Rugby History

Focusing on some of the supporters and looking at three individuals that were well known or helped galvanise the Wellington rugby public in years gone by. These days you can count the crowd at some games, it seems. In a bygone era there were many characters and supporters who helped shaped

Arthur 'Artie' Lambourn was a regular fixture of Petone and Wellington teams throughout the 1930s. His name is linked closely to rugby in the region in the years up to World War Two, and he played 45 first-class games for his province from 1932-39 and 40 matches for the All Blacks

Herb Lilburne could be one of the most valuable players to have ever transferred from Canterbury to Wellington. In the 1920s and 1930s, New Zealand rugby and especially Wellington was blessed with super-talented backs that were popular and helped draw big crowds to the game in an era of wing forwards

Hugh McLean (left) and Don Oliver (right) - both Wellington Axemen All Blacks in 1930. In 1930 the Wellington Football Club won Wellington’s Senior B Championship in emphatic style – scoring 508 points and conceding 29 in 15 matches, in an era of three-point tries. This was perhaps unsurprising, given that the

Having one of your players captain the All Blacks is a proud honour for any rugby club. What about providing two All Black captains in the same year? That is what Poneke did in 1920 - both Jimmy Tilyard and Beethoven Algar captaining the All Blacks in matches that season. Both players were