Rugby

Rugby Union is our national sport. From the 1888 'Natives' to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, from games on the Egyptian desert in World War II to matches behind barbed-wire during the 1981 Springbok Tour, from bullrush at the local primary school to heaving crowds outside Eden Park, New Zealanders have made rugby their game. This book is the first history of rugby and the New Zealanders from the game's beginnings in England, through its arrival in New Zealand around 1870 and on to its evolution into our national game. This is a story of how Maori and then Pacific Islanders made the game their own, how on-going battles around amateurism and South Africa threatened the sport, how national teams, provinces and local clubs shaped the game. But above all it is a story of wing forwards and fullbacks, of Don Clark and Jonah Lomu, of the block of wood and the ABCs, of supporters on the grandstand and crackling radios at 2 a.m. The story of rugby is New Zealand's story. Rooted in extensive research in archives and newspapers, and highly illustrated with many rare photographs and ephemera, this book is the defining history of New Zealanders' relationship with their favourite sport, and the history of rugby in a land that has made the game its own.

Short-listed for PANZ Book Design Awards: Best Cover 2016

“"This book gets to the heart of New Zealand rugby. Ron Palenski shows that he understands what makes the game tick at all levels. It's frank, to the point, the real story." --Sir Colin Meads”

“This book gets to the heart of New Zealand rugby. Ron Palenski shows that he understands what makes the game tick at all levels. It’s frank, to the point, the real story.” - Sir Colin Meads

“For anyone who is interested in looking beyond the names, the dates, the half-truths and the mythologies and entering the realm of rugby’s place in our history, this is a must-read.” - Chris Laidlaw

Ron Palenski is an author and historian and among the most recognised authorities on the history of sport, and especially rugby, in New Zealand. He has written numerous books, among them an academic study, The Making of New Zealanders, that placed rugby firmly as a marker in national identity.

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