Maori Personalities in Sport First Instalment of a regular sports feature specially written for Te Ao Hou by Wallie Ingram When walking through the bush or along a track it is wise occasionally to look back, to see where you have been as well as see where you are going. Nowadays, the future of the Maori in sport seems assured, with concentration on tennis and golf noticeable in recent years and, of course, Rugby football owing much of its success to the feats of Maoris. Yes, the road ahead for the Maori in sport seems clear, but it is worthwhile to look back — to see where the Maori has been. This year the New Zealand Rugby Union will be sending a team of footballers to Great Britain and Ireland and hopes are held that Maori players will again be among the stars, just as they were in 1924, when two of the best players in Cliff Porter's “Unbeatables” were Maoris—George Nepia and Jimmy Mill. But Maoris and Rugby football went together long before Cliff Porter took his men on that great football journey. The very history of football in New Zealand is bound up with great Maori players, a fact known and appreciated by those in control of the sport. The first international Rugby team to tour Great Britain was the New Zealand Maori team of 1888–89, captained by Joe Warbrick. There were five Warbricks in the team and three Wynyards—two sets of brothers supplying eight players! It was my privilege, about 15 years ago, to meet and talk to Dick Taiaroa, a survivor of that great band of 26 players—a band which played 107 matches, on a tour lasting from June 23, 1888, to August 24, 1889! Of the 26 players to make that crusading tour of Great Britain and Ireland, with Australia and New Zealand thrown in for good measure, only four pakehas were included, and it is a tribute to the Maori of nearly 70 years ago that such a high standard of play was shown overseas. The Daily Mail (London) in ‘52 Years of Sport,’ paid this tribute to Joe Warbrick's men: ‘… It may be recalled as proof of their toughness that in the course of their visit (to the U.K.) they played no fewer than 74 matches, winning 49, losing 20, and drawing five. In international matches they defeated Ireland, at Dublin, by four goals and one try to one goal and one try, but were beaten by Wales, at Swansea—one goal and two tries to nil—and by England, at Blackheath—one goal and four tries to nil. The England three-quarter line included those two notably versatile athletes, A. E. Stoddart, the famous cricketer, and J. W. Sutcliffe, who, in addition to representing his country under Rugby rules, was England's Association football goal-keeper in five international matches.’ Much of the glory of Maori football has been seen in Hawke's Bay, but as a young fellow in Gisborne I have happy recollections of seeing outstanding Maori footballers in Poverty Bay. One such man was A. P. Kaipara—in the opinion of S. S. Dean, noted Rugby administrator—one of the greatest five-eighths New Zealand has produced. He lost his life on Gallipoli, but for three successive years he had been in the North Island team. Then there were Dr Wi Repa and Jimmy Mill. Over a period of nearly thirty years New Zealand has yet to produce a half-back to equal the ability shown by Jimmy Mill, who wore the All Black jersey in 33 matches. Jimmy Mill, the master of blind-side movements, was a ‘great’ among great players, and his death on March 29, 1950, robbed New Zealand of a wonderful footballer—a Maori star.