How 1905’s ‘Originals’ forged All Blacks legend
05 May, 2020
An unheralded band of New Zealand rugby players set sail for Europe 115 years back on a tour that could revolutionise what sort of game was played and forge the All Blacks' formidable legacy.
Known within their homeland simply as "The Originals", the team was the first ever to utilize the All Blacks name and set the standards for many who followed in the famous black jersey.
In a gruelling tour that kept them abroad for eight months, the team won 34 of their 35 matches in Britain, Ireland, France and the united states.
Along the way, they amassed 243 tries, scoring 976 points and conceding just 59, attracting huge crowds with the novelty of their pre-match haka and free-flowing play.
The team's success was a way to obtain immense pride for Kiwis and has been credited with helping create a distinct national identity, at a time when New Zealand was still a far-flung British colony.
"The 1905 tour stands among the nation's defining moments, as the country isolated in the South Pacific asserted itself on the world stage, proving these were about more than merely frozen lamb," British sports historian Tom Weir wrote.
There is little hype when the steamship Rimutaka departed Wellington in July 1905 carrying a cargo of frozen mutton and about 100 passengers, including 27 rugby players.
THE BRAND NEW Zealanders were tipped to struggle against their more fancied opponents but vice-captain Billy Stead detailed in his diary how they spent the six-week voyage undergoing rigorous training and discussing tactics.
The preparation paid dividends immediately if they thrashed Devon 55-4 in their opening fixture, making ever-increasing interest as the lopsided scorelines continued.
"With their new formations and a refreshingly open, running style in which forwards handled as skilfully as backs, they captured the imaginations of these who saw them play," the late historian Adrienne Simpson wrote.
Legend has it that the moniker All Blacks was coined when an admiring journalist wrote the ball-handling team played like they were "all backs" and a typographical error saw an extra "L" added into his copy.
However the New Zealand Rugby Museum rejects the reason pointing to a modern day newspaper report that said All Blacks was a reference to "their sable and unrelieved costume".
After the tourists accounted for Scotland and Ireland, a crowd as high as 70,000 watched them defeat England 15-0 at Crystal Palace.
The referee's whistle from that match, referred to as the Gil Evans whistle following the Welsh official, has since been used in the opening game of most nine Rugby World Cup tournaments.
The Test against Wales played before 47,000 in Cardiff is still considered among the great matches.
The 3-0 defeat was the All Blacks' only loss on tour, although New Zealanders still argue Bob Deans scored a legitimate try that was incorrectly disallowed.
The match is indeed revered by rugby aficionados that the jersey worn by All Blacks captain Dave Gallaher sold for a then-world record 180,000 pounds in 2015.
After a Test make an impression on France, the tour wrapped up with two matches in USA before the team was given a hero's welcome in Auckland in March 1906.
The All Blacks remain pacesetters in the modern era, winning three World Cups and enjoying a Test win rate approaching 80 percent.
Simpson said the appeal of the 1905 "Originals" was that these were "several ordinary blokes -- miners, farriers, farmers, bootmakers and bank clerks".
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