New Zealand 1884 Rugby Shirt

Rugby union was introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in 1870. Monro discovered the sport while completing his studies at Christ’s College, Finchley, England.

The first recorded game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in Nelson between the Nelson club and Nelson College. The first provincial union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, was formed in 1879, and in 1882 New South Wales (NSW) toured the country. NSW did not face a New Zealand representative team but played seven provincial sides – the tourists won four games and lost three.

The first New Zealand team was selected in 1884, for a tour to New South Wales; where New Zealand won all eight of their games

A privately organised British team, which later became the British and Irish Lions, toured New Zealand in 1888. No test matches were played, and the side only played provincial sides. The British players were drawn mainly from Northern England, but there were representatives from Wales and Scotland.

On Saturday 16 April 1892, in a meeting held in Wellington, the New Zealand Rugby Union was formed. Inaugural members were the provincial unions of Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Marlborough, Nelson, South Canterbury, Taranaki, Waiararapa, Wanganui and Wellington.

The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) was formed to administer the game of rugby union at the national level. At that time, the national union was known as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union or NZRFU. The name was officially shortened in 2006 with the removal of the word “Football”. The brand name New Zealand Rugby was adopted in 2013.

In 1893, the NZRU formally adopted the black jersey as the national playing strip and selected the first NZRU-sanctioned national team, for a tour of Australia. However, the earlier New Zealand team selected to tour New South Wales in 1884 is recognised as a New Zealand team and its players recognised as All Blacks.

By 1895, with the additions of the Bush, Canterbury, Horowhenua, Otago, Poverty Bay, Southland and West Coast unions, the NZRU was considered to be a complete and united collection of all New Zealand rugby players.

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