Wild facts about the first All Blacks

Pumas v All Blacks

Kick-off: 9:10am Sunday 17 August

Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba

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The All Blacks return to action this weekend against the Pumas in Cordoba. While things have come a long way from training on the decks of ships, or making a mad dash from milking the cows to playing a test match, the age of professionalism was paved through over a century of amateur pioneers.

The early days of the All Blacks were full of incredible tales.

Though the team did not officially adopt the iconic name until 1905, the country has been selecting its best players to represent Aotearoa since 1884.

Here are some of the most fascinating, quirky and tragic stories from New Zealand rugby's earliest characters.

An All Black strawweight

John Dumbell, an 1884 All Black who weighed just 50kg. An ironic surname considering he could have been curled by a few of today's All Blacks.

All Black shot dead

Alfred Cooke, who debuted in 1894, was killed in 1900. He was shot accidentally by a friend during a shooting expedition at Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora, preventing him from seeing his brother debut for the All Blacks in 1903.

Coast to coast

Henry Butland traversed the Southern Alps on foot to get from Hokitika to Lyttleton for the 1893 tour of Australia. Took part in the Klondike Gold Rush and his son Jack founded Chesdale Cheese.

The OG Barrett brothers

The Bayley bunch had six brothers who played for Taranaki in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries with Alfred and Walter making their debuts for New Zealand in 1893 and '94 respectively.

Horse kills All Black

James Lambie first played for New Zealand in 1893. In 1905 while travelling home on horseback after watching Taranaki play Great Britain, he was kicked in the head by his horse and died as a result.

Boots and bulbs

William Balch, who won a sole New Zealand cap in 1894, was also a noted authority on growing daffodils.

Boy amongst men

Joe Warbrick, who played 21 matches for the 'Natives' and seven for New Zealand starting in 1884, was the youngest person to ever play provincial rugby at just 15. He would often play barefooted and could slot a droppie from halfway. Killed by the Waimangu Geyser eruption of 1903.

The fraud forward

James O'Donnell was selected for the first national side to tour Australia in 1884, but was arrested on a fugitive warrant at Clinton and returned to Invercargill to face fraud charges.

A taboo romance

In a 19th century Romeo and Juliet tale, David Gage and a Scottish Aristocrat fell in love during the 1888-89 'Natives' Tour, eventually forced to part ways due to interracial romance being forbidden in Scottish high society. The story was adapted into a three part mini series called 'Savage Play.'

Boats 'n all

Thomas Ryan, the first player to kick a conversion and a drop goal for New Zealand in 1884, was a renowned artist with three of his pieces in the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery. He also skippered a ship for 20 years which ran between Taupō and Tokaanu.

Typhoid takes trailblazer

Named the first captain of the All Blacks in 1884, William Millton died from typhoid at just 29.

Original big bopper

Timothy O'Connor was the heaviest All Black in the original 1884 side at a whopping 89kg.

Swept away

John Taiaroa, a member of the first new Zealand side in 1884, drowned on New Years Eve in 1907 after slipping off his boat in the Otago Harbour. His body was recovered two weeks later, ten miles away.

All Black author

Billy Stead, a member of the 1905 Originals tour to Britain, wrote 'The Complete Rugby Footballer,' published in 1906, widely regarded as one of the best rugby manuals ever written.

Founder of the fern

Thomas Ellison was the first captain of New Zealand in 1893, one of the first Māori lawyers in New Zealand, and was the man behind the iconic silver fern on black uniform.

All Black hero

In 1897, All Black Robert Oliphant was given a bravery award for saving a little girl from drowning in the Auckland Harbour.

Mining death

An All Black in 1894, John Swindley died in Sumatra in a mining accident in 1918.

In the family

A member of the first All Black team of 1884, Henry Robert's son Teddy, also a halfback, was a member of the All Blacks in 1913, making them the first father-son duo to play for New Zealand. Edward and William Millton marked the first All Black brothers in 1884.

A lucky escape

In 1906, Fred Roberts was too ill to travel home with the All Blacks and stayed in San Francisco for several weeks. After surgery to remove his infected tonsils, he travelled back to New Zealand, narrowly missing the 1906 San Francisco earthquake which destroyed his hotel.

Reporting from the field

Ernie Booth was also a journalist at the same time he played for the All Blacks from 1905-07. Way to get the scoops!

On field fatality

In 1913 on a tour to Canada, a player on the Victoria team was carried from the field after suffering a big hit from an All Black. He died after the game and it was first thought this was due to concussion of the brain, but a medical investigation showed that he had suffered a heart attack.

Tri-code star

Before there was Israel Folau, there was George Gillett who played for the All Blacks from 1905-08, and also represented the the New Zealand rugby league and Australian rules sides.

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