Rugby has been here before

Photo: Stadiums around the country have been empty for sometime due to COVID-19.

They say history never repeats. Well, it might just do that.

Wind the clock back nearly 80 years ago and rugby around the country was facing uncertainty, much like today due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the lockdown limiting everyday living in New Zealand, it is difficult to know if Taranaki will have a club rugby competition with the potential of these restrictions extending beyond the four weeks even after we move down from Alert Level 4. If club rugby is cancelled, it will be the first time since 1941 – two years after war was declared when more New Zealanders were required to fight.

Leading up to the Second World War, rugby was seen as healthy exercise for men training for war times before they were required offshore cancelling competitions, decimating participating numbers. The competition was on a break until returning in 1945 when Eltham won its first title.

There was only a two-year break during World War I between 1917 and 1918 with Hawera continuing their string of titles when the competition resumed in 1919. Colts and secondary school rugby were played during these times, however.

Taranaki might be in the same position as 1917 and 1941 with a club competition unlikely as the uncertainty grows and restrictions mount due to this unprecedented virus sweeping the globe. Sports administrators will be planning various options should club rugby resume, but the worst-case scenario for clubs is that only the Mitre 10 Cup would start at the usual time in August.

Some might say this lockdown has come at a good time as New Zealand Rugby were in the middle of their consultation process with unions and stakeholders about potential changes. NZR want to save money, now they are losing millions during this period given rugby has come to a sudden halt.

The governing body has cut the Heartland Championship, Under 19 tournament and national and regional sevens to save $20million. More cuts are likely.

Crusaders Chief Executive Colin Mansbridge has said rugby was a way that brought the community together after the Canterbury earthquake in 2011. The sport around the country has come to a standstill and there is no way to bring communities together given the ongoing risk of the virus spreading.

While rugby will return to television screens and fields around New Zealand sometime in the future, it is safe to say the break won’t be as long as it was in the 1940s. However, the sport can learn from reflecting what happened in those times and how people got back into the sport.

While there was limited rugby around the country during war times, inter-unit matches replaced provincial rugby, but Ranfurly Shield matches were on hold during the duration of both wars.

Offshore, sport was promoted in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, with Force Commander Bernard Freyberg recognising the value of sport for physical and mental fitness, morale, and cohesion.

As a champion swimmer and provincial rugby representative himself, he was behind presenting a trophy, the Divisional Commander’s Cup (also known as the Freyberg Cup), for unit rugby supremacy within the Second Division. The Trophy was keenly contested from 1940-1944 but not in 1942 due to desert operations.

Unofficial international matches were also played with hard-fought games with South African teams. Unit teams also played in local club competitions in the UK between 1940-1941 before heading off to Egypt.

After the war, New Zealand players were tired and out-of-shape but were forced to play for their provincial and club sides. New Zealand’s style was very forward orientated for many years which included going from lineout to lineout. This was evident in the unsuccessful tour of South Africa in 1949. It was a blight on the sport and had wider social consequences. The style didn’t change until 1967 when the All Blacks started to play an open and running style of rugby.

Other sports prospered as American servicemen boosted softball and indoor basketball in New Zealand.

Sport became increasingly more accessible for New Zealanders after the war. Ample time was available when the 40-hour working week was introduced in 1945, full-time employment made playing sport affordable, there were greater access in secondary schools, improved transport networks and the expansion in the number of private vehicles available. Rugby was still the preferred sport, and, for many, it was a mark of national citizenship.

The post-war period was the heyday for local sports clubs and most people spent most of their non-working lives there. It was a hive of activity, with their bars able to serve alcohol, people volunteered, refereed, or served on the committee after their playing days.

There was a notable shift in sport in 1950 as New Zealand hosted the Commonwealth Games reinvigorating interest. Having the global event here encouraged participating in sport and confidence in our ability to compete at international level. There were some notable rugby players emerged in the 1950s, including Wellington’s Ron Jarden, who became one of the greatest All Black wing three-quarters and Colin Meads and Don Clarke came latterly in that decade.

New Zealanders always had an interest of rugby, but as the radio industry grew, more and more matches were being broadcast live. Radio commentators like Winston McCarthy developed a distinctive style for describing events for those unwilling to attend matches at sportsgrounds. McCarthy was also heard commentating the matches overseas involving the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force – our first live broadcasts from the United Kingdom to New Zealand – while he was serving in the war himself. He was a trusted name and voice that kept people interested in the game. After serving at war too, journalists like Terry McLean (New Zealand Army) and Dick Brittenden (Royal New Zealand Air Force), joined rugby and cricket teams on overseas tours and kept New Zealanders informed about those events.

While we can learn from those times, there are some basic ways that sports can re-engage their young players.

Australian sports coach and mentor Wayne Goldsmith, who has been involved in many sports groups and organisations across Australia laid out the number one way to get people back into sport. He said the key is relationships.

“Don’t waste money on advertising and marketing campaigns, try convince people your sport is great, and your sport is the best and how great your elite athletes are. The solution doesn’t cost anything – just time, energy and genuine connection,” he said in a Linkedin post.

Goldsmith went onto say that organisations should be spending every cent on connecting with kids and families and helping coaches to connect.

“At the end of the crisis when people are deciding whether or not to return to your sport, they will not be influenced by flashy national advertising campaigns with slogans like ‘we're back and we're better.’ People will return to the relationships where they feel connection, respect, meaning, authenticity and to the experiences they love, value and enjoy.”

He said to spend every moment building relationships and organisations will come out of this crisis ‘better than ever.’

There are many lessons that clubs around Taranaki can take from these unprecedented times. While there will be many effects across all sectors of business and society, rugby in the past has been able to bring communities together, as seen after the war and more recent events.

There is some hope that the sport can do the same when it finally gets back off the ground when restrictions are lifted around the country. By that time, people will be crying out for something other than COVID-19 on the news, sport brings communities together.

Bill Johnston