Sean Fagan of RL1908.com

The 1905 "All Blacks" are recognised as the team that defined New Zealand rugby union. On their tour of the United Kingdom, they swept all before them, losing just one match.

Their style-of-play and crowd popularity reinvigorated English rugby union. A century on, numerous books and countless newspaper and magazine articles laud the achievements of the All Blacks of 1905.

Rarely mentioned though is the effect and influence they had on two other football codes - rugby league and Australian rules.

If not for the 1905 All Blacks, rugby league would have faded away in England, and never arrived in New Zealand or Australia. The rugby states of NSW and Queensland would have fallen to Australian rules - there probably would not have been any Wallabies, no Bledisloe Cup and no cross-Tasman football rivalry.

Amidst the story of Australasian rugby's rise in popularity at the dawn of the twentieth century, the NSWRU and NZRU constantly fought over money and tour arrangements - relations were so poor that the 1899 British team were prevented by the NSWRU from playing in New Zealand, and the 1904 visit across the Tasman only went ahead at the last moment.

Dissatisfied with its so-called "brother Union", the NZRU negotiated with the English RFU for a New Zealand team to tour Britain in 1905 - the first official rugby visit from the southern hemisphere. Discarding notions of an "Australasian" team, New Zealand determined to go it alone against the Home nations.

In Britain in the northern winter of 1905/06, the All Blacks showcased the attacking style of rugby developed in New Zealand - players would refuse to fall with the football in hand, always looking for a support player, to continue the movement and attack the opposition line.

Their objective was to avoid scrums, rucks and mauls, to keep the play continuous, and wear down their opponents with rapid passing movements and spectacular back play. As a result, the All Blacks attracted supporters to their matches in their tens of thousands.

They also caught the attention of the Northern Union's professional rugby league clubs.

While it is well-known that George Smith and some of his All Blacks team mates were courted by the administrators of English rugby league, and agreed to return with the "All Golds" team in 1907, the All Blacks left another lasting legacy in England.

The English rugby league, desperate to re-invigorate their income-driven game, were mesmerised by the popular and entertaining style of the All Blacks.

To bring about "All Blacks style rugby" on a weekly basis amongst their own club footballers, rugby league made two significant rule changes the following season. The first was to reduce the number of players on each team from 15 to 13, to create more space for attacking rugby. The second was to mimic the All Blacks preference to avoid scrums, rucks and mauls - rugby league introduced the play-the-ball.

Suddenly, rugby league found new crowd-appeal - just in time for its introduction to New Zealand and Australia.

When rugby league arrived in Sydney in 1908, it was the differences in the playing rules between the codes that favoured the professional game.

Enjoying far more popularity and much larger crowds, the NSWRL quickly became a rich and powerful body. It was readily able to meet the financial needs of the working-class footballers that dominated the city, and could out-bid the rugby union authorities at every turn.

By 1910 League had permanent hold of NSW and Queensland.

Before the 1905 All Blacks, NSW footballers and supporters were increasingly swaying toward adopting Australian rules.

This article is based on The Rugby Rebellion.

The changes the English rugby league made in 1906/07, as a direct result of the 1905 All Blacks' British tour, together with the tour's financial success, convinced footballers and entrepreneurs in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney to form rugby league.

In the four seasons after the 1905 All Blacks, the concept of regular tours between northern and southern hemisphere rugby teams (in both codes) was established, giving birth to the Kangaroos, Kiwis and Lions in League, and the Springboks and Wallabies in Union.

Had the 1905 All Blacks never been formed, or not been such a success, professional rugby league may never have come to Australia and New Zealand.

Copyright © 2005 - Sean Fagan. All rights reserved - the article above may not be reproduced (in full or part) in any form without written permission.