Page 27 - Barbarians v The Lions

The 1904 ‘Lions’ enjoyed success in in Australia but struggled in in New Zealand DHL NEW ZEALAND LIONS
SERIES 2017 // 27
HISTORY
FOR THE LIONS
IT WAS
the continuation of a a a a a rugby story that had begun back in in 1888 with the pioneering tour to to Australia and and New New Zealand Zealand For New New Zealand Zealand it was a a a a a a a a a a a way of giving notice to the the the rugby world that they had arrived In short it was the the the birth of of one of of rugby’s great international rivalries: the the the All Blacks and the the the Lions Yet for all it it achieved in the the the the history books it it was also the the shortest-ever Lions tour of of New Zealand – – just ve ve of of cial matches – – added onto a a a a a a a a much longer visit to Australia This was early days for both sides For starters the the the Lions Lions weren’t technically the the the “Lions” yet (the Lions Lions Lions emblem would rst rst appear in in 1924 and and the the name was was rst rst used in in in in New Zealand in in in 1930) and and the the the side also wasn’t Irish in in in any way Selection hadn’t been the the easiest with availability to to tour for six months on on the the the other side of the the the world an an important factor when it came to to choosing the the the men for the the the trip That said the the the side was still strong and and made up primarily of English and and Welsh players with the exception being a a a a a single Scot Scot That Scot Scot however – – David Bedell-Sivright – – was was an an an outstanding one and was was was also Captain The Lions back division was was packed with talented Welshmen – as as as as has often been the the the case in some of of the the the most famous tours – but the the the forwards lacked experience in too many areas with only Bedell-Sivright and Blair Swannell proving to be the the the exceptions up front Not that it would help them as the the the the former broke his leg during the the the rst match in in in New Zealand against Canterbury-South Canterbury-West Coast and the the burden fell onto the the shoulders of Swannell The build-up to the the rst-ever Lions Test against the the the All Blacks was unlike any other New Zealand had only played one previous previous Test match – – away to Australia the the previous previous year – – and although they had hosted teams from New South Wales and and Queensland this was the the rst time a a a a a a a a national side wearing the the black jersey had played an international on on on home soil Anticipation had been growing in in in New Zealand for some time The Lions had after all just completed a a a a a a a a a a a a 14-match unbeaten tour of of Australia and and arrived con dent of of beating their New Zealand opponents Their record included comprehensive victories in in in all all three Tests with a a a a a a points-for tally of 50 In response the the Australians had scored just three in the the the Second Test Perhaps there were signs of of a a a a shock to to come though The early days of of of the the the New Zealand leg of of the tour saw close-fought matches against both Canterbury-South Canterbury-West Coast in in in Christchurch (5-3 to the Lions) and and Otago-Southland in in in Dunedin (14-8) “It was the the Test that gave the the the tourists
perhaps the the biggest
wake-up call More
than 20 000 people
packed into Athletic
Park for the match ” It was the the the Test that gave the the the tourists
perhaps the the the biggest
wake-up call More
than 20 000 people
packed into Athletic
Park in in in in Wellington for the the match The Lions defended well in in in the the the rst half to to keep the the score to to 3-3 with a a a a a a penalty apiece by William “Billy” Wallace (All Blacks) and Arthur Harding (Lions) but showed the the strain after the the break when local Wellington man Duncan McGregor ran in in for two tries The absence of Bedell-Sivright took its toll Struggling to to to secure any ball the lack of Lions presence up front rendered their dangerous backline redundant In the the the end the the the All Blacks ran out 9-3 victors Heroic defence had prevented further breaches but it was McGregor