Adapted from "True Grit" - A Century of Pleasant Point Rugby
by Terry Broughton

Pleasant Point played the Timaru Crusaders on 22nd August 1889 which effectively marks the starting point of organized rugby in the district. The Timaru Crusaders who were the visiting team came off the field winners by 16 points to nil.

Who was responsible for introducing rugby to the Pleasant Point school, and thus the initiator of this first game, remains unknown. This match although played by pupils of the school was, due to the custom of the day, not a school match but a club match as all rugby was played by clubs. Thus the Pleasant Point Rugby Club was formed for this match.

The arranged return match was not played due to "lack of money" and the difficulty in arranging transport. This fate also befell 1890 matches arranged with Fairlie Creek and Waihi i.e. cancelled when the visiting teams failed to arrive.

In 1891 there was a game between Pleasant Point boys and Kerrytown School, played at H. Brosnahan's paddock.

In 1892 the "Point" club entered the South Canterbury Rugby Union flag competition for an affiliation fee of one guinea ($2.10). On 2nd June 1892 Point recorded its first win over Colonials fom Timaru, 6 points to 5. The match referee was C.N. MacIntosh who later became an All Black. Point players to gain mention were Trueman (captn), Goldstone, Hobbs, Williams, Strack, Kane, Smith and Robinson.

The 1894 President's Grade team comprised Goldstone (captn), Simpson, Anderson, Smith (x3), West, Coughlan, Laurenson, Mathews, Dossett, Gaffney, Brosnahan, Hobbs, Voyce, O'Driscoll, Stevenson & Kent. That year Point was beaten 44-3 by Waihi whose play centered on Dick Stewart, who was picked as an All Black that year.

About this time C.J Goldstone, the master at Waitohi School, and T. Simpson played representative games for South Canterbury.

On  2nd May 1896 Mr A. Fraser presided over a meeting to revitalise the club following hard winters. Fifteen attended and officebearers were appointed:

Patron: A.E.G. Rhodes
President: W. Halstead
Vice Presidents: F.R. Flatman, W. Bowie, F. Hoare, W. Angland, J. Sullivan, J. Murphy, G.W. Fielden, G. Dalgleish, Dr Thomas.
Secretary/Treasurer: J. Rogerson
Delegate to SCRFU: W. White
Selectors: W. Bowie, W. White, Coughlan.

To play Waimate that year, the team travelled by train to Timaru and went on to Waimate in Davidsons 4 horse coach. The weather was inclement and deteriorated for the match.

There followed a period in recess with many of the players opting to play in the Albury district. Another factor was the half-day Thursday taken by the trading sector, which was not applicable to school teachers or Government employees- ruling them out of Thursday afternoon games.