The 1938 British Isles tour to South Africa was the fourteenth tour by a British Isles team and the sixth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.
The tour party was led by Ireland's Sam Walker and managed by Col. Hartley, and took in 24 matches. Of the 24 games, 19 were against club or invitational teams, three were test matches against the South African national team and the other two games were outside South Africa against Rhodesia. The British Isles lost two and won one of the test matches, and in the non-test games lost five and won sixteen.
Like many of the early Lions parties, the tour did not represent the best of British and Irish rugby talent. Obvious omissions included Wilf Wooller and Cliff Jones.
Touring party
Manager: Col. Bernard Charles Hartley
Full Backs Vivian Jenkins (London Welsh) Charles Grieve (Oxford University and )
Three-Quarters Jim Unwin (Rosslyn Park) Bill Clement (Llanelli) Elvet Jones (Llanelli) Vesey Boyle (Dublin University) Roy Leyland (Waterloo) Duncan Macrae (St. Andrew's University) Harry McKibbin (Queen's University, Belfast) Basil Nicholson (Old Whitgiftians)
Half backs Jeff Reynolds (Old Cranleighans) George Cromey (Queen's University, Belfast) Jimmy Giles (Coventry) Haydn Tanner (Swansea) George J Morgan (Clontarf)
Forwards Sam Walker (Instonians) (captain) Eddie Morgan (Swansea) Bill Howard (Old Birkonians) William 'Bunner' Travers (Newport) Bob Graves (Wanderers) Paddy Mayne (Queen's University) Gerald "Beef" Thomas Dancer (Bedford) Stanley Couchman (Old Cranleighans) Griff Purchas (Coventry) Jock Waters (Selkirk) Laurie Duff (Glasgow Academicals) Ivor Williams (Cardiff) Russell Taylor (Cross Keys) Robert Alexander (North of Ireland)
Match summary 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
Test matches
# Date Rival City Venue Result Score111 JunBorder BulldogsEast London Won11–82 15 JunGriqualand West Kimberley Won22–93 18 Jun Western ProvinceCape Town NewlandsLost8–114 22 JunSouth Western DistrictsOudtshoorn Recreation GroundWon19–105 25 JunWestern Province Cape Town NewlandsLost11–216 29 JunWestern TransvaalPotchefstroom Olën ParkWon26–97 2 JulOrange Free StateBloemfontein Won21–68 6 JulOrange Free State Country Kroonstad Loubser Park Won18–39 9 JulTransvaal Johannesburg Ellis Park Lost9–1610 13 Jul Northern Transvaal Pretoria Caledonian Ground Won20–1211 16 JulCape ProvinceKimberley Won10–312 20 Jul Rhodesia Salisbury Won25–1113 23 Jul RhodesiaBulawayo Won45–1114 30 JulTransvaal Johannesburg Ellis ParkWon17–915 6 Aug Johannesburg Ellis ParkLost12–2616 13 AugNorthern Province Durban Kingsmead CricketLost8–2617 17 Aug Pietermaritzburg Won15–1118 20 AugBorder BulldogsEast London Won19–1119 24 AugNorth-East DistrictsBurgersdorp Won42–320 27 AugEastern Province Port Elizabeth St George's ParkWon6–521 3 Sep Port Elizabeth St George's ParkLost3–1922 10 Sep Cape Town Newlands StadiumWon21–1623 17 Sep Western Province Universities Cape Town Newlands StadiumWon19–1624 21 SepWestern Province Country Cape Town Newlands StadiumLost7–12
Balance Pl W D L Ps Pc 24 17 0 7 414 284
Test details First Test
South Africa: G.H Brand, F.G Turner, G.P Lochner, P de Wet, D.O Williams, T.A Harris, D.H Craven (Captain), S.C Louw, J.W Lotz, M.M Louw, B.A du Toit, W.F Bergh, A.R Sherriff, W.E Bastard, L.C Strachan
British Isles: V..G.J Jenkins, E.J Unwin, D.J Macrae, H.R McKibbon, E.L Jones, F.J Reynolds, J.L Giles, M.E Morgan, C.R.A Graves, G.T Dancer, S Walker (Captain), R.B Mayne, R. Alexander, W.G Howard, A.R
References