The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the first game of rugby in Nelson; this book celebrates 150 years of New Zealand’s national game, the game more than any other that has helped shape the New Zealand psyche and identity. It will take the form of 150 short stories – stories about the players, the teams, the provinces, the trophies, everything that helped make the game what it is, from the first in the horse and buggy days to the latest in the days of ultra-modern technology. It will talk of players who no one living saw play; and it will talk of players who are recognised wherever they go in the widening rugby world. And who can talk of players and resist speculating who the greatest of all might have been? It’s opinions and speculation that make up some of the enduring appeal of the game New Zealanders are (mostly) better at than anyone else.