The Nelson Rugby Club holds one of the most prestigious titles in New Zealand sport: it is New Zealand’s oldest official rugby club. Founded in 1868, this club is literally where the nation’s obsession with rugby union began.
The Birth of the Club (1868)
On May 30, 1868, a young 19-year-old English immigrant named Robert Collings Tennent organized a meeting to form the Nelson Football Club. The goal was simple: give young local men a way to participate in healthy winter sport.
However, they didn’t play rugby right away. For the first two years, the club played a disorganized, hybrid game—a chaotic mixture of association football (soccer) and Melbourne Rules (which became Australian Rules football).
Charles Monro and the First Game (1870)
Everything changed in January 1870 when Charles John Monro returned home to Nelson. Monro, the son of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, had been schooling in England at Christ’s College Finchley, where he had fallen in love with the official rules of Rugby School.
Monro joined the Nelson club and convinced Tennent and the other members to try this English game. On May 12, 1870, the club officially adopted the rules of Rugby and imported the distinct, oval Gilbert balls.
Two days later, history was made:
Saturday, May 14, 1870: The first proper, officially recorded game of rugby union in New Zealand took place at the Botanical Reserve in Nelson.
The match featured 18 players a side, pitting the Nelson Rugby Club (called “The Town”) against the students of Nelson College (whose headmaster happened to be a former student of the actual Rugby School in England). The Nelson Club won the historic match 2–0.
Spreading the Gospel of Rugby
The club didn’t just start the game; they helped export it. Later in 1870, Monro traveled to Wellington and organized a match between the Nelson club and a Wellington selection. The Nelson team piled onto the government mail steamer Luna, crossed the Cook Strait, and defeated Wellington at Petone on September 12, 1870. This sparked the creation of the Wellington Football Club the following year.
Furthermore, the Nelson club’s 1870 captain, Alfred Drew, later moved to Whanganui and Taranaki, helping found the first rugby clubs in those regions too.
Over 150 Years of Grassroots Legacy
While other ancient clubs in New Zealand (like the Christchurch Football Club, formed in 1863) technically predate Nelson as sports organizations, Nelson is universally recognized as the first to adopt rugby rules and play an official match.
Throughout its long history, the club has survived major upheavals, including losing almost its entire player roster to overseas service during World War I. Over the decades, it has been based at historic grounds around the city, eventually establishing its deep-rooted modern home at Trafalgar Park.
Today, the Nelson Rugby Football Club remains an active, thriving pillar of the Tasman region’s club competition, proudly wearing its heritage as the cradle of New Zealand rugby.
