Here it is... at last... 2011 Rugby World Cup started again yesterday (NZ time...) in Auckland, and the whole rugby planet is thrilled about this long time expected competition... Let's honour RWC 2011 host by celebrating the very first New Zealand team in history.
Here are the 18 first "All Blacks"... 18 gentlemen who toured New South Wales in 1884 (quite successusfully indeed... won: 8 lost: nil... details here)... Full size picture here (source : A.C.Swan's "History of New Zealand Rugby Football" 1945) and there (NZ NatLib - lovely original photography!)
And now a couple of facts...
First, not to forget that this legendary "All Blacks" name was forged in 1905 only (so to say...) by newspapers during their famous tour in Great Britain, France and the USA (btw check these cool pictures of that tour gathered by the Rugby Memorabilia Society in 2005... )
Second, the 1884 NZ rugby kit was not black with a silver fern... but dark blue with a golden fern...
Left is H.Robert's grand son showing this very first fern... a treasure now kept by New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North... and a full story to be read on the Museum website here...
Below are two pictures of another wonderful piece of rugby memorabilia: an honour cap from the 1884 NZ squad that shows this dark blue colour... a unique kit as all following teams then elected to wear black jersey with a silver fern... official colours since 1893 thanks to the efforts of prominent Maori player Thomas Ellison.
Historian Ron Palenski (Hello, Ron !) gives more details about it in this recent interview .
This cap will be auctioned in Auckland on next October 13th together with some other great pieces of international rugby memorabilia. A warm thank you to Hamish at "Art+Object" auction house for providing these pictures in advance... I'll give more details about the sale when the catalogue is ready... in the meantime, there's a teaser here...
Memorabilia fans will also love the signed photography of the 1905 All Blacks...
And now some rugby trivia to challenge your friends...
I've zoomed on the picture of the 1884 NZ team to introduce Thomas "Darby" Ryan (left) and Jack Taiaroa (right)...
Thomas "Darby" Ryan - All Black n°12 - was a fairly verstile gentlemen (his bio here). After his sporting career, he spent some time in Paris to study art... where he was picked to referee the final of French Club Championship in 1893 (first title of my faves Stade Français...)... HIs bio mentions that "he was also an accomplished pianist, an excellent trout fisherman and an expert yachtsman."
John "Jack" Taiaroa - All Black n°13 - is to be recorded as the first Maori international player in NZ (his bio here), and also the best try scorer of that 1884 tour. Sean Fagan (www.rugbeia.com and @rugbeia) has written a detailed story about Taiaora and of how Australian players were impressed by his skills and speed.
Stay tuned, I'll be back...
"he was also an accomplished pianist, an excellent trout fisherman and an expert yachtsman" - I wish that was on my resume!
Good page Frederic! Full of facts & pics!
Posted by: Rugbeia | 10/09/2011 at 02:54
the very definition of versatility :-)
Posted by: Frederic | 11/09/2011 at 01:31
I have a 1884 all blacks cap but its differnt to that one?
Posted by: jeremy | 27/10/2011 at 06:28