Reunion marks 110 years
This year’s team weren’t the only lot of Ma¯ori All Blacks at FMG Stadium Waikato last night.
While the current-day squad was preparing for their one-off clash against Moana Pasifika, a host of former players gathered for a reunion to mark the 110th anniversary of the first official New Zealand Ma¯ori team to take the field.
Although a New Zealand Natives side toured Britain in 1888-89, it wasn’t until 1910 when the team was given official status amid concern about the loss of Ma¯ori players to league.
And so, New Zealand Ma¯ori’s first game came against the Rotorua subunion in Rotorua on May 21 that year – a game which the Ma¯ori, captained by Alex Takarangi, won 25-5.
Since then, the Ma¯ori All Blacks – renamed that in 2012 – have built up a rich history, notching an enviable winning record against test sides.
No international opposition was lined up this year due to the pandemic, with a two-game tour to Russia called off, but just as it looked like the Ma¯ori would not have any fixture at all for 2020, the game against Moana Pasifika was announced last month.
And as the hours ticked down to that final game of a long year of footy, the war stories ramped up in the Brian Perry Stand, as more than a century of history was relived through some fond, and foggy, memories for a group of 50-plus players brought together in a gathering organised by Ma¯ori TV, New Zealand Ma¯ori Tourism, Te Aupikitanga Trust and New Zealand Rugby.
The oldest living Ma¯ori All Black, 92-year-old Theo Kipa, made the trip up from Feilding. He was the youngest player selected for the Ma¯ori’s 1949 tour to Australia, aged 20.
‘‘That was a learning curve for me,’’ he recalled. ‘‘I learnt a lot.’’
Nowadays, it’s all great memories.