HIST 243

21 June, 2010

Assessment #2 Resubmit

Rugby and Identity

The success of New Zealand’s national rugby team has helped to shape its cultural

identity. Rugby became a great source of national pride.1 By1905, the national team began to

bring recognition to the young English colony.2 The athletic prowess of the All Blacks evolved

into mythic proportions; they were seen as stronger, more agile, and overall a whole different

class of male.3 The press attributed the abilities of the All Blacks to the New Zealand rural

lifestyle, which was said to create have created superior men.4 This helped to solidify rugby as

the nation’s game, as the kiwis were separating themselves from a soft urban lifestyle that

seemed to be taking over the empire.5 Rugby has one of the most developed histories within

kiwi culture and has influenced the kiwi male stereotype.6

Two famous New Zealand historians, Jock Phillips and Keith Sinclair, promoted the idea

that rugby helped shape the pioneer identity in New Zealand. Both historians put great emphasis

on arguably the most well known All Black’s game of the time, the 1905 Welsh test. This

infamous game resulted in a 3-0 loss for the All Blacks after a controversial ruling went against

the side in the dying minutes. Although the All Blacks lost the game, the tour helped identify

New Zealand as a force to be reckoned with.7 Since the team was comprised of native-born

1 Sinclair, K., A Destiny Apart: New Zealand’s Search for National Identity, Allen & Unwin New Zealand Ltd., Wellington, NZ, 1986, pp. 153.2 Ryan, G., The Contest For Rugby Supremacy: Accounting for the 1905 All Blacks, Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, NZ, 2005, pp. 14.3 Ryan, G. eds., Tackling Rugby Myths: Rugby and New Zealand Society, University of Otago Press, Dunedin, NZ, 2005, pp. 35.4 Phillips, J., A Man’s Country? The Image of the Pakeha Male- A History, Penguin Books, Auckland, NZ, 1987, pp. 118.5 Ibid, pp. 111.6 Ibid, pp. 108.7 Sinclair, pp. 152.

kiwis, a great deal of national pride arose.8 The kiwi identity was said to encompass

egalitarianism, mateship, courage, physical toughness and mental ingenuity.9 The All Blacks

were glorified as moral heroes who played a fair game, even though they were continually

mentioned in foreign press for their dirty and rough tactics.10 Rugby was believed to have

bridged the gaps between both classes and races in the egalitarian society that characterised New

Zealand.11 As a team sport, the rugby players were working together for the better of the team

and this overt display of collaboration seemed to be how the colony as a whole wanted to be

represented.12

Rugby became one of the most developed aspects of kiwi life, especially once it was put

into the curriculum at boys’ schools.13 The idea was that placing rugby in schools would teach

boys character, masculinity, and morality which were all a huge part of the perceived kiwi

identity.14 The toughness of the sport would ultimately breed courageous men that were on par

with soldiers. Sinclair said that “rugby could be seen as a preparation for war or a substitute”,

and the press at the time glorified the sport in the same way, even going as far as comparing it to

Gallipoli.15 Overall, both Phillips and Sinclair made it overtly clear that they believe rugby

played a large role in the characterisation of the kiwi identity.

As with any heroic tale, the details of the ‘pioneer identity’ may have been glorified to fit

a socially created stereotype. For example, the ideal kiwi rugby player would have been from

rural New Zealand and was said to be tougher than nails. But in fact, when the records of All

8 Sinclair, pp. 150.9 Phillips, pp. 118-119.10 Phillips, pp. 123.11 Fougere, G., “Sport, Culture & Identity: The Rise of Rugby Football”, D. Novitzand & B. Willmott (Eds.), Culture and Identity in New Zealand, Wellington, 1989, pp. 114.12 Phillips, pp. 102-103.13 Ibid, pp. 105.14 Ibid, pp. 106.15 Sinclair, pp. 143.

Blacks were revisited it was shown that most weren’t from rural areas at all.16 Instead they were

from the larger cities because that’s where the highest level of rugby could be played due to

limitations of transportation and the availability of work.17 Another historian, Greg Ryan,

believes that the mythology surrounding the All Blacks and rugby in New Zealand may actually

convolute the reality.18,19 The All Blacks represent heroes that are held up on a pedestal by New

Zealanders. They were great to the point of almost being able to do no wrong, especially when it

came to the unofficial culture that is associated with rugby. This unofficial culture of excessive

drinking, promiscuity, and all out reckless behaviour managed to be ignored or just secretly

accepted within the sphere of rugby.20 Such a characterisation of rugby would not make it easy

for it to become a national identity, therefore, this side of rugby was unofficially accepted while

simultaneously being hidden through the mythology. It is almost as if the mythology is needed to

make it an acceptable part of a national identity. Not to say that the success of the All Blacks

didn’t help to establish New Zealand’s national identity, but their success has been glorified as

with any great sports’ powerhouse.

