1904 British Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand

British Lions to Australia and New Zealand
1904
Date 18 June  – 31 August
Coach(es) Arthur O'Brien
Tour captain(s) Scotland David Bedell-Sivright
Test series winners (v Australia) British and Irish Lions (0–3)
(v New Zealand)  New Zealand (1–0)
Top test point scorer(s) Wales Percy Bush (20)
The 1904 British Isles team

The 1904 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was the sixth tour by a British Isles rugby union team and the third to New Zealand or Australia. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.

Led by Scotland captain David Bedell-Sivright and managed by Arthur O'Brien the tour included 19 matches, 14 in Australia and 5 in New Zealand. Four of the fixtures were test matches – three against Australia and one against the New Zealand All Blacks. The Lions won all three Australian tests but lost the All Blacks' game.

This was the first time that a British team played both Australia and New Zealand in the same tour. It was also the last series until 1989 in which Australian matches were the major component; in between the only Australian fixtures were those appended onto a longer New Zealand tour. The team's captain, Bedell-Sivright, a veteran of the 1903 tour of South Africa, was requested to lead the team by England's Rugby Football Union. Bedell-Sivright broke his leg in the opening match of the New Zealand leg of the tour and Teddy Morgan took over the captaincy.

Touring party

Full-backs

Three-quarters

Half-backs

Forwards

Results

Various caricatures of rugby footballers, most prominent is a player standing proudly with one foot on a football; on the football is written "The World", and on the player's headgear "NZ" [New Zealand].
Caricature published in the New Zealand Free Lance following New Zealand's defeat of the British Isles in their Test match in Wellington. The caption for the illustration reads: "The Triumph of John Bull, Junior. Episodes of Fact and Fancy in the Struggle for Rugby Supremacy".
Matches played[9]
Match Date Opponent Location Result Score
Match 1 18 June New South Wales Sydney, Australia Won 27–0
Match 2 22 June Combined Western District Bathurst, Australia Won 21–6
Match 3 25 June New South Wales Sydney, Australia Won 29–6
Match 4 29 June Metropolitan Union Sydney, Australia Won 19–6
Match 5 ‡ 2 July Australia Sydney, Australia Won 17–0
Match 6 6 July Northern Districts Newcastle, Australia Won 17–3
Match 7 9 July Queensland Brisbane, Australia Won 24–5
Match 8 13 July Metropolitan Union Brisbane, Australia Won 17–3
Match 9 16 July Queensland Brisbane, Australia Won 18–7
Match 10 20 July Toowoomba Toowoomba, Australia Won 12–3
Match 11 ‡ 23 July Australia Brisbane, Australia Won 17–3
Match 12 27 July New England Armidale, Australia Won 26–9
Match 13 ‡ 30 July Australia Sydney, Australia Won 16–0
Match 14 6 August Canterbury/West Coast Combined Christchurch, New Zealand Won 5–3
Match 15 10 August Otago-Southland Combined Dunedin, New Zealand Won 14–8
Match 16 ‡ 13 August New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Lost 3–9
Match 17 17 August Taranaki, Wanganui and Manawatu Combined New Plymouth, New Zealand Drew 0–0
Match 18 20 August Auckland Auckland, New Zealand Lost 0–13
Match 19 31 August New South Wales Sydney, Australia Won 5–0

‡ – Recognised as a test match.

Summary[9]
Played in Matches Won Lost Drawn Points for Points against
Australia 14 14 0 0 265 51
New Zealand 5 2 2 1 22 33
Total 17 14 2 1 287 84

The matches

Australia 1st Test

2 July
Australia Australia 0–17 United Kingdom British Isles
Try: Bush
Llewellyn
Con: Harding
O'Brien
drop: Bush
Sydney Cricket Ground
Attendance: 34,000
Referee: T.G. Pauling

Australia: Jack Verge, Charlie White, Jack Hindmarsh, Stan Wickham, Charlie Redwood, Lew Evans, Snowy Baker, Alec Burdon, Eric Dore, Frank Nicholson (c), Billy Richards, Denis Lutge, Thomas Colton, Harold Judd, Patrick Walsh.

British Isles: Christopher Stanger-Leathes, Willie Llewellyn, AB O'Brien, Rhys Gabe, T Morgan, P Bush, Frankie Hulme, Darkie Bedell-Sivright (c), DH Trail, D Dobson, S Bevan, Stuart Saunders, SN Crowther, B Swannell, Boxer Harding.


Australia 2nd Test

23 July
Australia Australia 3–17 United Kingdom British Isles
Try: Burdon Try: Bush
Llewellyn
O'Brien
Goal: Bush
Brisbane Exhibition Ground
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: W.H Beattie

Australia: Jack Verge, Stan Wickham (c), Phil Carmichael, Doug McLean, Snr., Charlie Redwood, John Manning, Snowy Baker, Alec Burdon, Allen Oxlade, Voy Oxenham, Alex McKinnon, Denis Lutge, Puddin Colton, Harold Judd, Patrick Walsh.

British Isles: AB O'Brien, Willie Llewellyn, Rhys Gabe, Pat McEvedy, T Morgan(c), P Bush, Tommy Vile, Reg Edwards DH Trail, D Dobson, S Bevan, Stuart Saunders, SN Crowther, B Swannell, Boxer Harding.


Australia 3rd Test

30 July
Australia Australia 0–16 United Kingdom British Isles
Try: Gabe
Llewellyn
Morgan
Swannell
Con: Bush
O'Brien
Sydney Cricket Ground
Attendance: 24,000
Referee: T.G Pauling

Australia: Charlie Redwood, Fred Nicholson, Frank Futter, Stan Wickham (c), Doug McLean, Snr., Lew Evans, Francis Finley, Jack Meibusch, Allen Oxlade, Billy Richards, Blue Dixon, Denis Lutge, Jim White, Harold Judd, Patrick Walsh.

British Isles: AB O'Brien, Willie Llewellyn, Rhys Gabe, Pat McEvedy, T Morgan(c), P Bush, Tommy Vile, Reg Edwards DH Trail, D Dobson, S Bevan, Burnett Massey, SN Crowther, Blair Swannell, Boxer Harding


New Zealand Test

13 August
New Zealand New Zealand 9–3 United Kingdom British Isles
Try: D McGregor (2)
Pen: Wallace		 Pen: Harding
Athletic Park, Wellington
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: F.T. Evans New Zealand(Auckland, New Zealand)

New Zealand: RW McGregor, Duncan McGregor, Eric Harper, ME Wood, Billy Wallace, Billy Stead (c), P Harvey, Dave Gallaher, George Tyler, Paddy McMinn, WS Glenn, Tom Cross, BJ Fanning, George Nicholson, Charlie Seeling

British Isles: AB O'Brien, PF McEvedy, Willie Llewellyn, Rhys Gabe, T Morgan (c), P Bush, Tommy Vile, RJ Rogers, DH Trail, Denys Dobson, Sid Bevan, RW Edwards, SN Crowther, Blair Swannell, Arthur Harding

References

  1. ↑ "Player archives – Chris Stanger-Leathes". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Player archives – John Fisher". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Player archives – John Sharland". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Player archives – Charlie Patterson". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Player archives – Reg Edwards". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Player archives – Burnett Massey". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Player archives – Ron Rogers". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Player archives – Stuart Saunders". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Past Tour Results: 1903–1904". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 8 November 2014.

Further reading

External links

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