The 1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain was made by a group of New Zealand rugby footballers who played matches in Australia, Ceylon, England and Wales between 1907 and 1908. Most of the matches were played under the rules of the Northern Union, a sport that is today known as rugby league. As such, the team were the immediate predecessors of the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour had a large role in establishing rugby league in both Australia and New Zealand, and also gave birth to international rugby league. The tour party has come to be known as the professional All Blacks or All Golds, although at the time they were commonly referred to as the All Blacks—a named popularised by the New Zealand rugby union team that toured the Northern Hemisphere in 1905.
The idea for a professional rugby tour was conceived by Albert Baskiville, a player from the Wellington region of New Zealand. Baskiville managed to recruit a significant number of international and provincial representatives for the team; including George Smith who toured with the All Blacks team of 1905. The team played their first match in Sydney in 1907 against New South Wales. The success of the team's three matches in Sydney prompted the formation of the New South Wales Rugby League, and also saw them recruit Australian Dally Messenger for their tour of Wales and England. After stopping over in Ceylon, the team arrived in England on 30 September 1907. The team played 35 matches in England and Wales, including a Test match against Wales, and three Tests against England. They returned via Australia where they played a further ten matches, including three Test matches against Australia. They won a total of 26 of their 46 matches.
The tour firmly established rugby league in both New Zealand and Australia, and was commemorated by a centenary tour in 2007—the 2007 All Golds Tour.
Background
Rugby union had established itself as the national winter game in New Zealand even before the 1905 tour of The Original All Blacks. This tour was a success both on the field and commercially off the field, with the New Zealand Rugby Union making a profit of £12,000. However, in New Zealand some discontent about the state of rugby union's rules and the lack of ability to compensate players for time lost from work were beginning to rise. These tensions were similar to the ones that had led to the 1895 schism in England that had created the Northern Union. In addition the Originals were only paid 3/- a day expenses while on tour, a token amount when the Rugby Union was making such a profit.
Tour preparations Albert Baskiville was well known in rugby circles, playing for the Oriental club and on the verge of Wellington provincial selection. He had also in 1907 published a book entitled Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods which explained how to play the game and was widely read. He was inspired to launch a tour to play the clubs in the Northern Union by an article in the Daily Mail written by F W Cooper. The article, written by a Northern Union advocate, said that while the Originals tour had been successful it was a shame that they had not played any of the northern clubs, which at the time of the 1895 break away were regarded as some of the strongest clubs in England. Baskiville had conversations with several prominent rugby players, including the famous Original George William Smith who had talked to Northern Union officials and J J Giltinan about starting the code in Sydney. Smith's role in starting the game in Australasia was crucial as he had a wide set of connections and was a well known sporting celebrity, being an Original, a world class sprinter and a champion jockey.
In early 1907 Baskiville wrote to the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU) asking if they would wish to host a tour of a New Zealand rugby team. As the North of England had not had any international rugby since the tour of the 1888-1889 New Zealand Native football team, the NRFU was enthusiastic. On 26 March 1907 it advised its member clubs that it was "very favourably disposed" to the tour and suggested that the tourists be paid 70% of the gates with a guarantee of £3000. The Northern Union informed Baskiville that the tour should go ahead and by May plans were firmly underway in New Zealand. Baskiville then resigned his job at the New Zealand Post Office to plan the tour full-time.
News of the tour was first publicly broken by the New Zealand Herald which ran a story on 13 May 1907 about a possible professional rugby tour. It was extraordinary the level of secrecy that the New Zealand organisers had achieved, with the news being broken via England. Opposition to the tour was vocal with the New Zealand Rugby Union condemning the tour and the media being generally supportive of the amateur game and its ideals of amateurism. However, as the co-operative nature of the tour became more widely known the touring party gained some public sympathy and the Rugby Union appeared to be increasingly the one out of touch with public opinion.
Baskiville assembled a team of selectors; Duncan McGregor, Massa Johnston, Hercules Richard Wright and George William Smith, and they began to think about the type of players they wished to bring on the tour. Knowing the rule changes that the Northern Union had made to their game the selectors knew line-out specialists would not be required and decided to favour players with ample amounts of speed and acceleration. They also needed players that were prepared to invest some money into the venture and probably accept a lifetime ban from rugby union. In the end no less than 160 of the roughly 200 rugby union players involved in provincial rugby in New Zealand applied to go on the tour, a huge blow to the Rugby Union who had anticipated a low amount of interest. It was from these applications that the final team was selected, with players who had indicated early they were prepared to tour being favoured. At least two rugby union internationals did not tour, "Opai" Asher declined due to a broken ankle and George A. Gillett had to pull out at short notice due to injury. Both were to switch to rugby league later on in their careers. In the end the tour included nine internationals and fourteen provincial players, a large number selected from the Wellington and Auckland teams that had recently been battling over the Ranfurly Shield.
