Rugby on New Zealand Stamps

       

          As the title above says, this post is about the history of New Zealand Rugby as told by the stamps of New Zealand.

1967 Health - New Zealand Rugby.
         

          We begin our search for New Zealand Rugby Stamps with the Health Issue of 1967. When New Zealand was changing to decimal currency and so it was decided to start a new sporting theme in the Health  Stamp Series. As the New Zealand Rugby Union was celebrating their 75th Anniversary the first stamps of this new theme depicted rugby. Each design featured a boy playing rugby football with a shadow figure of an 'All Black' player in the background.

                               

1967 Rugby - 2 1/2c + 1c                           1967 Rugby - 3c + 1c

 1990 Health - George Nepia.

George Nepia - 80c + 5c

           George Nepia was an outstanding rugby player from the 1920s. He created a New Zealand record by playing in 38 consecutive matches for his country.  His achievements in rugby include 46 matches as an All Black fullback, including nine tests; a member of the unbeatable 1924 'Invincibles' touring the UK; he scored 99 points from one try, 39 conversions and six penalty goals.  At the time of the 1924 'Invincibles' tour, George Nepia was only 19 years of age. 

 1991 Rugby World Cup.

          To commemorate New Zealand's defence of the 1991 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand Post produced this special stamp issue. Wellington designer, Allan Mitchell, depicted four aspects of the game in New Zealand - Children's Rugby, Women's Rugby, Senior Rugby and the All Blacks.

                                

Children's Rugby - 80c                                    Women's Rugby - $1.00

                                

Senior Rugby - $1.50                                              All Blacks - $1.80

         The Miniature Sheet which included the $1.80 stamp carried a surcharge to raise funds to help support the hobby of stamp collecting. The sheet shows the All Blacks performing the Haka at the start of a test match.

Stamp Designs - 1991 Rugby World Cup.

  

Here is something a bit different. Unissued design artwork commissioned by NZ Post, 

drawn by Stamp Designer Dave Gunson.

1995 Rugby World Cup.

          New Zealand competed in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, held in South Africa. In the semi-finals, New Zealand beat England 45-29 gaining the opportunity to meet South Africa. In this tightly played, South Africa beat New Zealand 15-12 taking the cup for that year.

         NZ Post did not issue any stamps of this occasion but in this blog, we are always interested in showing something unusual. Here are two postcards that fit into the category of unusual.

Yes, two postcards being sent from Romania to England, one addressed and posted and one unaddressed and unposted. They are covers commemorating the 1995 Rugby World Cup which Romania took part in. On each cover is a hand stamp featuring the semi-final and final games mentioned above that New Zealand took part in. Rather interesting don't you think?

 1999 Rugby Super 12.

           Each season, five New Zealand teams – the Auckland Blues, the Hamilton Chiefs, the Wellington Hurricanes, the Canterbury Crusaders and the Otago Highlanders thrill huge live crowds and television audiences alike as they jostle for points and placings against each other and teams from Australia and South Africa in the world’s first totally professional, inter-provincial rugby championship.

          To mark the 1999 Super 12 Rugby season New Zealand issued this interesting set of postage stamps. The stamps were issued in five team stamp self-adhesive booklets each containing 10 stamps of two different designs and a sheetlet of ten (gummed) stamps.

See our post - 1999 Super Twelve Rugby.  

                                

    The Blues - Kick.         The Blues - Tackle                                             Stamp Booklet.

           The Blues (formerly the Auckland Blues) are a professional rugby union team based in Auckland, New Zealand, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby sides, the Blues were established by the NZRU in 1996. One of the most successful teams in Super Rugby history, the Blues won the competition in each of its first two seasons, 1996 and 1997, and again in 2003. Additionally, the team were finalists in 1998 and semi-finalists in 2007 and 2011. The team is captained by Ali Williams and coached by Sir John Kirwan.

                                 

Stamp Booklet.                                              The Chiefs - Tackle.          The Chiefs - Jump.

