It is not Nelson Rugby Club.
Nelson Rugby Club is acknowledged as the oldest Rugby Club in New Zealand, with its origins dating to 1870, and the first Rugby match in New Zealand between The College and The Town taking part on Saturday, May 18th, 1870, at the Botanical Reserve in Nelson.
In Bill Reed and Arthur Swan’s book on the centenary of the Nelson club in 1970, even the cover of the book describes it as NZ’s Oldest Rugby Club. However, it is not that simple.
There are clubs that were formed before Nelson, but they did not play under the rules of Rugby and therefore these clubs were not recognised as Rugby clubs, nor were their matches regarded as Rugby games.
Christchurch Football Club was formed in 1863 and is now recognised as the first club formed, although not initially as a Rugby club. According to Wikipedia “Various codes of football were played in New Zealand in the years following white settlement. Christchurch Football Club, which is now the oldest rugby club in the country, was founded in 1863. It played by its own rules for many years”. In fact, when I played for Linwood against Christchurch in 1974, I am sure they were still playing under their own rules.
Further, Wikipedia states “Rugby football was first introduced to New Zealand in 1870 by Charles John Monro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Monro_(rugby_union)) , son of the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, David Monro. He encountered the game while studying at Christ’s College Finchley, in East Finchley, London, England, and on his return introduced the game to Nelson College, who played the first rugby union match against Nelson football club on 14 May. A visit to Wellington by Munro later that same year resulted in an organised match between Nelson and Wellington.”
Because Nelson adopted the rules of Rugby Football in 1870, they are regarded as the oldest Rugby club in New Zealand. When they played their first match under the same Rugby rules, it was regarded as the first game of Rugby Football in New Zealand.
Tony Murdoch wrote a magnificent book celebrating the 150th jubilee of the Christchurch Football Club in 2013. The title of the book is, fittingly, “The Old Club”.
The book states that for almost 40 years the Christchurch Football Club was simply called “the club”, just as Blackheath, its sister club in the UK is known to this present day. Given the absence of any other clubs in the 1880’s, this was understandable but as Linwood, Sydenham and Merivale took root, reports began referring to “the old Club””.
Christchurch can claim to be the oldest club in New Zealand, and Nelson can claim to be the oldest Rugby club in New Zealand. After 150 years, the fact that both clubs are still going strong is a credit to the members over that time.
