Brendan Gallagher takes a look at the 1930 tour to New Zealand
They claimed a memorable first ever Test win on New Zealand soil – despite the captain and No.8 Doug Prentice dropping himself – and both the second and third Tests could have gone either way before they succumbed rather tamely in the fourth.
Hugely popular socially, they never matched – or attempted to match – New Zealand in the intensity of their preparations and also struggled with their hosts’ interpretation of the laws which had gone their own idiosyncratic way after years of isolation. It had been a full 22 years since the last visit of a team from the mother country.
The selection of the tour party was a shambles despite the fact that on this occasion all four Home Unions were fully on board. If anything it suffered from over-organisation with the Lions committee picking a provisional party in April 1929, giving those ‘selected’ 12 months to arrange six months leave and accumulate the £80 each player was required to bank with the Lions to cover their incidental expenses. All those making the trip also had to provide their own dinner jacket which was to be worn nightly when dining on the voyage to New Zealand.
It was all ridiculously premature and, if anything, frightened off a number of players. Only nine of that original party eventually toured and among those to drop out were brilliant Scottish backs Ian Smith and Phil Macpherson who would have been cast-iron starters. In the six Championship seasons prior to the 1930 tour, Scotland had won the Five Nations twice and shared the title twice yet they eventually contributed just one player to the eventual tour party, Hawick forward Willie Welsh.
The other major selectorial blindspot was the fanciful notion that the veteran Wavell Wakefield could somehow prolong his illustrious career and captain the Lions on their six-month venture. Wakefield had been one of the game’s giants, no question, but by 1930 was well past his best and hadn’t played Test rugby for three years. On top of that he was suffering from a chronic groin-pelvis injury that had prevented him from even playing regularly for Harlequins.
A formidable figure who few cared to tangle with, Wakefield left it until the week before the scheduled departure to accept the inevitable and withdraw which resulted in the hurried appointment of Prentice as captain. The popular Prentice was a useful performer for Leicester and England and had toured Argentina with the 1927 ‘Lions’ but was always going to struggle to make the Test team, which was far from ideal.
Another shortcoming of the squad was that, from the outset, there was quite a sharp distinction – seemingly decided on the boat on the way out to New Zealand – between the Saturday team and those who were consigned to midweek duty who promptly christened themselves the ‘Rank And File Society’. The nadir of that was when eight of them were not invited on a three-day jolly to the Mount Cook region which had been organised for the Saturday team.
Despite all these caveats and obvious failings, the 1930 Lions were still an eclectic and, indeed, rather distinguished party. No fewer than three of those involved were to become future knights of the realm. The dashing Carl Aarvold was to become a revered high court judge while his England colleague Major General Douglas Kendrew DSO and three bars one of the most decorated soldiers of World War II. Ireland‘s George Beamish, meanwhile, was a former fighter pilot who rose to air marshall in the RAF, serving mainly in Crete and North Africa during the war.
Another fascinating individual was Blackheath’s South African-born forward Bryan Black who arrived in Britain as a Rhodes scholar in 1929 and immediately made an impact both as a forward and a goalkicker. Black had a taste for life in the fast lane and a secondary sporting interest was bobsleigh, so much so that in 1937 he won two golds at the World Championships at Cortina d’Ampezzo.
In the two-man bob he partnered another colonial Brit, Freddie McEvoy, acting as pusher and brakeman, the same role he undertook in the four-man which also took gold a few days later. Black, who served in the RAF during the war, was to be killed in action flying over Wiltshire in July 1940.
The party departed on April 11 and, with the subject of preparation of Lions players currently high on the agenda, it is worth noting that the seven Welsh players missed their final Five Nations game against France to ensure they were on the Rangitaka when she left Southampton bound for Wellington.
The manager was a crusty old former England international James Baxter who had also won an Olympic silver medal sailing in the 12m class at the 1908 Olympics, although there were admittedly only two boats entered. Baxter, possibly under instructions from the Home Unions, made a point of challenging the New Zealanders throughout the tour on their deviations from the laws of the game.
Down Under it had been decided unilaterally that you could claim a mark while in the air rather than having two feet on the ground while they had also taken to leaving the pitch and returning to the changing rooms at half-time which was also outlawed.
The other great bone of contention was the long-running argument with the Kiwis about their insistence in packing down with only two front row forwards and using their extra forward as a ‘rover’. This, strictly speaking, wasn’t against the laws but was a variant that only New Zealand adopted and there was a certain tension and frisson from the moment the Lions – who for the first time were dubbed the Lions throughout the tour – landed in Wellington.
The war of words intensified as the Lions made a useful start and even narrow defeats against Wellington and Canterbury before the first Test failed to soothe New Zealand nerves.
Their agitation became obvious when right up until the eve of that Test they fought against the convention of the home side wearing a change strip in the case of a colour clash.
It was pretty obvious that New Zealand’s all black kit and the dark blue that the Lions then wore was not a happy mix and something had to give and eventually it was the hosts who backed down, playing the four Test series in white.
Given the build-up and the lack of preparation time New Zealand always suffer from in the first Test of any series, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised the Lions won a famous victory in Dunedin, more of which on the right of this spread. What the visitors’ well deserved victory did, however, was throw down the gauntlet and New Zealand, as ever, responded in impressive style.
The All Blacks made a number of changes for the second Test in Christchurch including the introduction of half-back Merv Corner, possibly the shortest All Black ever at 1.65m (5ft 5in) and certainly the lightest at 60kg (9st 7lb). The veteran Mark Nicholls also returned at second five eighth while the Lions surprisingly dropped loose forward John Hodgson and recalled skipper Prentice.
It was another close encounter with New Zealand winning 13-10 but the Lions were partly the architect of their own demise. Ireland’s versatile Paul Murray, originally listed as a centre when the tour party was picked, started at scrum-half but had to depart on the half hour with a broken collarbone.
The Lions, slavishly sticking to their version of the laws, refused the offer of fielding a replacement, a practice which had been commonplace in New Zealand since the turn of the century. Consequently, they soldiered on for the rest of the game with 14 men with Wales flanker Ivor Jones, the hero of the first Test, moving into the backs.
Despite various heroics – not least Aarvold, who sped in for two tries, one of which was rated as one of the best ever scored against New Zealand – it wasn’t quite enough and the sides headed to Wellington for the third Test all square. This was another cracker with New Zealand having to defend mightily against a Roger Spong-inspired attack to win 15-10.
The New Zealand Herald match reports refers to no fewer than four try-saving tackles by New Zealand centre Clark. Scoring two tries for New Zealand was debutant flanker Hugh McLean, elder brother of Terry, who was to become a considerable presence in New Zealand Press boxes.
The fourth Test in Wellington enjoyed a massive build-up and pictures show an absolutely rammed Athletic Park but for the only time on tour the Lions were outclassed, losing 22-8 and conceding four tries in the process.
Even then it was generally conceded, however, that Tony Novis’ dash down the touchline and outside swerve to beat George Nepia was the outstanding score of the afternoon.
Overall, though, it was a disappointing end to a vibrant and vivid Test series which left the Lions a little frustrated on all sorts of levels. Not for the first, or last, time in New Zealand.