1907 in Australia
With the tour plans well underway George Smith contacted Peter Moir, a prominent Sydney player, asking if it would be possible to arrange a set of games in Sydney. Moir contacted others including J J Giltinan, who Smith had already talked to, before replying that a series of games would be able to be arranged. Rugby players in Sydney shared many of the New Zealand players' concerns about payment and rules. On 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby League was formed. The New South Welshmen organised quickly and were ready to welcome the New Zealanders when the main touring party arrived on 13 August 1907. The New South Wales rugby union side had defeated the New Zealand rugby union team 14–0 in their second of two matches in 1907 and so were expected to be tough opponents, especially as the professional All Blacks had yet to form combinations and several of the Auckland-based players had not yet arrived in Sydney.
The first game was played on the Royal Agricultural Society Ground to a sold-out crowd of 20,000. Played under rugby union rules, the visitors led 6–0 at halftime and closed out the match, winning 12–8. The stars of the first game were Richard Wynyard for New Zealand and Dally Messenger for the New South Wales side. The game was deemed to be a great success, as the organisers had not expected a crowd over 12,000.
The second game, a mid-week game, was held in front of a crowd of approximately 3,000. The All Blacks, who had made several changes, defeated the "All Blues" 19–5.
The New Zealanders then won the third match of the series 5–3 in front of a crowd of 8,000 at the Agricultural Ground. Dally Messenger, playing his first game as captain, again starred and was invited to join the touring party.
It is unclear when the decision to invite Messenger was made, with some reports saying that he was recommended to Baskiville in New Zealand by George Gillett when he had to withdraw from the touring party due to injury. Messenger's name was included on the contract bought over from New Zealand, indicating that the decision had already been made. However, Messenger's form against the All Blacks in Sydney was certainly good enough to warrant his inclusion in the touring party. A fourth match had originally been planned in Melbourne, as an attempt to foster rugby in the city, but the plans fell through for unknown reasons. Instead the All Blacks left Australia, having earned £600 from the three games. During their short stay the tourists had helped kick-start the professional movement in Sydney.Kiwis Were Out For Keeps RL1908.com, Accessed 8 August 2009. Archived 2009-08-11. While leaving Australia news came through that the New Zealand Rugby Union had issued life bans to all of those involved in the tour.
The financial success of the All Golds' games in Sydney gave valuable momentum to Giltinan and Co.'s scheme to introduce a professional district rugby football competition in Sydney the following season.
1907–08 in England and Wales While on the long sea voyage from Australia, the men tried to keep fit by training on the deck. During a stop over in Ceylon the team was challenged to a game by the Ceylon rugby union. The All Blacks won the match against 33–8. As a result of this match the rugby union New Zealand side declined to play the Ceylonese on the return leg of their tour, deeming that Ceylon had forfeited their amateur status by playing against Baskerville's men.
During the voyage the tourists also played a game of cricket against the ships officers and first class passengers and were again victorious, winning by an innings. McGregor and Messenger proved to be the best bowlers in the touring party.
The arrival of the team was met with great anticipation in the Yorkshire and Lancashire, areas that had been devoid of international competition for so long. The exciting play of the 1905 Originals and the reports that the current side had won three matches in Australia only heightened the expectations of the hosts. The RMS Ortona, carrying the touring side, berthed in Marseille, France and the squad took a train to Boulogne before they boarded the Empress. They reached England on 30 September 1907, arriving in Folkestone. The visitors were met by the main officials of the Northern Rugby Football Union. The team stayed the night in London, where the Northern Union officials introduced the side to the press – near the headquarters of the English Rugby Union. The next day the side travelled north to Leeds where they were met at the station by a crowd of about 6,000, all keen to see the touring All Blacks. After they had arrived the tourists had two weeks before their first game. They spent the time based in Leeds, training and adapting to both the new rules of the Northern Union and the colder climate.All Golds Rugby League Team New Zealand A to Z, Accessed 9 August 2009. Archived 2009-08-11. They also watched Leeds and Hunslet play a local derby game – the first time they had seen the new rules in operation.