Rugby Union in New Zealand
Rugby Union is the unofficial national sport in New Zealand and an integral part of New Zealand culture. Thenational team called All Blacks has been in first place in the world rugby rankings since November 12, 2012 with 92.91 points. The New Zealand women rugby defended their title in Canada in 2006. The first rugby match in New Zealand took place in 1870.
The responsible association is the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU). The national championships are the Air New Zealand Cup for professionals and the Heartland Championship for amateurs. Superordinate to these is the Super Rugby League , which also includes teams from South Africa , Australia , Argentina and Japan . New Zealand hosted the first World Cup in 1987 and the 2011 World Cup .
history
Rugby Union was introduced in New Zealand by Charles John Munro, son of David Munro , who was then Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He had learned about the game when he was a student at Christ's College Finchley in London . After returning to New Zealand, he introduced it to Nelson College . On April 14, 1870, the first New Zealand rugby match between Nelson College and Nelson Football Club took place in the Botanic Reserve . A visit by Munro to Wellington led to the first organized meeting between Nelson and Wellington. The game quickly spread to other regions. By the mid 1870s, rugby was already being played in a majority of the colony's regions. In 1875 the first selection team was formed, a delegation of clubs from Auckland , which undertook a tour of the South Island .
From 1879 onwards, solid structures began to form, with the establishment of regional associations (e.g. in Canterbury and Auckland). In 1882, the first foreign team to visit New Zealand, a selection from New South Wales that played games on both main islands. Two years later, a New Zealand selection made a return visit; the players wore blue jerseys with a golden fern. In 1888 the British Isles' very first tour took place, taking them to Australia and New Zealand. In 1888 and 1889, the New Zealand Natives , a privately sponsored, unofficial and composed almost entirely of Māori team, were the first selection from a British colony to play games in Great Britain. In 1892, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was founded. The first tour officially sanctioned by the NZRFU followed in 1893 and included ten games in Australia.
In 1902, Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly , Governor General of New Zealand , donated a trophy that was later named Ranfurly Shield and is now the most prestigious trophy in the country. Between September 1905 and February 1906, a New Zealand selection that became famous as the Original All Blacks toured the United Kingdom , France and California . She completed 35 games, including five caps. The New Zealanders left the field as winners 34 times, with only one narrow defeat against Wales .
During their triumphant advance, the New Zealanders took notice of the variant Rugby League ( rugby 13), which had emerged only ten years earlier and was mainly played in the north of England . One of the players, George William Smith, met the businessman James J. Giltinan from Sydney on his way home and discussed the possibilities of this rugby variant with him. New Zealander Albert Henry Baskervill heard about the game in a magazine and contacted the English Rugby League Association to organize a tour to New Zealand. The NZRFU learned of this plan and put a lot of pressure on players and officials. Despite strong resistance, a New Zealand team was formed, which was referred to as an allusion to the non-existent payment of the All Blacks as "All Golds". However, rugby league did not come close to the same importance as rugby union in New Zealand.
In the first few decades, the New Zealand style of play was considered to be quite crude, it wasn't until the 1930s that more emphasis was placed on technique and tactics. The All Blacks' tour to South Africa in 1940 was one of the first sporting events to be canceled due to World War II . Most of the national competitions were also suspended. Rugby was, however, played by members of the military who competed with the South African allies during breaks in combat.
The first season of the National Provincial Championship took place in 1976 (was replaced in 2006 by the Air New Zealand Cup and the Heartland Championship ). At the beginning, the first division consisted of seven teams from the North Island and four from the South Island. The remaining provincial teams took part in a second division, which was divided into a north and a south group. Special relegation rules ensured that the number of teams from north and south in the first division always remained the same.
Due to South Africa's apartheid policy, numerous Māori players refused to play there. Public protests and political pressure attempted to persuade the NZRFU either not to nominate any Māori at all or to forego games in South Africa entirely. Prime Minister Robert Muldoon eventually gave the All Blacks “permission” to play games in South Africa. This controversial decision led to protests from numerous African countries demanding that New Zealand be excluded from the 1976 Summer Olympics . When the International Olympic Committee did not respond (on the grounds that rugby was not an Olympic sport), these states stayed away from the Games.
The 1981 Springbok tour is arguably the most controversial in rugby history. From July to September, the Springboks (the South African national team) played several games in New Zealand. But the tour had been highly controversial long before that. Many condemned it as supporting white rule in South Africa, while others pointed to the strained relations in their own country (especially with the Māori). Prime Minister Muldoon took the position that politics should not interfere with sport. The games were well attended, but there were sometimes violent protests in numerous cities. In Hamilton, 350 demonstrators tore down the barriers and stormed the pitch, street battles broke out in Wellington and during the last game in Auckland, sacks of flour were dropped onto the pitch from a low-flying plane. The Supreme Court banned the All Blacks from visiting South Africa in 1985.
In 1987 the NZRFU wrote a letter to the International Rugby Football Board proposing a World Cup. The Australian Rugby Union , the Australian federation, had also independently submitted this idea, and so the Rugby Union World Cup 1987 was awarded to New Zealand and Australia. The All Blacks advanced to the final, beat France and became the first ever world champions.
