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Thomas Ellison
Date of birthBetween 1866-68
Place of birthOtakou, New Zealand
Date of death2 October 1904(1904-10-02) (aged 36)
Place of deathWellington, New Zealand
Weight86 kg (190 lb)
SchoolTe Aute College
SpouseEthel May Howell
Occupation(s)Lawyer
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward and half-back
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1885–1893 Poneke Football Club ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
1885–1892 Wellington 23 ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1888–89
1893		 NZ Native team
 New Zealand		 83
7		 (113)
(23)

Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison, also known as Tom Ellison (1866/68—2 October 1904) was a New Zealand rugby union player and lawyer. He led the first New Zealand representative rugby team organised by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) on their 1893 tour of Australia, and played in the 1888–1889 New Zealand Native football team on their epic 107 match tour, and scored 113 points, and 43 tries with the side.

Born in Otakou, Otago, Ellison was educated at Te Aute College where he was introduced to rugby. After moving to Wellington, Ellison played for the Poneke Football Club, and was selected to play provincially. He was recruited into Joe Warbrick's privately organised Native football team in 1888, and continued to play for both Poneke and Wellington on his return from that tour. In 1892, he started to refine and popularise the wing–forward system of play, which was a vital element of New Zealand rugby's success until 1932. At the first NZRFU annual general meeting in 1893, Ellison proposed that the playing colours of the New Zealand side should be predominantly black with a silver fern—a playing strip that would give the team their famous name of All Blacks. He retired from playing rugby after captaining the 1893 New Zealand side to New South Wales and Queensland, but continued in the sport as a coach and administrator. Ellison was the author of a coaching manual, The Art of Rugby Football, that was published in 1902. He married his wife Ethel May Howell in 1899—with whom he had three children—before his death from tuberculosis in 1904.

Early life

Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison was born at Otakou in Otago to parents Raniera Taheke Ellison and Nani Weller. He was born sometime between 1866 and 1868, and named after his paternal grandfather, with his middle name Rangiwahia given in honour of his great-uncle. Ellison was Māori, and of Ngāi Tahu and Kāti Mamoe tribal heritage through his mother, and of Te Āti Awa heritage through his father.[1] After being educated at Otakou Native School,[2] in 1882 Ellison was awarded a scholarship to attend the famous Māori secondary school Te Aute College in the Hawke's Bay. He had been introduced to rugby prior to attending Te Aute College, and participated in the sport when attending the school; during his final two years he played for the school team when they won the Hawke's Bay senior club championship.[3][4][5][1]

After joining the Poneke Football Club in Wellington in 1885, Ellison was selected to play provincially for Wellington that same year.[1] He continued to be selected for Wellington until 1892, and eventually earned 23 caps.[2] Initially Ellison played as a forward or on the wing, but later played half-back.[1]

New Zealand Native football team

A team photo of the 1888-89 New Zealand Native football team while in England prior to a match against Middlesex. Thomas Ellison is seated in the row second from front, third from left.

In early 1888 Joe Warbrick was attempting to organise a private party of predominantly Māori players to tour Great Britain — later known as the 1888–1889 New Zealand Native football team. A cousin of Ellison's, Jack Taiaroa, who had toured with the New Zealand team that travelled to New South Wales in 1884, helped Warbrick recruit players for his proposed tour. It was most likely because of Taiaroa that Ellison was persuaded to join Warbrick's Natives team.[2] The Native Football team included not just Māori, but also non-Māori New Zealand born players, and even several non-New Zealand born players. The final team consisted of 26 players, and toured New Zealand before departing to Melbourne. They then toured Great Britain, Australia, and finally New Zealand again—with the trip lasting 14 months. Ellison played as a forward throughout the tour, and played at least 83 of the team's 107 matches; including a minimum of 58 in Britain.[6] Thomas Eyton, one of the promoters of the tour, said of Ellison's contribution—"His knowledge of the finer points of the game, his weight, strength and activity rendered his services invaluable."[6] Not only did Ellison participate in most of the Natives' matches, but he scored 113 points, and 43 tries on tour; including 23 tries in Britain and Ireland, 4 in New South Wales, 5 in Queensland, and 10 in New Zealand.[7][1]

