1891 British Lions tour to South Africa

March 2014 March 2014 Image-England-Team,-SA-1891.jpg 250px The British Isles team of 1891 9 July – 7 September Edwin Ash SCO Bill Maclagan British Isles 3–0 Great Britain 1891 20 20 0 0 3 3 0 0 RSA 1876 3 3 0 0 ENG Arthur Rotherham (4) 1888 N. Zealand & Australia 1896 South Africa The 1891 British Isles tour to South Africa was the first British Isles rugby union tour of South Africa and only the second overseas tour conducted by a joint British team. Between 9 July and 7 September, the team played 20 games, including three Tests against the South Africa national rugby union team. The British Isles not only won all three Test matches, but also won all 17 provincial games. Although not named as such at the time, the tour is retrospectively recognised as a British Lions tour. Tour details After the South African Rugby Board was formed in 1889, the committee decided one of the best ways to promote the game was to invite a British side to visit, similar to the British Isles tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1888. In September 1890, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) discussed the proposed tour; in attendance was Mr J Richards of Cape Town, who, as an Old Leysian, had connections to the English game.Griffiths (1987), pg 6:3. The tour was agreed, with Cecil Rhodes agreeing to guarantee any financial losses the tour may incur. The first overseas British tour of 1888, was not sanctioned by the RFU, and therefore is often not recognised as an official Lions tour, so the South African Tests were actually the first matches that allowed the British players to be awarded international caps. Captained by Scottish international Bill Maclagan, the British team consisted of players from English and Scottish clubs with a heavy contingent of members from Cambridge University teams. Of the players roughly half were, or would win national caps, and the majority of those who did not were former Cambridge Blues.Griffiths (1987), pg 9:3. Although containing four Scots, the fact that the tour was organised by the RFU, the team was initially recognised as an English team, but retrospectively gained its British Isles tag. The touring party had been selected by a committee composed of George Rowland Hill, the president of the RFU, R.S. Whalley, Harry Vassall, Arthur Budd and J.H.S. McArthur.Parker (1970) pp. 12–13 The British team took in twenty matches, three of them tests against the South African team. The tourists won all twenty matches conceding just a single try, which was scored against them in the very first game. Although the Test top scorer for the tourists was Arthur Rotherham, mainly because a conversion at the time was worth twice as much as a try; the tour's outstanding scorer was Randolph Aston. At six-foot three, and weighing 15 stones, Aston played in all 20 matches and was the unstoppable try scorer of the tour. Out of the 89 tries scored by the British team, Aston scored 30 including the first try against the South African team in the first Test.IRB Hall of Fame, 2009 Nominees https://web.archive.org/web/20080724202439/http://www.irb.com/history/halloffame/nominees19th.html 24 July 2008 IRB.com. Accessed 3 May 2009. 2009-05-05. The tourists played in red and white hooped shirts and dark blue shorts.Lions name is a source of great prideSeptember 2024 medicmedic The Times 19 June 2009Lions change their stripes on Lions website, 17 Apr 2005 Touring party Manager: Edwin Ash Full Backs William Grant Mitchell (Cambridge University and Richmond) Edward Bromet (Cambridge University) Three-Quarters Paul Robert Clauss (Oxford University and Scotland) Randolph Aston (Cambridge University) Bill Maclagan (London Scottish and Scotland) (captain) Half backs Howard Marshall (Sunderland FC latterly RFC EST 1873 & Blackheath FC) B.G. Roscoe (Lancashire) Arthur Rotherham (Cambridge University) William Wotherspoon (Cambridge University and Scotland) Forwards William Bromet (Oxford University) John Harding Gould (Old Leysians) Johnny Hammond (Cambridge University) Froude Hancock (Somerset) Walter Jesse Jackson (Gloucester) Robert MacMillan (London Scottish and Scotland) Edwin Mayfield (Cambridge University) Clement Pearson Simpson (Cambridge University) Aubone Surtees (Cambridge University) Robert Thompson (Cambridge