While New Zealand's national game is often thought of as the domain of men, women's history in the game - as players and supporters - is rich and long, associate professor in political studies at the University of Auckland Jennifer Curtin highlighted during the University of Otago's 2014 Suffrage Lecture this week.
The passionate supporters of Dunedin were mentioned during the lecture and their antics pre-dated those of scarfies on the terraces at Carisbrook.
In the late 19th century, touring teams from England and Auckland noticed the ''patronage'' of Dunedin's women, Prof Curtin said.
''The English remarked they had never seen so many women at a football match,'' she told the about 40 people at the lecture.
The information Prof Curtin presented came from her ongoing book project More Than a Man's Game: Women and Rugby in New Zealand.
There were three reasons for New Zealand women's early fascination with rugby, she said.
One of those was a lack of ''cultural and social events'' for early New Zealanders, she said.
''In 1904, football is the general topic of conversation everywhere and at all times. It had become an event of social significance.''
The second reason was the athletes themselves - ''eagle gazing''.
There was a theory that ''men take an interest in sport and women take an interest in men''.
However, New Zealand women developed an ''independent interest'' in the game.
In some instances, female supporters outnumbered male supporters at matches.
A newspaper report from the period stated ''dozens of them may be seen going to or coming from the ground with the colours of clubs pinned conspicuously to their breast'', she said.
Although some men hoped their presence might improve behaviour among male supporters, often the exact opposite took place.
''Women were not afraid to engage in unruly or boisterous behaviour at the games,'' Prof Curtin said.
''The umbrella proved to be the weapon of choice for women to strike opposition supporters or to prevent a rival winger from scoring a try.''
Women also took the field to play, often met by ''derision''.
An attempt to organise two women's teams for a tour of Australia by Anita Webb in 1891 caused particular controversy.
It was thought women who played rugby would ''destroy their dignity and damage their health'', Prof Curtin said.
The tour never took place, although the two teams might have played in Auckland.
However, the women's game had a proud history in New Zealand and the national team won four consecutive world cups from 1998 to 2010.
However, the women's game still played a distant second fiddle.
''Even today, there are many New Zealanders who have never watched a game of women's rugby,'' she said.
''The women's team is still managed by the community section of the rugby union, rather than the elite level.''
