Rugby club part of rich Devonport history

In it

Devonport is often referred to as the cradle of sport in New Zealand.

As well as the North Shore Rugby Club, it has produced the oldest cricket club (established in 1864), soccer club (1886) and rugby league club (1909) in the country. In 1889, an attempt was even made to start the colony’s first baseball club.

North Shore Rowing Club, the first in Auckland, was founded in 1874. Devonport Tennis Club started in 1880. Takapuna Jockey Club, the second in Auckland, held race meetings on what is now the golf course, from 1881 until 1934. Royal Akarana Yacht Squadron began life as the North Shore Sailing Club in 1894. Devonport Bowling Club, which recently shut its doors, was the third-oldest in Auckland, having started in 1895. Waitemata Golf Club, the second in Auckland, was established in 1905.

Much of Devonport’s history is linked to the military. The first residents of Auckland were not keen on having a gunpowder store in their midst and so a powder magazine was erected on the northern side of the harbour, on the sandspit that ran into the sea where