One of the most notable events of the Natives' tour occurred during the match against England at Blackheath. The match was notable for a dispute between the Natives' team and the match referee—Rowland Hill. Early in the second half Ellison attempted to tackle the English player Andrew Stoddart, and in the process managed to rip his shorts off.[8][9] The Natives' players promptly formed a circle around Stoddart to allow him to replace his clothing without being exposed to the gazes of the crowd. While this was occurring one of the English players, Frank Evershed, picked up the ball and scored a try. The Native players protested, believing that play had stopped after claiming Stoddart had called "dead ball". Hill awarded the try however, causing several of the Native players to leave the field in protest.[8] They were eventually persuaded to return to the field, but not before Hill had restarted play. Ellison was very critical of Hill; particularly because Hill was also Secretary of England's Rugby Football Union. Writing after the tour, Ellison said of Hill and the match—".. gross as these errors were, they were insignificant when compared with another that Mr Hill committed at the outset of the game, viz, refereeing at all in that game".[10] Despite this incident, Ellison clearly enjoyed the experience of touring with the team, and in 1902 he wrote—"I shall never forget the trip, notwithstanding the extremely heavy programme of fixtures we had to go through. Perhaps the most delightful part of our experiences was tasted not so much on the field of play as off it".[5]

Wing-forward

After completion of the tour, Ellison continued to play for Poneke and Wellington. While playing with Poneke, Ellison implemented the use of a wing-forward and seven-man scrum positional system.[a] It is not known exactly who developed the position of wing-forward, but Ellison claimed in The Art of Rugby Football that he had developed it;[12] while historian Greg Ryan claims the position was developed in northern England, and that Ellison only refined it after discovering it during the Natives' tour.[13] The distinctive feature of wing-forward play was their role of feeding the ball into the scrum, and then subsequently holding onto one of the hookers while the ball progressed through the scrum to the half-back.[b] With the wing-forward bound to the side of the scrum, the opposing half-back would then have to get past them before pressuring the opposing half-back; this would increase the amount of time the half-back would have in possession before their opposite could tackle them.[11] Ellison claimed that he devised the position while playing half-back for Poneke after he "... found it impossible for the smartest of referees to detect and amply penalize off-side interferences of opponents bent on spoiling my passes ...".[14]

Regardless of the origins of the position, Ellison was instrumental in promoting its adoption throughout New Zealand.[6] While it is unclear whether or not the wing-forward was used during the 1893 tour of Australia, by the time of the All Blacks' first Test match in 1903 the position was engrained within the New Zealand style of play.[15] The use of a wing-forward did provoke controversy both in New Zealand, and later in the British Isles after the All Blacks toured there in 1905; this was because wing-forwards were often accused of off-side obstruction of the opposition half-back.[13][16] According to Ellison however, if the position was implemented properly, then there would be no cause for complaint.[13] The wing-forward continued as a vital component of New Zealand rugby until long-standing complaints from the unions of the Home Nations resulted in the position being outlawed by the International Rugby Football Board in 1932.[17][c]

Later rugby career

In 1892, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU—later renamed New Zealand Rugby Union) was formed by the majority of New Zealand's provincial rugby unions. Ellison was a Wellington provincial administrator, and in 1893 at the inaugural NZRFU annual general meeting proposed the playing strip for the first officially sanctioned New Zealand side — black cap, black jersey with white fern, white knickerbockers and black stockings.[9][3][1][11] The white knickerbockers would later be replaced with black shorts, and the uniform itself was based upon that worn by the Native team Ellison had toured with.[1] The all black uniform would become famous as that of New Zealand representative sides, and eventually give them their name—All Blacks.[18]

The first NZRFU sanctioned New Zealand team was formed to tour New South Wales and Queensland in 1893, and Ellison was selected as their captain.[1] Ellison played seven matches on the tour, including matches against New South Wales and Queensland. The team won ten of their eleven matches—the one loss being to New South Wales in Sydney.[3] In addition to scoring two tries, Ellison kicked six conversions and a goal from a mark to give him 23 points for the tour—the second highest of any player.[4][19] The tour was the end of Ellison's participation in the sport as a player.[2]

