Is rugby still our national sport?

Rugby has always been New Zealand’s pride and joy, but in recent years has faced a decline. Photo: Getty Sport.

When it comes to New Zealand there are a few things that seem to define our nation. Sheep, pineapple lumps, jandals, pavlova (yes, Australia, we own that, not you) are just a few things that seem to spring to mind. However, there is one sport and one team that seems to be the most Kiwana thing of all. Characterised by passing an oval-ball sideways, weird little angry huddles called “scrums” and tackling each other, all whilst wearing dapper uniforms of black…rugby. With our favourite team being none other than the legendary All Blacks.

Being a patriotic kiwi, rugby has always been a topic that has floated around the house, played on tellys in the background of family barbeques, or brought up during light day-to-day conversations. However, my obsession with the sport began during the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final.

It was the All Blacks versus the Wallabies and Beauden Barret kicked, chased, and scored the most beautiful try of all time. However, with the current Rugby World Cup loss, maybe it’s time to acknowledge that the ‘glory days’ of rugby could be over. With the new talent emerging in other sports, and the rise of girl power in our Women’s rugby recently, maybe it is time to question whether our All Blacks and rugby is New Zealand’s leading sport anymore?

Rugby is a sport that has been offered all throughout my schooling experience. I remember the days of rippa rugby, which then graduated onto touch rugby, and then, ultimately, onto tackle rugby. The teams usually were in high demand, with new teams forming to cater for all the new and willing participants.

In the annual Sport New Zealand Secondary School’s Census from 2022, sport New Zealand gathered data on enrolments in sport from across 462 schools. From the results, it appears that Netball was the most popular sport to play, with a whopping 25,933 students participating in the sport. This was closely followed by basketball (25,595), rugby (24,625), volleyball (23,391), and then football (20,464).

Basketball overtook rugby, taking the place for the second most popular sport in New Zealand in 2018.  What is even more worrying is when the statistics from different years are stacked up against the more recent data, it shows that there has been a decline of rugby union players with the 28,607 players in 2009 dropping to 24,731 players in 2019. It is important to mention that across most sports, there has been a national decline in enrolments, but this decline in rugby enrolments causes exponential worry for the future of our national sport.

Basketball scout and CANTA writer, Tim Smith, comments on the growth of basketball in New Zealand. A large dose of Smith’s experience within the Basketball realm comes because of working with the Canterbury Rams as the Director of Scouting, but also includes his experience of working as a Basketball Operations intern for the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian NBL.

The Rams are a basketball team based in Christchurch who play within the NZNBL league and who recently saw success in winning the recent NBL title over the Auckland Tuatara. Smith believes that the interest in the sport is “continually growing and is driven by the youth”.

Overseas opportunities for our talented players are also increasing, Smith mentions that “we’re seeing more and more kiwis get scholarship opportunities to play over in the states.” Upon asking about the possible new potential for New Zealand’s teams to reach global status, Smith replies that the “New Zealand National Basketball League (NZNBL) is a small fish in a very big pond”. Part of being that small fish is “fostering developmental environments to help and springboard players and coaches to then play at higher levels around the world.”  

Smith uses the Canterbury Rams as an example, saying that “One of our American Imports, Tevin Brown, is now playing in the top French League and kiwis, Max Darling and Walter Brown, are on development player deals in the Australian League, which does feature 20-odd kiwis”. With the rise of basketball, this might be putting Rugby’s popularity in jeopardy.

Caption: Tim Smith (right) holding the trophy after the Rams win at the NZBL against the Auckland Tuatara.

A large portion of Rugby has been dominated by men, more specifically the All Blacks. When you chat to your mates about rugby, its usually taken for granted that the rugby topic at hand is about the latest ABs game. However, there is a new flavour of rugby that seems to be making the waves recently. Our New Zealand women’s team, the Black ferns, have held world cup titles in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2017 and 2021 (played in 2022). They have one of the best winning percentages in international rugby, with victory in over 85% of their tests. The recent world cup, played on New Zealand soil, saw a sold-out Eden Park, with the crowds roaring to see the Black Ferns versus England in a fantastic, high energy final. This left New Zealand with a world cup title, and a lingering question… is Women’s Rugby perhaps our new national sport?

Previously, rugby has been largely focused on our male teams, but with the push from media in the 2021 (played in 2022) game, there were over 1.3 million kiwis who tuned into the match, and a record-breaking crowd of 42,579 people in the Eden Park crowd. These statistics are mind-blowing, but what was even more shocking was how these viewing and spectator numbers compared to the All-Black’s media. The Black Ferns electric final gained more attention and had more viewers than the All-Blacks Rugby World cup game in 2015.

Caption:  The Black Ferns performing the haka at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Final against England.

Projections by the NZR indicate that there is the potential for a 40% increase in Women’s rugby participation on 2022, which would hopefully see 35,000 women and girls playing club and school rugby this season. These exponential increases in both participation and media coverage for Women’s rugby pave a promising pathway for the future of women’s rugby. Move over AB’s, there is a new team in town!

Injuries, concussions, recovery, muscle strains and broken noses are all common occurrences within rugby. The nature of the game is high contact; tackling the opposition to the ground, lifting each other in lineouts, or locking shoulders in a scrum are all just part of the game.

Previous rugby player, Jack Churstain, makes commentary on the brutal and difficult nature of the sport. Churstain, who was on the Southland Boys First IV for two years, comments that rugby can be “intense”. Southland Boys High School is a notorious rugby school, known for producing the most All Blacks captains than any other school.

He comments that “I still deal with the repercussions of playing rugby now, I still have long-term concussion symptoms.”  This can make it difficult to learn, affect vision, day-to-day life and take away from just enjoying life too. Churstain expresses his adoration for the game but says that “the number of freak accidents makes it hard to justify sometimes”.

There is no denying rugby, and indeed, our All Blacks, have a special place in every Kiwi’s heart. The buzz that comes with waiting for the game to pop up on the telly is a deeply thrilling and uniquely New Zealand experience that is truly not like anything else.

However, with the new statistics coming through showing rugby enrolments dropping, the rise in sports such as basketball, popularity of Women’s rugby rising and the insane number of injuries associated with the game, it might be time to take a step back and revaluate. Is rugby truly our national sport anymore?