COUNTRY RUGBY IS 100 YEARS OLD

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34151, 12 May 1976, Page 16

COUNTRY RUGBY IS 100 YEARS OLD

The playing of the first Town v. Country fixture on Cranmer Square in 1976 is one of the many interesting facts detailed in a new rugby history “Country Rugby in Canterbury, 1876— 1975” by R. J. M. Millar. of Rangiora. Printed by the Ellesmere Guardian the book of about 120 pages is to be released this week. The result of that match was apparently one of the lesser aspects as Mr Millar’s delving in old records failed to discover this, but a newspaper report recorded that “the game was rough.” The match was followed by the selection of a Canterbury team. From the records that Mr Millar unearthed it seems that another 31 years elapsed before the playing of the next Town v. Country match in 1907 led to the establishment of the series of annual fixtures. The book is believed to be the first centennial history of rugby compiled above dub level in New Zealand, which is not unexpected as no union in the country is yet 100 years old. The publication of the book is the culmination of four years of research and writing involving hundreds of hours of checking of old files of newspapers, former weekly journals, rugby publications, the records of rugby organisations, and interviewing personalities with long associations with the game. In the course of this work Mr Millar travelled many hundreds of miles.

Mr Miliar pinpoints 1876 as the start of country rugby on the basis of a match played by the Rangiora (formerly North Canterbury) club. The club was formed in Rangiora in 1875 but the records of that year do not specify which code was played by the club.

In the next year, however, the club played a match against Christchurch at Rangiora on June 10, when soccer rules applied for the first half and rugby for the second. The records available to Mr Millar established that the Rangiora players in that match preferred rugby and its rules were adopted for subsequent matches. The book attempts to capture the enthusiasm that has contributed to the success of rugby as a sport

in the country areas of Canterbury, including Ashburton until 1927, when it was granted direct affiliation as a union of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. Perhaps the most significant aspect of this enthusiasm is the long mileages travelled by players in rural Canterbury to keep their rugby commitments, especially in earlier days, when travelling to home-and-away fixtures sometimes meant long night travelling and overnight stays at match venues. Tribute is paid also to the place of Christchurch secondary schools as nurseries of prominent country players. Highlights of the development of rugby in Canterbury country are recorded in chronological annual summaries. Mention is made of many great rugby players, who include a surprising number of New Zealand representatives, and the contribution of the administrators has not been overlooked. Tabulated listings have been made of representative players from Country level to All Black status, administrators (including referee and Junior

Advisory Board officers), and Country teams. In discussing the future of country rugby in Canterbury and suggestions that have been made from time to time that the SubUnions should follow MidCanterbury’s example and seek direct affiliation as a union with the N.Z.R.F.U., Mr Millar strongly advocates the retention of the present relationship within the Canterbury union. He points to the success of country players gaining All Black status compared with that of Mid-Canter-bury since it became a minor union in 1927. In that time 14 country players have gained All Black selection, largely by virtue of being associated with Canterbury teams, while Ashburton has had only one. The consideration bv Canterbury to country in the last 20 years leaves little to be desired and country has been allowed the utmost flexibility in its administration, says Mr Millar. The position is summed up by the adage that “If country is strong, Canterbury is strong.” — M.R.C.