After finishing his career, Ellison's playing record totalled 117 matches; 68 of which were first-class games.[d] He scored a total of 160 career points, including 51 tries.[1] Ellison continued involvement with rugby as a provincial administrator, provincial referee, and manager.[6] As an administrator, he proposed that players be financially compensated for wages missed due to playing; this was in 1898—nearly a century before rugby relinquished its amateur status.[1] In 1902 Ellison published The Art of Rugby Football, a coaching manual on rugby that also included accounts of his experiences as a player. The book is considered pioneering, and a classic of rugby literature.[6][4]

Professional and personal life

Outside of his sporting endeavours, Ellison was a lawyer, and is believed to be one of the first Māori admitted to the bar. He practised as an interpreter for the Land Courts, and later worked in the practises of Brandon & Hislop in Wellingon. Ellison was also involved in politics, and stood unsuccessfully for the Southern Maori parliamentary seat several times against Tame Parata,[20] as well as working for government consideration of Ngāi Tahu land claims.[1][6] After marrying Ethel May Howell on 22 March 1899, the couple had three children, only one of whom survived past infancy: daughter Hinemura, who died in 1989. In 1904 Ellison was struck down with tuberculosis, and was admitted to Porirua Lunatic Asylum, before dying on 2 October that same year. He was eventually buried in Kaik, Otago Heads, where his gravestone reads "One of the greatest rugby footballers New Zealand ever possessed".[1][20] Ellison has been inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame,[20] and in 2005 Ellison was listed as one of New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers.[21] The New Zealand Native Football team was inducted into the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame in 2008; the first side awarded the honour.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ The seven–man scrum consisted of two front-rowers (hookers), three second-rowers, and two back-rowers—known as the 2-3-2 system. This is compared to the modern 3-4-1 system.[11]
  2. ^ Under this scrum configuration there were no props, but instead two hookers.[11]
  3. ^ At this time the International Rugby Football Board consisted only of representatives from the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh unions, and did not have a representative from New Zealand.
  4. ^ The definition of a first-class match can vary, but in New Zealand is typically a match involving a provincial or national side.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Anderson 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d Ryan 1993, p. 133.
  3. ^ a b c Luxford.
  4. ^ a b c Meikle 2011.
  5. ^ a b Otago Witness.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Ryan 1993, p. 134.
  7. ^ Ryan 1993, p. 146–148.
  8. ^ a b Ryan 1993, p. 83.
  9. ^ a b Mulholland 2009, p. 11.
  10. ^ Ryan 1993, p. 84.
  11. ^ a b c d Elliott 2012, p. 40.
  12. ^ Elliott 2012, p. 40–41.
  13. ^ a b c Ryan 2011, p. 1411.
  14. ^ Elliott 2012, p. 41.
  15. ^ Elliott 2012, p. 41–44.
  16. ^ Elliott 2012, p. 44.
  17. ^ Ryan 2011, p. 1410.
  18. ^ All Blacks - The Name?.
  19. ^ New Zealand Rugby Museum.
  20. ^ a b c Mulholland 2009, p. 13.
  21. ^ 100 History Makers.
  22. ^ 2008 Inductee.

Sources

Books and articles

  • Elliott, Matt (2012). Dave Gallaher – The Original All Black Captain. HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 978-1-86950-968-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Mulholland, Malcolm (2009). Beneath the Māori Moon – An Illustrated History of Māori Rugby. Huia Publishers. ISBN 978-1-86969-305-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Ryan, Greg (1993). Forerunners of the All Blacks. Christchurch, New Zealand: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 0-908812-30-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Ryan, Greg (2011). "A Tale of Two Dinners: New Zealand Rugby and the Embrace of Empire, 1919–32". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 28 (10). Routledge: 1409–1425. doi:10.1080/09523367.2011.577641. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

News

Web

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