1905 New Zealand Rugby Tour of the UK and it's Myths
Uploaded by apollo_crash on Aug 15, 2007
In 1905 the New Zealand rugby team toured the British Isles and won an unprecedented thirty-one games out of the thirty-two played, with a total of 830 points and only a mere thirty-nine conceded. It is from this outstanding achievement that the 1905 All Black team have been hailed as New Zealand heroes, heroes that would stand to shape the nation. In the 1980’s historians began to explore documentation from the conquest of England and used their findings to influence their readers. Ideas were borne about masculinity, patriotism and nationalism. What these historians failed to do is report both sides of their findings, how the New Zealand rugby team of 1905 were also considered as loutish, ungentlemanly cheats, and not in any way superior to their English counterparts. As for tackling the myth, in some ways it could be beneficial to New Zealander’s never to have the myth tackled at all, many areas of our nationhood are likely to have benefited from ideas about the tour even if part of it is fallacy. On the other hand, as an academic it is important to always seek the truth and expose facts wherever they may lie. Especially in this age, masculinity in this millennium is not as respected as it was, and the truth of our nations premiere sport may give the modern metro-sexual a feeling of relief.
Before they left for England, the New Zealand rugby team who had not yet been entitled “All Blacks”, played five matches against New Zealand provincial teams and state and provincial teams in Australia. They only just won playing Auckland, won two matches against Australia and drew one, then returned home to play Wellington where they lost 0-3. Public opinion at home of the New Zealand rugby team was not very high and there was an attitude that the best players had not been selected#. The smoke concert that was held to farewell the team was poorly attended and many jibes were printed in newspaper cartoons#. The team was not expected to do well and there was a general malaise and disinterest in their progress overseas. Daley, Nauright and Richardson all report this in their findings and it has never been contested that the public in New Zealand were of any other mind set. The public in England showed a little...