From grassroots to the black jersey
When you ask the All Blacks to explain why New Zealand has a history of turning out such good rugby players, their answers point to one common reason.
'The reason why we’re good at it, is because we kind of have to be - it’s part of who we are, it’s genetically imprinted in us,' sums up Anton Oliver.
Oliver, a former All Black (AB) captain, explains that New Zealand is a relatively young bicultural nation, whose European settlers came from the other side of the world, broke the earth, then fought for their country in the World Wars.
'We’ve taken that and we’ve put it on the sports field as well. To a large degree it’s shaped our identity,' he says.
The ingenuity of its people - both Pakeha (European) and Maori - has also shaped the way Kiwis play the game. No other sport has played such an integral part of New Zealand’s culture.
'Most countries we travel to, especially through Europe, [children] are brought up with a soccer ball, but in New Zealand, you look in any backyard or any school and there’s rugby ball being tossed around,' says Doug Howlett.
More than 141,000 men, women and children play rugby in New Zealand - 67,000 of those are aged under 13.
Rugby is played in schools throughout the country, and a national secondary schools’ XV is chosen to play international sides.
Club rugby is another strength of the New Zealand game. 'Everybody knows about rugby. All of our communities have some sort of rugby club,' says Reuben Thorne, another former AB captain.
The national provincial competition, the Air New Zealand Cup, involves the top 14 regional teams in the country, while the next tier play for the Heartland championship title.
'I think the fact … that the provinces are not too far away from one another, so therefore we can integrate a lot more than a lot of these other teams from other countries,' says Byron Kelleher. 'We see a lot more of one another and our backgrounds come from getting out in the wilderness and appreciating our backyards.'
New Zealand sides other than the All Blacks also notch up international successes. The Black Ferns are the current Women’s Rugby World Cup champions - the 2006 victory was their third consecutive title.
The men’s Sevens team has won seven of the eight world titles since the international competition was introduced in 2000, and all three Commonwealth Games gold medals.
New Zealand claimed the world under-19 champions’ title in April 2007, with a final win over South Africa in Belfast, and in June the Junior All Blacks, New Zealand’s second national team, had a clean sweep of victories in the Pacific Nations Cup in Tokyo. The Junior All Blacks team exposes more New Zealand players to top-class rugby and prepares them for the next step up to the All Blacks squad.
Maori rugby traces its roots back to the New Zealand Natives team of 1888, and is still at the forefront of the sport today. Although Maori make up just 14 percent of New Zealand’s population, they have consistently provided between 30 and 35 percent of the country’s 140 contracted rugby players since the game went professional in 1996. The New Zealand Maori XV regularly plays touring teams from around the world, and often tours overseas.
Some of New Zealand’s rugby stars even find themselves playing for foreign lands with the advent of professional contracts. Former All Blacks Carlos Spencer and Justin Marshall now play in England, while Andrew Mehrtens, Tana Umaga, Kees Meeuws and Carl Hoeft are in France. Two New Zealanders - Rima Wakarua and Aaron Persico - are in the Italian squad for the Rugby World Cup.
But no matter where they’re playing, Kiwi rugby players all share a common dream - to be All Blacks.
'I guess it’s like a religion that’s engraved in us when we’re little kids,' says All Black prop Neemia Tialata. 'You grow up and see your cousins, your uncles, your brothers playing it, and you see it on TV, and I guess [it’s what] we all aspire to do… grow up and become a good rugby player.'
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