Rugby League In N.Z. Began 50 Years Ago

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28266, 2 May 1957, Page 13

Rugby League In N.Z. Began 50 Years Ago

’THIS year Rugby League supporters will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the code in Australia and New Zealand. It was in August, 1907, that the first League team ever set off for an overseas tour. New Zealand was the first country outside England to embrace the new code. This was because of a man with vision, a postal clerk in Wellington, A. H. (Harry) Baskerville. Baskerville had heard from the returning members of the 1905 All Blacks about the new code in England, and was interested in the good reports that some of them had of the game. He had also read how 40,000 enthusiasts had paid the terrific sum of £lOOO tc see a game of Northern Union, as it was then known in England. Baskerville’s interest in the new game led to him finding out more about it by writing to the Northern Union and to some of the clubs under its control. He even offered to bring a team to England on a tour. His offer was received with such enthusiasm that the Northern Union even offered a guarantee against loss if a team of calibre was brought. Good Response

Baskerville, now more enthusiastic than ever, circularised most of the leading players in the country, and even without waiting for all the replies set about his arrangements. His confidence was not in vain, for four of the original All Blacks and about 20 of the finest Rugby players in the provinces decided to join the big venture, even though it meant depositing £5O towards expenses as a sign of good faith. Although G. W. Smith and many others had made suggestions about starting the code in this country, it is to Baskerville that all credit is due for starting the League code in the southern hemisphere. The team called into Sydney on the way over, and there it played three games against Australia. Actually, no-one knew the rules of the League game and so the matches were played in the Union style. So the first game ever played by a New Zealand League team—although it did not play League—was won, against Australia, at the Sydney Agricultural Ground before 20,000 persons, on August 17, 1907. The score was 11-8. Two more games were played, on August 21 and August 24. Both of these were won by New Zealand, the first 19-5 and the second 5-3. New Zealand had actually won its first test series, at its first attempt. Exhibition On their arrival in England the players were treated to an exhibition match so they might gain some idea of the game they had not seen.

After two weeks’ hard training

they were in their first games. For a start they packed a 2-3-1 scrum, tut soon after adopted the now used 3-2-1 pack. However, they still played the two fiveeighths and three three-quarters, as against the two halves and four three-quarters of their opponents. They won their first three games, against Bramley, Leeds, and St. Helens (birth-place of Richard John Seddon). They then lost against Wigan. Tests Won In all they played 34 matches, winning 19 and losing 12, three being drawn. They scored 449 points and had 299 scored against them. However, most significant was that they beat England in the test series, two to one. They lost the first test, 14-6, but took the second and third, 18-6 and 8-5. Gate receipts in England were £BB3B, of which there was £5641 profit. Although the tour was a triumph, the glory of it was overshadowed by the death of the instigator, Baskerville, on the way home. He was taken ill with pneumonia in Queensland. The team played an exhibition match in Wellington in June, 1908, as a benefit for Baskerville’s widow, so that city has the distinction of being the first place in New Zealand to see League played.