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1949 Rhodesia vs New Zealand rugby union match
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October 2019
1949 Rhodesia vs New Zealand Rhodesia 10 - 8 New Zealand.jpg 150px 1949 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia 30px 10 New Zealand NZL 30px 8 27 July 1949 Hartsfield Rugby Ground, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia 10,000
In 1949, Rhodesia played a rugby union match against New Zealand (colloquially known as the All Blacks) as a part of the 1949 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa. The match was played on 27 July 1949 at Hartsfield Rugby Ground in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. The final result was Rhodesia 10–8 New Zealand.http://www.rugbydata.com/zimbabwe/newzealand/game/1949/07/27/ https://web.archive.org/web/20181205220328/http://www.rugbydata.com/zimbabwe/newzealand/game/1949/07/27/ dead 5 December 2018 Zimbabwe v New Zealand on 27 Jul 1949 Rugbydata.com 27 July 1949 28 September 2019 As of 2019, this is the only time the All Blacks have been beaten by a non-Test nation and makes Rhodesia one of only eight countries to have won against the All Blacks.https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/15302911/the-most-experienced-test-xv-internationals-rugby-eton-harrow The most experienced Test XV and internationals from Rugby, Eton and Harrow ESPN 22 August 2011 28 September 2019
Background
Rugby in Northern and Southern Rhodesia was governed on an all-Rhodesia basis by the Rhodesia RFU but they were treated as a province of South Africa for rugby reasons and their players were eligible for selection by the South African team.Tony Collins The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby 23 27 August 2015 Bloomsbury Publishing 978-1408843727https://springbokrugby.webs.com/rhodesiavsnz49.htm Rhodesia vs NZ 49 Springbokrugby.com 28 September 2019 28 October 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201028200603/https://springbokrugby.webs.com/rhodesiavsnz49.htm dead https://www.theroar.com.au/2014/07/10/miracle-bulawayo/ The Miracle of Bulawayo The Roar 28 September 2019 In 1949, the All Blacks visited Rhodesia as a part of their tour of South Africa. The New Zealand team's management for the tour had been troubled due to sailing to South Africa on a ship with little space to train, the team not bringing any Māori players due to South Africa's recently introduced apartheid laws and the fact there was no formal tour coach.Buckley, Mike (1996) "A Colour Line Affair": Race, Imperialism and Rugby Football contacts between New Zealand and south Africa to 1950. A thesis presented for the Degree of Master of Arts in History in the University of Canterbury. Retrieved 29 September 2019 The team also travelled with only ten capped players and were led by Fred Allen. As a result of there being no Māori players, the All Blacks did not perform their traditional haka before any match in protest with manager Jim Parker explaining "The war cry is a creation of the Māoris and as we have no Māoris with us we are not giving the war cry."http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/2663396/The-blackest-year-in-All-Black-history The blackest year in All Black history Stuff.co.nz 25 July 2009 28 September 2019
Match
The match was played at Hartsfield rugby ground in front of 10,000 spectators. In the first half, Rhodesia opened the scoring with a try from J.A. Brink after a grubber kick into the All Blacks' in-goal area, which was converted by Ed Karg. In the second half, Rhodesia scored another try by John Morkel stealing the ball from the New Zealand fullback Jack Goddard and passing it to Claude Jones for the second try which Karg also converted. The All Blacks responded with a try from Eric Boggs, which was converted by Goddard. They then scored another try from scrum-half Bill Conrad which Goddard was unable to convert. Rhodesia then continued with attacking tactics and held out for a 10–8 victory.
Details
27 July 1949 Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia rt 10–8 NZL Brink, Jones Karg (2) Boggs, Conrad Goddard Hartsfield Rugby Ground, Bulawayo 10,000
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New Zealand
FB 15J.D. Pretorius RW 14J.A. BrinkOC 13R.A. van SchoorIC 12W.E. BruneLW 11W.D.B. KiddFH 10E.U. KargSH 9 W. ViljoenN8 8 J.C. Morkel (c)BF 7 C. JonesOF 6 J.M. du RandRL 5 A.H. BirkinLL 4 M.C. PrinslooTP 3 I.W. BrownleeHK 2 P.M. GrievesLP 1 E.J. Painting FB 15J.W. GoddardRW 14E.G. BoggsOC 13G.W. DelamoreIC 12F.R. Allen (c)LW 11P. HendersonFH 10J.C. KearneySH 9 W.J.M. ConradN8 8 N.H ThorntonOF 7 P.B.J. CrowleyBF 6 L.A. GrantRL 5 C. WillocksLL 4 M.J. McHughTP 3 R.A. DaltonHK 2 N.L. WilsonLP 1 K.L. Skinner
Aftermath
After the match, John Morkel was carried off on the shoulders of the crowd and stated "It is not often Rhodesia does a thing like this". Allen accepted defeat graciously stating "So far as Rhodesia's win was concerned, they deserved every bit of it and I can tell you that we shall be flat out to reciprocate on Saturday". Rhodesian folklore later ascribed the victory to the mythical "Shangani Mermaids" who supposedly made it harder for visiting rugby teams once they had crossed the Shangani River.https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2019/08/09/shangani-mermaids-who-sank-even-the-all-blacks/ Shangani mermaids who sank even the All Blacks The Zimbabwe Independent 9 August 2019 28 September 2019 The teams met three days later in Salisbury for a second game, which resulted in a 3–3 draw. On the way back to South Africa after the Rhodesian games, the All Blacks' train crashed into another train, killing one local Rhodesian railway worker and injuring one All Black.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231049460 All Blacks In Train Smash The Sun 12328 New South Wales, Australia 2 August 1949 30 September 2019 19 National Library of Australia The All Blacks went on to lose the South Africa Test series 4–0 and Rhodesia scored two of the seven tries the All Blacks conceded through the whole tour. Rhodesia never won another game against a touring side before being reconstituted as Zimbabwe in 1980.
References
Category:1949 in rugby union
Category:New Zealand national rugby union team matches
Category:Zimbabwe national rugby union team
Category:1949 in Southern Rhodesia
Category:July 1949 sports events in Africa
1949