Boots'n'all homage to national game

One of Don Clarke's scuffed boots from 1956. Pictures / Mark Mitchell

To make the most of a visit to the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North, take your trainers.

Above the front door is a blackboard where you can make your mark with a piece of chalk to measure yourself against the tall timber of international rugby.

And that's about as interactive as it gets - the exhibits are there to admire rather than handle.

There are 30,000 items in the collection but only a fraction are on display, making this an intriguing experience rather than an overpowering one.

Included are personal playing and touring uniforms, scrapbooks, photographs, videos of matches and programmes dating back to the 1880s.

The museum is compact but has more than 30 displays, that are rotated.

Two infamous moments in All Black history are highlighted in the the whistle and coin display featuring the whistle that sent Cyril Brownlie off in the test against England at Twickenham in 1925, and the one used to dismiss Colin Meads from Murrayfield during the 1967 test against Scotland.

The Boots'n Balls cabinet includes an unusual "rugby clog", in Netherlands rugby colours, an eight-panel South African ball, dating back 1919, and one of Don Clarke's scuffed boots worn in his first test against the Springboks in 1956.

The display on South Africa features a stone implement used by prehistoric man found by Dr Danie Craven on the Stellenbosch Rugby ground, and tacks and fish hooks dropped on Lancaster Park by anti-tour demonstrators in 1981. You'll also find a PR24 baton used by police to quell protest during the tour.

For the Lions match against Manawatu at the neighbouring showgrounds today the museum is extending its opening hours and putting the Bledisloe Cup and Ranfurly Shield on show for a few days.

The utilitarian building - a holder of treasures rather than a treasure itself - is close to the city centre and there is plenty of parking when there's not a match on.

If you're keen on rugby and in the area, the museum is well worth a visit.

If you're a real rugby nutter, it's worth making a special trip.

Curator Bob Luxford is an amiable host and good for a fund of anecdotes.

And if you can't make it there, the museum's excellent website is packed with rugby statistics and history and also gives you a taste of what's on show.

Checklist

NZ Rugby Museum

Details

The rugby museum is located at 87 Cuba St, Palmerston North.

Standard charges are adults $5, children $2.

Phone: 06 358 6947

Taking the leap

The leading jumper to visit the museum so far is Derek Brown who played for the United States Combined Services. He made his mark at 3.27m.

The top New Zealand jumper is Mark "the Rigger" Cooksley who - at 2.05m - was one of the biggest All Blacks, and managed 3.25m. Next are Chresten Davis at 3.17m and Norm Maxwell on 3.16m.