The Springbok Tour of 1981 changed how people thought about their national game of

rugby.21 The egalitarian society that encompassed New Zealand’s identity was publicly

challenged and this divided the nation. The South African Springbok players were selected based

on their race in an attempt to exclude all non-white players. So when the All Blacks invited the

Springboks to tour New Zealand, many Kiwis felt that this action symbolised that discrimination

based on race was socially acceptable.22 This split the rugby fans in New Zealand into two

16 Ryan, Tackling Rugby Myths: Rugby and New Zealand Society, pp. 38-39.17 Ibid, pp. 43.18 Ibid, pp. 33.19 Ryan, G., The Contest For Rugby Supremacy: Accounting for the 1905 All Blacks, pp. 26.20 Phillips, pp. 122.21 Fougere, pp. 111.22 Ibid, pp.112.

distinct groups: anti-tour and pro-tour.23 The anti-tour fans believed that New Zealand was a

much too progressive society to allow such racism within their own borders. By allowing the

Springbok’s to tour New Zealand, racism was being accepted on both a political and social level.

This was seen as something that was dismantling the rugby tradition in New Zealand because

rugby had been such a uniting force in the past. The anti-tour fans expected their national sport,

that so many kiwis identified with, to uphold their values and beliefs on and off the field. The

kiwi identity did not embrace racism, therefore, their national sport shouldn’t either. On the

other side, however, the pro-tour fans said that rugby and politics should be separate.24 Sport did

not belong in a political sphere and the Springboks weren’t in New Zealand to promote their

politics, nor beliefs. They were here solely to play rugby. I think this radical division of fans

shows how much rugby had become intertwined with the kiwi identity, especially for the anti-

tour fans. This is evident because they did not want New Zealand as a whole to accept racism

and by allowing the Springboks to tour here both the All Blacks and New Zealand would be seen

as proponents of discrimination.

The protests over the Springbok Tour of 1981 showed how much kiwi society revolved

around rugby. Part of their kiwi identity had been challenged because rugby and politics had

been mixed together.25 After 1981, rugby had lost its central position within society.26

Ultimately, after the Springbok Tour rugby seems to have become a less significant part of the

kiwi identity. Not to say that the All Blacks are not a major source of national pride, but the

nation as a whole does not seem as dependent on its national game when it comes to defining

kiwi identity.

23 Fougere, pp. 112.24 Ibid, pp. 112.25 Ibid, pp. 117.26 Ibid, pp. 120.

Various historians have argued how exactly, rugby as the national game, has created an

identity for kiwis. Some believe in the mythological sensationalism that has surrounded rugby

since it became part of New Zealand culture in the late 1800’s. The All Black’s superiority was

based upon the idea that a new and powerful breed of pioneer male had been created. These men

were thought to be specific to New Zealand because of the combination of a rural lifestyle and a

so called ‘egalitarian paradise’.27 This idea has been carried through generations without really

being questioned. According to a more recent historian, Greg Ryan, part of this historical

mythology that has surrounded the All Blacks is more of just a tale that has become ingrained

into the kiwi identity without ever being analysed.28 Either way, rugby has definitely played a

major role in kiwi culture and continues to be a source of great national pride. Rugby is still an

integral part of many lives in New Zealand. Rugby still has a great presence in boys’ schools,

universities, and various leagues around the country and the men (and women too) still identify

themselves with the sport. Even though the popularity and success of the All Blacks has varied

overtime, rugby appears to be an essential part of New Zealand’s cultural identity.

27 Ryan, The Contest for Rugby Supremacy, pp. 14.28 Ryan, Tackling Rugby Myths: Rugby and New Zealand Society, pp. 33.

References

Fougere, G. “Sport, Culture & Identity: the Case of Rugby Football.” Culture and Identity in

New Zealand, edited by D. Novitz and B. Willmott. Wellington, NZ: Crown Publishers,

1989, pp. 110-122.

Phillips, J. A Man’s Country?. Auckland, NZ: Penguin Books,1987.

Ryan, G. eds. Tackling Rugby Myths: Rugby and New Zealand Society. Dunedin, NZ: University

of Otago Press, 2005.

Ryan, G. The Contest For Rugby Supremacy: Accounting for the 1905 All Blacks. Christchurch,

NZ: Canterbury University Press, 2005.

Sinclair, K. A Destiny Apart: New Zealand’s Search For a National Identity. Wellington, NZ:

Allen and Unwin New Zealand Ltd, 1986.