Ellis Rugby – Men’s New Zealand Rugby League T-Shirt Vintage Style – Ecru – XL

Ellis Rugby – Mens New Zealand Rugby League T-Shirt Vintage Style – Ecru

Manufactured from satin touch 100% Cotton. The Ellis Rugby New Zealand Rugby League T-Shirt features a New Zealand crest in the form of a detailed applique. Also included on this garment is herringbone detail on the side vents, tape on the neck opening and a decorative woven label.

Satin touch 100% cotton.
Crest in the form of a detailed applique.
Herringbone detail on the side vents.
Tape on the neck opening.
Decorative woven label.

An Introduction to New Zealand Rugby League T-Shirt
The VintageNew Zealand Rugby League T-Shirt is an exceptional quality garment. It is an inspiration by the famous history of the great former Kiwi teams.

New Zealand Rugby League team toured Australia in 1952. As expected they defeated RiverinaWestern by 22 points to 5 and New South Wales 26 points to 15. They continued their good run with a 21 points to 8 victory over MonaroSouthern Division XIII at Goulburn League Park.

Next was the difficult trip to Newcastle. In front of a crowd of 14,000. they suffered defeat by 9 points to 7. It proved as a crushing blow for the Kiwis. Because they began their preparation for the following weeks first test against the mighty Kangaroos.

On the 9th June 1952 over 56,000 fans packed the Sydney Cricket Ground expecting a victory for the Australian team. The side included the likes of Clive Churchill, Noel Pidding and Keith Holman. The score was close at half time 10 points to 8 to the Aussies. But in the second half the hosts ran in some easy tries. Wingers Denis Flannery and Noel Pidding each scored a brace of tries. The other try came from Albert Paul. Pidding also kicked 5 goals. The Kiwis tries came from Alister Atkinson, Tommy Baxter and Jim Edwards. Des White kicked 2 goals.

The Kiwis select George Menzies
The tour schedule allowed for a gap of almost three weeks before the second test. This gave the New Zealand team time to work on their weaknesses. They had five straight victories over Northern Division, Queensland, Central Queensland, West Queensland and North Queensland. A narrow defeat against Toowoomba didnt dampen the spirits of the tourists as they prepared for the second test three days later.

Kiwi Coach Jim Amos decided to keep the forward pack intact from the first test. But swapped the two props around William McLennan and Lory Blanchard. He moved Jim Edwards to the left wing and switched Cyril Eastlake from Stand-off to replace Bill McKenzie on the wing. But the most significant change was at stand-off where he made room for George Menzies From the West Coast club Runanga, Menzies was named as the worlds best five-eighth during the 1950s.

The diminutive Menzies was a classy, clever organiser, and went on to play 29 Tests from 1951-61 encompassing three World Cup campaigns. He scored three tries for the rest of the world against Great Britain in 1960. The curly-haired pivot was named five-eighth in New Zealands Team of the Century in 2009.

New Zealand Rugby League thrash the Kangaroos and win Test Series.

Besides, Menzies became sensational in the second test staged at Brisbane Cricket Ground. He had contagious enthusiasm and the Kiwis recorded a fantastic 49 points to 25 victory. They scored an amazing nine tries through Tommy Baxter, George Davidson, Cyril Eastlake, Jim Edwards and Frank Mulcare. Further, there were a brace of tries each for Alister Atkinson and Ron McKay.Des White kicked 11 goals. White was one of the great goalkickers. His New Zealand Test record of 132 points stood for 40 years and his Kiwi record of 202 points on the 1951-52 tour of Britain and France is likely to stand forever.

It would have been easy for New Zealand to get over confident, but they were well aware that Australia would be difficult to beat for a second time. Particularly at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This time it developed in to a much tighter game. New Zealand led by 7 points to 0 at half time. In the second half they took control and extended their lead to win the second test and series by19 points to 9 Tries for the Kiwis came from Cyril Eastlake, Frank Mulcare and Ron McKay. Des White kicked 5 goals.

The team was superbly captained by loos forward Travers Hardwick. Hardwick played for Ponsonby and first represented Auckland in 1945. Also, he was selected for New Zealand in 1946 and went on to play in fourteen Test matches between 1946 and 1952. In 1950 Hardwick moved south, joining the Ngaruwahia Panthers in the Waikato Rugby League and represented Waikato.

Hardwick also played the the American All Stars team on their 1953 tour of Australia and New Zealand due to their injury crises.

Rugby League Cares
With every sale,Rugby League Cares receives donations that help players transition out of the sport. Also, it supports players past and present who are enduring poor health or hardship.

This product includes our unique Story-Teller microchip. Scan the garment label on the front, just above the hem. A message will appear on iPhones, tapthe icon and the video will launch. Android Smartphones often scan better if the back of the phone is placed over the label. Once the chip is detected the video will launch automatically on your phone.

What’s in the box
1 x RL Vintage Style T-Shirt