader Frank Winter was a prominent member, campaigned to stop the selection of a racially based All Black touring team with the slogan 'No Maoris – No Tour'.
Around 5000 anti-tour protestors marched on Rugby Park in Hamilton. They tore down a perimeter fence just before kick-off, and about 350 protestors invaded the pitch.
This was a tour of New Zealand's provincial heartland – to the homes of grassroots rugby – but the 1981 Springbok tour, which began in Gisborne on 22 July, pitched New Zealanders against each other.
With the staging of the Rugby World Cup, rugby had established itself as a commercial market, and the financial viability of the world cup concept was assured.
