The 1937 South Africa tour to Australasia was one of the most successful Springbok tours in history, so much so that the touring team was nicknamed the "Invincibles". The squad was captained by Philip Nel.
The tour started on 26 June 1937 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia with a 9–5 win over the Wallabies. The Springboks followed up the win with an emphatic 26–17 win on 17 July at the same grounds, outscoring the Wallabies 6 tries to 3 and taking the series 2–0.
When the Springboks arrived in New Zealand later that year nobody expected them to win the series, as no other South African team had ever achieved the feat, and when the New Zealand leg of the tour kicked off on 14 August with a 13–7 loss to New Zealand at Athletic Park in Wellington, it seemed business as usual.
Mr Nel and his men had other ideas, adopting a strategy sent to them via telegram from Springbok great Paul Roos: "skrum, skrum, skrum". Their dominant pack was the impetus used to deal New Zealand two convincing defeats; a 13–6 win at Lancaster Park in Christchurch and a 17–6 win at Eden Park in Auckland, taking the series 2–1. The latter translates into a 27–6 (5 try to nil) win using today's point system. The hero of the decider was centre Louis Babrow, who scored two critical tries. Babrow nearly did not feature in the last test as he was an observant Jew and the match fell on Yom Kippur; however, he justified playing on a high holy day by saying that the sun had not yet risen in South Africa by the time of kickoff in New Zealand.
The 1937 Springbok team remains the only Springbok team ever to have won a series in New Zealand and contained legendary players such as Danie Craven and Boy Louw.
Matches in Australia
Scores and results list South Africa's points tally first. Opposing Team ForAgainst Date Venue Status Western Australia47831 May 1937PerthTour match South Australia5535 June 1937AdelaideTour match Victoria451112 June 1937MelbourneTour matchCombined Western XV63016 June 1937OrangeTour match New South Wales61719 June 1937SydneyTour match Australia95Cricket Ground, SydneyTest matchNewcastle58830 June 1937NewcastleTour match Australia XV3633 July 1937BrisbaneTour matchToowoomba XV6007 July 1937ToowoombaTour match Queensland39411 July 1937BrisbaneTour match Australia261717 July 1937Cricket Ground, SydneyTest match
Matches in New Zealand Scores and results list South Africa's points tally first. Opposing Team ForAgainst Date Venue Status19525 July 1937Eden Park, AucklandTour match / /6328 July 1937Rugby Park, HamiltonTour match17331 July 1937Pukekura Park, New PlymouthTour match3934 August 1937Showgrounds, Palmerston NorthTour match2908 August 1937Athletic Park, WellingtonTour match New Zealand71314 August 1937Athletic Park, WellingtonTest match / /22018 August 1937Lansdowne Park, BlenheimTour match23822 August 1937Lancaster Park, ChristchurchTour match West Coast-Buller31626 August 1937Rugby Park, GreymouthTour match43628 August 1937Fraser Park, TimaruTour match New Zealand1364 September 1937Lancaster Park, ChristchurchTest match30178 September 1937Rugby Park, InvercargillTour match47712 September 1937Carisbrook, DunedinTour match211215 September 1937McLean Park, NapierTour match / /33320 September 1937Rugby Park, GisborneTour match New Zealand176Eden Park, AucklandTest match14629 September 1937Okara Park, Whangārei Tour match
References