Spirited competition for the Jackie Ruru Shield
Jack Ruru (Ngāti Porou) was already a Māori All Black when he came to the College aged 18 in 1931. A brilliant centre regarded as a certainty for the All Blacks tour of Britain in 1935, he died tragically in 1934 following a tackle during a match in Rotorua. Funds were raised for a specially carved trophy in his memory—the Jackie Ruru Shield.
Known as ‘The Ruru’, the Shield was originally awarded to the winner of the annual match between Weir House and the ‘Rest of the College’. When Weir House ceased to field a team, it was resurrected as a challenge trophy for the club’s social teams, akin to the Ranfurly Shield. The Ruru is held with great pride and challenges are played with tremendous spirit.
The first social team to win the shield was Cornelius Groat. This team was named after a fictitious umpire character painted on the wall of Wellington pub the Cricketer’s Arms who happened to catch their eye as they were searching for a team name.
Social teams the Teddybears, Pink Ginners, Sixty Niners, and Righteous Brothers add to the club’s social atmosphere. The Teddybears is the oldest surviving social team—on Saturday nights back in the late 1960s the club rooms were said to reverberate to the strains of ‘The Teddy Bears’ Picnic’. Pink Ginners and the Sixty Niners, originally a team of mainly lawyers, are still going strong after more than 25 years.