         The Chiefs (formerly known as the Waikato Chiefs) are a professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand, and are the current Super Rugby champions (2012 season). Their home ground is Waikato Stadium. The Chiefs play in black, red and yellow coloured jerseys. The team competes in the Super Rugby competition, known as the Super 12 from 1996 to 2005, Super 14 from 2006–2010 and Super Rugby from 2011 onwards. The Chiefs are one of the competition's five New Zealand sides.

       Update - 3rd August 2013: - The Chiefs are Super Rugby Champions for 2013.

                                

The Hurricanes - Run.       The Hurricanes - Pass.                                       Stamp Booklet.

          The Hurricanes (formerly known as the Wellington Hurricanes) are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition. The team represents the East Coast, Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua Kapiti, Manawatu, Poverty Bay, Taranaki, Wairarapa-Bush, Wanganui and Wellington unions, and currently plays at Westpac Stadium, having previously played at the now-defunct Athletic Park

                                 

Stamp Booklet.                                         The Crusaders - Catch.   The Crusaders - Kick.

          The Crusaders (formerly the Canterbury Crusaders) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008). The franchise represents the Buller, Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury, Tasman and West Coast Provincial Rugby Unions. Their main home ground is AMI Stadium, formerly known as Jade Stadium and before that, Lancaster Park.

                                  

The Highlanders - Try.    The Highlanders - Run.                                   Stamp Booklet.

          The Highlanders (formerly known as Otago Highlanders) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that competes in Super Rugby. The team represents the North Otago, Otago and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that helped found the Otago, North Otago, and Southland regions in the 1840s and 1850s. Their main ground through the 2011 Super Rugby season was Carisbrook in Dunedin, with home games occasionally being played in Invercargill and Queenstown. The Highlanders moved into Carisbrook's replacement, Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, for the 2012 season; the stadium opened in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup but after the Super Rugby season.

 
2003  100 Years of Test Rugby.
        In 2003 New Zealand issued a six value set celebrating 100 years of Test Rugby. The stamps depict scenes from five famous test matches with each of New Zealand's main competitors and one stamp showing the famous All Black test jersey with the silver fern.

                                  

New Zealand vs South Africa, 1937                                  New Zealand vs Wales, 1963 - 90c

The All Blacks won 13-7.                                                   The All Blacks won 6-0.

                                  

New Zealand vs Australia, 1985                                                   All Blacks Jersey and  

The All Blacks Won 10-9.                                                             the Sliver Fern     

                                    

New Zealand vs France, 1986                                              New Zealand vs England, 1997

France Won 16-3.                                                                   The All Blacks won 25-8.



2004 Rugby Sevens - Join Hong Kong Issue.

          The Rugby Sevens is a version of rugby where two reduced teams of seven compete for 14 minutes is a battle which usually produces fast, high scoring rugby. It is very popular with spectators. The home for the world contest is Hong Kong where a new larger stadium had to be built for the large crowds attending.

 

New Zealand Sevens - 40c.              Hong Kong Sevens - 90c.

                   

      Stadium in Hong Kong - $1.50.                 Westpac Stadium, Wellington - $2.00.

2004 Hong Kong Stamp Expo.

       New Zealand celebrated this stamp exhibition with a miniature sheet including two stamps from the 2003 '100 years of New Zealand Rugby' collection.



2004 The Salon du Timbre Stamp Exhibition.

          Between 26 June and 4 July 2004, the Salon du Timbre Exhibition was held in Paris, France. New Zealand Post commemorated this international philatelic event with a miniature sheet that included two stamps from the 2003 '100 years of New Zealand Rugby' collection and a stamp from the 2004 'Rugby Sevens' collection.   This exhibition miniature sheet image showed the All Blacks playing France at the Stade de France in 2000.

2005 New Zealand - British/Irish Lions Series.

          In 2005 the British/Irish Lions toured New Zealand and competed with the All Blacks in the test series. What made this tour stand out was the many UK supporters who toured with the team. They were known for their convoys of camper vans as they travelled from town to town.

         The stamp issue shows the jerseys wore by the two test teams.  

