Rugby memorabilia sprouts from Horotane Vine

Press, 2 June 1982, Page 30

Rugby memorabilia sprouts from Horotane Vine

By

JOHN BROOKS

A hobby spawned in that ; great rugby year, 1956, led to a booming, burgeoning mag-pie-like existence for a devout Christchurch footballing fan, Russell Vine. In common with many other youngsters of the 19505, he began innocently by hoarding rugby programmes. His interest in footballing mementoes grew as his acquisitions mounted up, and today he possesses a miniature rugby museum which is the envy of other amateur collectors throughout the country. His showpiece'is a downstairs room in his Horotane Valley home, where jersies, books, programmes, . autographed footballs,. rosettes, ties and tankards are spread out. in glittering array. But there are three other rooms also chockful of unsorted material, and the former All Black prop, Kerry Tanner, suggested to Russell Vine that he should rent Cowles Stadium as a flat. Easily the highlight of Russell Vine’s collecting career has been his marathon effort in securing the autographs of All Blacks on the end papers of the gigantic full-sized edition of “Men in Black.” ;<’• He lugged thechunky volume to several parts of New Zealand in. his quest, often returning to Christchurch in a lopsided condition. But in three years he has gained 684 signatures; 31 of those All Blacks' have , since died. His devotion to the onerous task earned him the nickname of “Book” from Tanner. ■<./ The avid Christchurch collector has not been able to play any pool at home, recently. The-reason is that his pool table has been top dressed by a layer of pro- . grammes several, .centimetres thick, and is likely to remain so until he increases his bookshelf space. His most venerable programme is one for the 1904 match between Bedell-Siev-

wright’s British side and New South Wales, for which the curtain-raiser was Te Aute College against the forerunner of N.S.W. Combined High Schools. This is a substantial item, mounted on cardboard and with a blue and gold embossed cover. They did things in style in those days. He possesses a programme for New Zealand’s first home international, against Britain at Athletic Park in 1904; most of the programmes and menus from the 1924-25 “InVincibles” tour; and is amassing Ranfurly Shield programmes and binding them in yearly lots.' The apparel section includes a Fiji blazer, an All Black tracksuit, and a wide variety of jersies, the pride of which is a 1981 World XV garment, which has so many ' emblems on the chest that it looks as if it has been attacked by a crazed fruit salad thrower. He has an All Black jersey from Rex Orr, a New Zealand full-back in 1949, the rare white New Zealand jersey from Tanner, and a pair of vintage Kiwi shorts — a substantial garment in these days of cutaway styles — from the renowned Wally Argus. ■ .. ; There are caps, too, including one from the. Hamilton R U, before the days of the Waikato’s formation, and one from the West Coast in 1923 — the only year in which they were presented “over the hili.” This tasselled item was once the property of Mr Merv Jamieson, a solicitor who is still practising on the Coast. ... Many important items in the collection have come from Tanner, another Canterbury All Black. . Terry Mitchell, and a former Australian No. 8 of the 19305, Aub Hodgson. As his reputation as a collector has grown,

so have the items given to him. “People send me anything relating to football,” he said. But Russell Vine does not wait for the historic material to come to him. He is constantly on the look-out for new books, and has been to Australia to boost his collection. When the Welsh centenary was ‘held in 1980, he outlaid $BOO to secure tickets, place mats, tea towels, coins, programmes and a replica of a Red Dragon jersey. That, however, is. just a drop in the bucket for him. Ask Russell how much his hobby has cost him, and he will answer: “$20,000 — and that’s a conservative figure." However, there are always exciting additions to his col-

lection coming to hand. A recent example was the discovery of a photograph of a nineteenth century Scottish team used as the backing for a painting. That is the type of acquisition which constantly fires his enthusiasm. Living as he does close to Ferrymead, Russell Vine is most museum-minded. In the long term he thinks he will one day donate his collection to a responsible organisation which is keen to preserve the past; the proposed new rugby union offices at Lancaster Park might be a suitable resting place. But that is still a long way off for “Book” Vine. In the meantime he plans to continue indulging in his unusual pursuit, with the blessing of his bride of a month, who says simply: “It is good for a man to have a hobby."