University) William Henry Thorman (Cambridge University) Thomas Sherren Whittaker (Lancashire) Results Complete list of matches played by the British Isles in South Africa:British & Irish Lions results on Rugby Football HistoryEarly Lions: Squads and results (1888–1938) on BBC Sport, 18 May 2005 #ffff99 silver Test matches thumb|right|British Isles v Cape Colony, the first match of the tour thumb|right|The South Africa team that played the second test v the British Isles # Date Rival City Venue Score 1 9 Jul Cape Town Cape Town 15–1 2 11 Jul Western Province Cape Town 6–0 3 13 Jul Cape Colony Cape Town 14–0 4 18 Jul Kimberley Kimberley 7–0 5 20 Jul Griqualand West Kimberley 3–0 6 25 Jul Port Elizabeth Port Elizabeth 22–0 7 28 Jul Eastern Province Port Elizabeth 21–0 8 30 Jul RSA 1876 Port Elizabeth Crusaders Ground 4–0 9 1 Aug Grahamstown Grahamstown 9–0 10 4 Aug King William's Town King William's Town 18–0 11 6 Aug King William's Town & District King William's Town 16–0 12 11 Aug Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg 25–0 13 15 Aug Transvaal Johannesburg 22–0 14 19 Aug Johannesburg Johannesburg 15–0 15 22 Aug Transvaal Johannesburg 9–0 16 26 Aug Cape Colony Kimberley 4–0 17 29 Aug RSA 1876 Kimberley Eclectic Cricket Ground 3–0 18 3 Sep Cape Colony Cape Town 7–0 19 5 Sep RSA 1876 Cape Town Newlands Stadium 4–0 20 7 Sep Stellenbosch Stellenbosch 2–0 Balance Pl W D L Ps Pc 20 20 0 0 226 1 Match details First test 30 July RSA 1876 0–4 GBR British Isles Aston, Whittaker Rotherham Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth 6,000 J Griffin Team details 000066 000066 000066 000000 000000 South Africa_thinredhoops _thinredhoops _thinredhoops ffffff ffffff ffffff 000066 000066 British Isles South Africa: Ben Duff, Harry Boyes, Chubb Vigne, Mosey van Buuren, Alfred Richards, Frank Guthrie, Oupa Versfeld, Bill Bisset, Herbert Hayton Castens (capt.), Tiger Devenish, Japie Louw, Edward Little, Fred Alexander, GA Merry, Frank Hamilton British Isles: William Grant Mitchell, Paul Robert Clauss, Randolph Aston, Bill Maclagan (capt.), Arthur Rotherham, William Wotherspoon, William Bromet, John Harding Gould, Johnny Hammond, Froude Hancock, Robert MacMillan, Clement Pearson Simpson, Aubone Surtees, Robert Thompson, Thomas Sherren Whittaker Second test 29 August RSA 1876 0–3 GBR British Isles Mitchell Eclectic Cricket Ground, Kimberley 3,000 P Ross Frames Team details 000066 000066 000066 000000 000000 South Africa_thinredhoops _thinredhoops _thinredhoops ffffff ffffff ffffff 000066 000066 British Isles South Africa: Ben Duff, Harry Boyes, Chubb Vigne, Arthur de Kock, Alfred Richards, Jackie Powell, Oupa Versfeld, Bob Snedden (capt.), Bob Shand, Wilfred Trenery, Japie Louw, DW Smith, Fred Alexander, Fairy Heatlie, CW Smith British Isles: William Grant Mitchell, Paul Robert Clauss, Randolph Aston, Bill Maclagan (capt.), Howard Marshall, Edward Bromet, William Bromet, John Harding Gould, Johnny Hammond, Froude Hancock, Robert MacMillan, Edwin Mayfield, Aubone Surtees, Robert Thompson, Thomas Sherren Whittaker Third test 5 September RSA 1876 0–4 GBR British Isles Aston, Maclagan Rotherham Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 3,000 HH Castens Team details 000066 000066 000066 000000 000000 South Africa_thinredhoops _thinredhoops _thinredhoops ffffff ffffff ffffff 000066 000066 British Isles South Africa: Ben Duff, AJ Hartley, Chubb Vigne, Hasie Versfeld, Alfred Richards (capt.), Frank Guthrie, Oupa Versfeld, Bill Bisset, Bob Shand, CG van Renen, Japie Louw, Edward Little, JA McKendrick, Fairy Heatlie, TW Chignell British Isles: William Grant Mitchell, Paul Robert Clauss, Randolph Aston, Bill Maclagan (capt.), Howard Marshall, Arthur Rotherham, William Bromet, Edward Bromet, Johnny Hammond, Froude Hancock, Robert MacMillan, Edwin Mayfield, Aubone Surtees, Robert Thompson, Thomas Sherren Whittaker Bibliography Griffiths John The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records 1987 Phoenix House London 0-460-07003-7 Jenkins Vivian Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1981–82 1981 Rothmans Publications Ltd Aylesbury 0-907574-05-X Parker A.C. The Springboks, 1891–1970 Cassell & Company Ltd. 1970 London 0-304-93591-3 References Category:British & Irish Lions tours of South Africa British Lions Tour To South Africa, 1891 British Lions