2008 A to Z of New Zealand - Colin Meads.

        The fun collection of New Zealand culture, history, heritage and downright Kiwiana featured a rugby theme on two stamps:-

         For the letter "L" the stamp says 'L is for Log o' Wood' meaning the famous Ranfurly Shield a trophy closely fought for by provincial teams from around New Zealand. Once one team takes the shield they are challenged by other teams until they lose it. 

         For the letter "P" the stamp says 'P is for Pinetree' meaning the nickname given to Colin Meads, a former New Zealand Rugby Union player who played 55 test matches as an All Black from 1957 to 1971. He was named the player of the year for the 1999 season. Colin was also a dairy farmer until only a few years ago when he retired and sold his farm.  

      

'L is for Log o' Wood.'                              'P is for Pinetree.'

      The Ranfurly Shield.                         Rugby player Colin Meads.



 



2010 100 Years of Maori Rugby. 

Collection Note:-
        At about this time New Zealand started issuing stamps with a rugby theme in miniature sheets. To me, this made them just aimed at rugby supporters with no intention for use in postage. At this point, I lost interest in the collection. Also if you look at the stamps below I think you will agree that they have lost appeal as well. 
          So I have decided just to include the full miniature sheet without much writing up, with just a title and the year added to each sheet.

2010 The All Blacks.

2010 The World Cup.

2011 Webb Ellis Cup  (World Cup) 

2011 $15 Webb Ellis Cup.

(New Zealand's first 3d stamp.)



 

Miniature Sheet showing teams competing for the 2011 Ellis Cup.

2011 All Blacks - Rugby World Cup Champions. 

2011 World Cup Supports Sheet.

2012 All Blacks.

A rather unexciting miniature sheet featuring the same design that we have seen in earlier issues.

2014  All Blacks.

2014 All Blacks.

Again we see, that same rugby design with the values changed. This time they have included four stamps on the miniature sheet featuring two different values and two different sizes.

2015 All Blacks' Jersey.

2015 All Black Jersey.



This exciting, innovative stamp contains real fabric supplied by Adidas from the All Blacks 2015 Home Replica Jersey. The fabric has been printed on with precision to include the All Blacks logo, the Adidas logo and the AIG logo, and then die-cut to replicate the real jersey worn on the field. The jersey is applied to gummed stamp paper, with the complete design replicating a framed All Black rugby jersey. 

Not sure this can be considered a postage stamp but at least it's a break away from that silver fern we have seen so much of in recent years.

2015 All Blacks Miniature Sheet.

On 31 October, at Twickenham, New Zealand won the 2015 Rugby World Cup, becoming the first team to retain their title and the first to win the title for the third time.

2015  All Blacks Miniature Sheet.

To mark this event, New Zealand Post is issuing this special Miniature Sheet showing the celebrating All Blacks grouped for a photograph after being presented with the Ellis Cup. The sheet also shows basic details such as the date, location and the two teams that played with their respective scores. What does stand out boldly is the title at the top "All Blacks World Champions 2015."

2017 British & Irish Lions Tour - Miniature Sheet.
2017 - The British & Irish Lions Tour. 

We have shown the First Day Cover here as the full sheet is too large. This can be viewed by following the link about. The issue features seven stamps, each representing a location where the Lions will play during their tour.
Top Row: - $2.70 Whangarei; $2.70 Auckland x3; $2.70 Hamilton.
Middle Row: - $2.70 Rotorua; $2.70 Wellington x2; $2.70 Christchurch.
Bottom Row: - $2.70 Dunedin.

2019 All Blacks - The Silver Fern.
2019 All Blacks - The Silver Fern.
In an issue to mark the 2019 Rugby World Cup, we follow the history of the famous silver fern that has been worn by All Blacks since 1905.

It is 135 years since the fern first appeared on the breast of a New Zealand rugby jersey. To date, nearly 1,200 All Blacks have worn this now-famous icon. Today the black jersey emblazoned with the iconic silver fern is more than a symbol of pride for Kiwis and rugby excellence for rivals. 
This issue also marks the beginning of the 2019 World Rugby Cup, which was held in Japan with the stamps being issued on 20th September, the day of the opening ceremony.

Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ

You can visit their website and On-line Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/

Images and Text used with permission from the NZ Post website.https://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/