Rector’s XV vs Te Aute Centenary Match
Tomorrow will see a Rector’s XV play Te Aute College from Central Hawke’s Bay, and the match is being played to mark 100 years since our two schools first met on the rugby field. And, as it was in 1920, the match is taking place the day after term two finishes.
That first match was the North Island semi-final of the first national secondary schools knockout championship, held to determine who would be the original holder of the Moascar Cup – a trophy won by the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade in a services tournament in Egypt while waiting to be sent home at the end of World War I.
The 1920 1st XV, which included the school’s soon to be first All Black Arthur Law, had already defeated Napier, St.Patrick’s College of Wellington and Wanganui Technical College before taking on Te Aute for the first time. The 1920 Palmerstonian records “This match was without doubt our greatest game of the whole season…Te Aute were indeed a great team, and the tremendous struggle they put up will never be forgotten by those who took part against them. It may be worthy to note that this was the only team which we played for the Moascar Cup that crossed our line.”
The match was played in Napier, and when, on the return journey, the train stopped in “their township…” the Te Aute team “lined up alongside the train and gave us three cheers and then their haka, after which we responded with three hearty cheers. They then climbed on to the train , shook hands with us, and wished us luck in our future games.”
So began our long history with Te Aute College; a few years after this first match the fixture became an annual one, and over throughout the 1930s and 40s the Moascar Cup moved almost exclusively between our two schools. Currently it resides not far up the road from Te Aute, at our Super Eight compatriots at Hastings Boys’.
Throughout our 100 years many memorable games hav been played; the infamous match of 1947 stands out – the school’s Centennial Book writes, “One of the most extraordinary 1st XV matches ever played. All football (rugby in those days, boys, was referred to as football) in New Zealand was cancelled because of very bad storms, but Te Aute had not heard or were not told, and duly arrived in Palmerston North for their two-night stay. The Manawatu Rugby Union were keen to recoup the £57 17s 6d the Royal Hotel would cost them, and insisted the game go on”. The coach, Mr Skoglund contacted the team to tell them the game was on; 5000 spectators were at the Showgrounds and in the atrocious conditions after five minutes no-one could tell who was who. The nil-all draw meant Te Aute retained the Moascar Cup.
All told, our 1st XVs have met 84 times over those 100 years, and even though we have not played at 1st XV level since 2008 we have maintained contact on the sporting field with Te Aute and it is a privilege to host them tomorrow for our Centenary fixture. A 12pm kick-off on the no.1 field here at school.
