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Richard Pelham (circled left) and Jackie Ruru ( circled right) as part of the 1930 New Zealand Maori team that lost 19-13 in Wellington to the touring Great Britain side. Pelham and Ruru were the side’s midfielders and both scored tries in the match.
Two freakishly talented Māori sportsmen who started their careers playing for other provinces and made their way to Wellington to leave their marks on capital club, representative and Māori rugby.
Both players were primarily midfield backs, while Pelham was also a champion swimmer and later a surf lifesaver as well as a rugby player.
Richard ‘Dick’ Pelham played mostly for the Athletic club in Wellington and went on to help that side win its maiden Jubilee Cup title in 1936.
Jackie Ruru joined the University club in Wellington and played for the New Zealand University side as well as New Zealand Māori.
At least one of them was in Wellington representative squads continuously from 1928-34.
Ruru would die in tragic circumstances whilst playing for the Tairawhiti (East Coast) Māori regional team against their Taihauauru (West Coast) counterparts in
a Prince of Wales Cup match at Rotorua on 1 September 1934. Ruru was playing second-five and captain and scored his team’s only try of the match. Late in the game, Ruru left the field injured and later that night he died of a brain haemorrhage at Rotorua Hospital.
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The Jack Ruru Memorial Cup was presented the following year by Ruru’s mother in his memory, which was played in conjunction with the Prince of Wales Cup and the Te Mori Rose Bowl.
Ruru’s club University instigated the Jackie Ruru Shield, which originally served as a trophy for University inter-house matches before being repurposed in 1981 as a challenge trophy for University’s social teams and from 1992 a challenge trophy for Old Boys University’s Reserve Grade teams.
Ruru’s birthdate is listed as 17 July 1910 at Te Karaka inland from Gisborne, but, going by several sources, his timeline of rugby and life achievements appears to be out by two years so he could either have actually been born in 1912 or if this is accurate, he might have understated his actual age by two years. What is certain is that he attended Te Aute College and was a star from a young age, also playing for the Central Hawke’s Bay club. He played on the wing for Hawke’s Bay for two seasons in 1929 and 1930 and was a crowd favourite for his exciting attacking play as well as his ‘fearless tackling’. He played one New Zealand trial match in 1930.
In 1931 Ruru started at Victoria University at either age 18 (as recorded) or perhaps 20, where he was a student at the time of his passing.
As sad as his death was, it is perhaps telling that his last appearance for Hawke’s Bay in 1930 had been against Wellington in 1930, in which he was injured and carried off the field in a stretcher and the cause of this was subsequently attributed to ‘concussion’.
The Dominion also wrote in its Monday edition following his death that ‘Ruru was injured in a previous game about a fortnight ago, and during Saturday’s match appeared to still be suffering from the effects of concussion.’
He was selected for the Wellington team in his first year in the capital in 1931, played for East Coast in 1932 and for Wellington again in 1934. Only a fortnight prior to his death he had played for Wellington against his former province Hawke’s Bay at Athletic Park, in an 8-18 loss for the home side.
Ruru had toured with the 1927 New Zealand Māori team on its 12-match internal New Zealand tour as a teenager out of Moascar Cup holders Te Aute College and also played for this team in several big matches, including in a 9-8 win over New South Wales, in a 18-37 loss to the New Zealand XV in 1929, in a 13-19 loss to Great Britain in 1930 and in a 3-14 loss to Australia in 1931.
Ruru also played for the New Zealand Universities side in 1931, making six appearances on their month-long tour of Australia.
Pelham, who in his heyday was known as the ‘Prince of Māori Sport’ was nine years older than Ruru, born in Rotorua in 1901 and spending his formative years in his hometown before moving to Auckland and then Wellington.
Pelham was one of two fullbacks selected for the 1926-27 Māori All Black team that played in Australia, Sri Lanka, France, England, Wales, Canada and New Zealand.
He played in 26 of 40 games on tour, playing at fullback and centre.
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Alongside Ruru, he was a member of the New Zealand Māori team in 1928 when it beat New South Wales 9-8 in Wellington and in 1930 when the same side lost 13-19 to Great Britain. In the latter game, Pelham was second-five and Ruru centre and they were both try-scorers (along with fullback George Nepia).
Pelham started his rugby career in Rotorua, playing for the Kahukura club, before going to Auckland via a stint working near Tauranga and joining Ponsonby.
After the 1926/27 summer overseas tour he settled in Wellington and joined the Athletic club, whom he played for the next decade except for one season at Poneke in 1930.
He played three seasons for Wellington representative teams, his record being 19 tries scored in 39 games played.
He retired from representative rugby in 1932 but kept playing club rugby. In 1936 he was part of Athletic’s squad that won their first Jubilee Cup, also captaining the club’s second XV that year that won their title. He played in both major matches for each team that year, leading the second division team to its win then playing for the top team that beat Wellington College Old Boys in the final.
He played some games for the new Centurions club 1938-40 and played his last game for any team in 1942, but he remained involved in rugby for many years as a selector/coach of Wellington Māori teams.
As well as rugby, Pelham was a champion swimmer. He was a New Zealand record-holder for the 440-yard swim, and when touring with rugby he won swimming races in France and Vancouver against local opposition.
Pelham joined the Lyall Bay Surf Club, and as a member he shared several surf lifesaving team titles and was New Zealand individual surf champion in 1937. He represented New Zealand against Australia in 1937 and 1938. He later involved in administration of that sport and in 1950 was a New Zealand Surf Lifesaving selector. He also played Water Polo for Wellington and was in the team that won the National title in 1948.
Pelham returned to Rotorua in 1971, and he passed away there in 1975, aged 74.
References:
- Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016
- Anderson, John. Victoria University of Wellington Rugby Football Club. The Story of the Green and Golds 1902-1987. Publisher not stated, 1987.
- Athletic Football Club Diamond Jubilee 1877-1937 Souvenir Programme.
- Chester R.H. & McMillan N.A.C. The Visitors. The History of Rugby Teams in New Zealand. Moa Pubications, Auckland 1990.
- Dominion, Evening Post, Hawke’s Bay Tribune various reports 1930-34.
- Mulholland, Malcolm. Beneath the Maori Moon. An illustrated History of Maori Rugby. Huia Publishers. Wellington 2009.
- Swan, Arthur C.; Jackson, Gordon F. W. (1952). Wellington’s Rugby History 1870 – 1950. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed