Origins Of New Zealand Club Rugby

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30302, 30 November 1963, Page 9

Origins Of New Zealand Club Rugby

(By

J. K. MOLONEY)

'T’HIS year the Christchurch Football Club celebrated the hundredth year of its existence. At the centennial dinner of the club, Mr H. A. McPhee, president of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, congratulated the club on it's “hundred years of existence in Rugby.” Later, Mr McPhee made a public statement that the Nelson Football Club was the oldest Rugtoy Club in New Zealand. going back to 1870. He may have done this because Mr A. C. Swan, official historian for the New Zealand Rugby Union, came down heavily in favour of Nelson in his official history. Actually, Mr Swan had probably never heard of the findings of the Rugbyean Committee of 1895, and there is a strong presumption that the Christchurch Club in the ’sixties played the game according to the rules of Rugby School. Thfe committee comprising H. T. Wilson, H. H. Child. A. G. C-uillemand and H. L. Stephen, invest!-

gated the origin of Rugby at Rugby School and more particularly the events which led up to William Webb Ellis "picking up the ball and running with it ” They arrived at the following conclusions: <ll In 1830, the form of football in vogue at Rugby was something more resembling Association than what is known as Rugby Football today, (2) At some date between 1820 and 1830 the innovation was introduced of running with the ball; <3l This was in all probability done in the latter half of 1823 by Mr W. Webb Ellis. Some years ago I invited Mr Swan to my home to discuss what caused him to arrive at the conclusion that Nelson was the oldest club in New Zealand. He told me that he had spent years at the Parliamentary Library at Wellington going through all the newspaper files for data concerning Rugby beginnings in the various districts. Mr Swan was convinced by the accounts of a game. College v Town, olayed at

Nelson on May 16, 1870. He said that no other code in existence had the terms, “scrimmage," “in touch.” "touch it down.” "catch for a run,” connected with it. Therefore, he said, the Nelson Club must be taken to be the oldest in the country. I have gone back over the files of the local papers and it was not their custom to report football at length. Now. as regards the scrimmage, Morris Marples in his “History of Football" emphasised that the scrimmage was the essential and main feature of the game as developed at Rugby School. One of the things which seems to have confused the issue in the minds of so many of the old-time players in their endeavour to recall the happenings of the sixties is their haziness as to what they actually did on the field of play. Those who had played in England endeavoured to introduce some facet of the game to which they were used. Sir George Harper,

for instance, had played football at Radley and Montague Lewin at Shrewsbury. Both these schools were strongly influenced by the Rugby School game. Sir George Harper in the 1860 s drew up a set of rules which Christ's College played for a number of years. It is certain from the evidence of many observers that the Christchurch Club observed the paramount features of the Rugby School game from the startMr E. D Dobson, in 1927, in describing the Christchurch Club game among other things said. "The main points were that you must not play off-side. A drop kick might be taken from the first bound of the ball, a mark from a clean catch or you might run with the ball, from the same if you elected to do so." In an account of a match between the Christchurch Club and the Volunteers played on Latimer Square in September. 1862, there is mention of several scrimmages taking place during the course of the game.

The presence of former Rugby school boys* in Christchurch was a guarantee that the rules of the old school would be played. The Rev. J. Crosdaile Bowen was one. But the greatest influence was exerted by R. J. S. Hannan, who was at Rugby in Dr Arnolds time and took part in Bigside. He was there within 15 years of the historic run by Webb Ellis. Harman was president of the Christchurch Football Club from 1865 to 1903, and was the first president of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union. Acording to the Rugby Football Annual, the first Rugby club was Blackheath formed in 1862 They were originally called Blackheathens. In the third quarter of 1863 Richmond was formed and Manchester, two years later. The Christchurch Football Club must therefore be a strong contender for the honour of being the second oldest Rugby club in the world.