RUGBY

As the southern hemisphere rugby championship concludes, and the northern begins - the experience can be enriched by investigating rugby books, photos and ephemera, in addition to being glued to the screen.

One of the earliest late 19th century accounts of the game was written by Frederick Marshall, schoolmaster, cleric and Rugby official. He was known for strict adherence to the rules, something not amiss in today’s game. We have for sale a copy of this work in a fine prize binding, along with three early original photographs of All Blacks on the field in a team photo. We have for sale another collection of 6 New Zealand Rugby teams photographs including the 'Originals', the 1905 side touring Great Britain, a Bank of NZ team of 1909, an early Rotorua team, the 1907-8 NZ team, and two other scarce photographs of early teams.

The Māori All Blacks have a very long and distinguished history, dating as far back as 1888.

A sheet from the London Illustrated News of 1888, shows sketches from the first match of a tour against the Surrey Club at Richmond. The scenes include 'the two umpires' (one in a Māori cloak), and the 'war cry' before start of play. On the verso, there is a short article describing rugby in New Zealand and features of the team. The Māori team won by a goal and a try, to Surrey’s only try.

Signatures of rugby players are also sought after. We have various.

Rugby material will always remain popular, even with the changing nature of the game and competing codes. These changes can be charted through souvenir programmes and rugby magazines.