During the 1980s, New Zealand provincial teams had competed in the South Pacific Championship along with teams from Australia and Fiji . This competition was relaunched in 1992 under the name Super Six and later expanded to Super 10. After the professionalization of rugby union in the mid-1990s, the associations of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa formed the SANZAR consortium, which launched the Super 12 competition ( Super 14 since 2006 ). In 1996 SANZAR also laid the foundation stone for the Tri Nations competition . New Zealand was originally intended to host the 2003 World Cup , but after disagreements with the world governing body, Australia was chosen as the sole host country. In 2006 New Zealand prevailed against Japan and was awarded the contract to host the 2011 World Cup .
popularity
In New Zealand there are currently around 141,000 licensed players (around 3.5% of the total population) and 520 clubs. A 2001 survey found that 14% of young people aged 5 to 17 and 6% of all adults regularly play rugby union. The regions Otago & Southland (19%), Northland (17%) and Waikato (17%) had the highest proportions of young players. Among the male population, rugby union has the highest proportion of both athletes and spectators, but it only ranks sixth among women. One reason for the widespread use of rugby union is the fact that it is a "classless" game that appeals to all segments of the population equally.
Rugby Union is the unofficial national sport of New Zealand. In colonial times, it served to maintain the loyalty of emigrants to the British monarchy . The tour of the "New Zealand Natives" of 1888/89 made it clear that New Zealand could keep up with other countries, which was not the case at all with cricket , for example . The highly successful tour of the "Original All Blacks" in 1905/06 laid the foundation for New Zealand national pride.
Rugby Union won many followers among the Maori very early on , as this sport suited their physical abilities. In 1872 Wirihana was the first indigenous peoples to be known to have been used in a rugby match, in an encounter between the province and the city of Wanganui . Some clubs were only formed with Maori such as B. Kiri Kiri in Thames , but mixed teams were much more common early on. Inextricably linked to the New Zealand national team is the war dance Haka , which is performed before the start of every international match.
National teams
The All Blacks are the most famous and successful team in the history of international rugby. She has played 443 international matches; 96 defeats and 19 draws stand against 328 wins (as of May 12, 2008). The All Blacks' first game took place on August 15, 1903 in Sydney against Australia and ended 22: 3 for the New Zealanders. Major rugby nations like Argentina, Scotland and Ireland are still waiting for their first victory today.
The Junior All Blacks are not a junior selection, but the second official national team after the All Blacks. You are participating in the Pacific Nations Cup . New Zealand Māori is a selection that will play against teams that are visiting New Zealand. To be accepted into this team, a player must be at least 1/16 of the Māori descent (i.e. at least one great-great-grandparent).
The Heartland XV team, originally known as the New Zealand Divisional XV, was re-launched in 2006 and consists entirely of players who played in the Heartland Championship amateur league during the previous season. So it's practically an amateur national team. The women's national team is referred to as Black Ferns . She has won four of the six women's world championships held so far . New Zealand Sevens is the national team in rugby seven . She participates in the IRB Sevens World Series , the Rugby Seven World Championships and the Commonwealth Games .
National competitions
In 2006 the Air New Zealand Cup was launched. This is the main national competition in New Zealand rugby. 14 provincial teams take part in this professional championship, the successor to Division 1 of the former National Provincial Championship (NPC). Also in 2006 was the Heartland Championship , an amateur championship with the remaining twelve provincial teams in the country. The Hanan Shield between the provinces of North Otago , South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury will also be held there. In addition, each province represented in the Air New Zealand Cup and Heartland Championship organizes its own regional club championships.
The most prestigious trophy is the Ranfurly Shield , which was first awarded in 1904. To this day, the competition is based on a challenge system rather than a league or knockout system, as is common in other sports. The province that holds the shield must defend it in challenge games until another province wins and becomes the new holder of the trophy.
International competitions
Super 14 is an international championship with provincial teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. It was launched under the name Super 12 in 1996 after SANZAR had made sport more professional. There are currently five teams from New Zealand, five from South Africa and four from Australia. Each team plays once against all the others, after which the winner is determined in a semi-final and a final. The representatives of New Zealand are Blues , Crusaders , Hurricanes , Chiefs and Highlanders .
Tri Nations is an annual competition between the three strongest national rugby teams in the southern hemisphere , Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Each team plays three times against the other two. The New Zealanders have dominated this competition since it was launched in 1996, while South Africa and Australia have only won it twice so far. However, there seems to be a serious change in this competition in the near future. The reason for this is the increased performance of Argentina, which won the bronze medal at the 2007 World Cup, while New Zealand and Australia were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
The Bledisloe Cup is a reflection of the rivalry between Australia and New Zealand and was first held in 1932. Up to and including 1981 it was carried out at irregular intervals, since then every year and since 1996 within the framework of Tri Nations. By 2006, New Zealand had won this competition 67 times, Australia 30 times, and there were four draws.
In 2006 the Pacific Nations Cup took place for the first time . Five teams from the Pacific region take part in this competition. These are the Junior All Blacks as well as the national teams of Fiji , Japan , Samoa and Tonga .
The Churchill Cup is a competition for men and women that was launched in 2003 to promote rugby union in Canada and the United States and to introduce new players to the English national team. In 2004 New Zealand was invited for the first time, represented by the selection New Zealand Māori and the Black Ferns .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ World Rankings . International Rugby Board , archived from the original on April 15, 2012 ; accessed on September 9, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ New Zealand All Blacks Rugby and the Haka . New Zealand Active Adventures , archived from the original on February 3, 2011 ; accessed on May 12, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ The beginnings of Rugby League in New Zealand
- ↑ Sport, 1940-1960 . New Zealand History , accessed September 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Playing Numbers . International Rugby Board , archived from the original on May 6, 2007 ; accessed on September 9, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Interest and participation in selected sports among New Zealand adolescents . In: The New Zealand Medical Journal . New Zealand Medical Association June 4, 2014, archived from the original October 21, 2008 ; accessed on December 30, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Natives' Rugby Tour, 1888-89 . New Zealand History , accessed September 9, 2014 .
- ↑ All Black Matches . Rugby Museum , archived from the original on September 28, 2012 ; accessed on December 30, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).