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There's enough written about New Zealand Rugby Union and the All Blacks to fill a hundred books. So we are not going to write another one! Our New Zealand travel guide on rugby is written for the NZ visitor. Connoisseurs should look elsewhere for in depth analysis! 
OK you Happy New Zealand tourist… It’s important to know how impressive and extraordinary it is that a nation with a population of 4 million continues to produce some of the finest rugby to grace a pitch anywhere and an international team to go with it. Sports in New Zealand is a serious business. The New Zealand rugby team is the pinnacle of every (amateur) players dream. Saturday afternoons with your face in the mud keep you going, knowing that to aspire to the heights of All Blacks fame is akin to conquering Everest! New Zealanders know all about too… Phil loves rugby and has played it since dinosaurs roamed the earth (I think he even played against them judging from the bruises!) So folks, between us we will encourage and persuade you to get hold of tickets for any game and make your way to the lights and atmosphere of Eden Park in Auckland or the excitement or the Jade stadium in Canterbury. Go on, experience the enthusiasm and joy! New Zealand Rugby Union StyleRugby on the South Island has a English feel about it, weather conditions often influencing the battling forwards influence on the game whilst in the North Island the games tends to be more expansive, more French if you’ll allow me to say. And into the melting pot you throw the East Coast and West Coast Unions putting on spirited games with innovation and style.Take an amalgam of players from that lot, stick them in All Black jerseys and you have diamonds in the dust… gladiators in the cauldron of rugby… New Zealand Rugby Union Beginnings14th of May 1870 was when the first rugby game was played in New Zealand under official rugby rules. Those New Zealand traders knew a thing or two about having fun! The match involved two New Zealand rugby teams from Nelson. New Zealanders have Charles John Monro, the son of House of Representatives speaker, Sir David Monro, to thank for rugby being introduced. He envisaged a national set of rules and teams across the country playing each other. 1882 saw the New Zealand Rugby Football Union formed to administer matches at national level and probably bring some order to the scheduling. The advent of this of course gave us International rugby and the first team to tour New Zealand was from New South Wales Australia.
In 1884 the first overseas trip for a New Zealand team was a return tour of New South Wales. The Kiwis wore blue jerseys with a gold fern. They won every game they played on that tour and the legend of New Zealand rugby was born. The British popped over to see what was happening in 1888 and played a few games. Since then the game has expanded and swept the globe. Usually in front and always never far behind are the All Blacks... The heros of New Zealand Rugby Union.
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