New Zealand and sport

Abstract

New Zealanders have been prominent in world sport since the modern sporting world emerged, mainly from sports played in Britain, during the mid-nineteenth century. The most celebrated example of this is rugby union, where New Zealand's national men's team, the All Blacks, have won more than 75 per cent of their matches since 1884, including three world cups. The Black Ferns, the national 202 women's rugby team, have won more than 80 per cent of their matches and five world cups. New Zealand's sporting successes, however, extend far beyond rugby union. At various times, New Zealanders and their teams have been world champions in many sports, including netball, athletics, rowing, horseracing, motor racing, woodchopping, triathlon, golf and boxing, and its athletes have won 120 medals at the Olympic Games. How and why has this occurred? The short answer, it will be argued here, is that historically, New Zealanders have placed a high value on sporting success; have had role models of sporting excellence from an early stage and, despite their country's geographical isolation, have been integrated into global sporting networks for more than 150 years.