Sport and Colonialism in 19th Century Australasia - LA84 Foundation

miners and East London pick-pockets. Nevertheless, the impression
is one of an ongoing enthusiasm for all manner of athletic
endeavours. With colonial New Zealand it is clear that up
until 1860 in the major townships, and for a much longer period
in the rural areas, the preoccupation of the pioneers was coping
with, and taming, if not a hostile environment, then one
that necessitated a colossal drain on physical resources. The
Protestant work ethic moulded the prevailing life-style in many
respects and consecrated the values associated with labour,
dedication, commitment and unflinching resolution. In this
paper it is claimed that such a value system found a unique
sporting outlet in "folk game" football of the 1870s, that
evolved into the nation's game by 1890. Future socio-cultural
studies are required to examine the hypothesis that in the
twentieth century this national game underwent further changes
that saw it elevated to an obsession, a national cult 9 and a
secular religion. 10
The emergence of rugby as New Zealand's national game
can be understood fully only with reference to the values and
preoccupations of late nineteenth century New Zealanders. A
recent study has observed:
At the heart of the matter was the concern of imperialminded
middle-class New Zealanders to preserve an
Empire they believed to be under threat. They had come
to see racial fitness as imperative if the Empire as
they knew it was to survive... New Zealand males were
indeed being prepared to do their bit for the Empire. 11
While this hypothesis may hold true for the game's administra-
tors, what of the appeal of rugby to the farm labourer, the
clerk, the teacher and the publican? A central causal factor
that explains why rugby became a national ethos is that the
game, although taking on many of the characteristics associated
with the evolution of modern sport, retained its essence as a
folk game. As a folk game it reaffirmed the value system of a
young country that, while subjected to a degree of urbanization
and industrialization in the nineteenth century, retained
an agricultural stamp, and a passionate interest in robust
activity in the open-air. By 1907, and the end of New Zealand's
colonial role in the British Empire, a young, tough New
Zealander could still display the pioneering virtues of courage
68