Rest of the World XV

Rest of the World XV[a]
Unions International Rugby Board
Nickname(s) The Rest
First match
The Rest 15 - 7 British Lions
Largest win
The Rest 15 - 7 British Lions
Largest defeat
None

The Rest of the World XV was a rugby union team selected to play one match against the British and Irish Lions (then known only as the British Lions), and was set up to commemorate the centenary of the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB), which would shortly afterwards become the IRB or International Rugby Board. It consisted mainly of players from Australia, France, New Zealand and South Africa.

They beat the British and Irish Lions 15-7 in April 1986.

British and Irish Lions selection

The team that faced "The Rest", as they were referred to, was selected by the Four Home Unions committee which organises British and Irish Lions tours. The Lions would have toured South Africa in 1986 if the regular schedule had been kept to but in December 1985 the South African Rugby Board announced they would not be inviting the Lions side to tour South Africa the following year. Political objections to South Africa's apartheid policies including a potential boycott of the 1986 Commonwealth Games and state of emergency in South Africa at the time lay behind this decision. The squad selected for this International Rugby Board centenary was the closest thing to an official 1986 British Lions side. It was managed by Clive Rowlands and coached by Mick Doyle.[1] The 21 players selected were issued with Lions' blazers and ties and considered to be official British Lions.[2]

The match

The match was a midweek game in Cardiff. The wet weather marred the game, a marked contrast to the second celebratory match three days later played in ideal conditions at Twickenham.[3] At the time, there were only eight Unions affiliated to the Board, thus only players from those unions were chosen.

April 16, 1986
British and Irish Lions 7 – 15 Rest of the World XV
Try: Beattie

Con:
Penalty Goal: Hastings		 Try: Farr-Jones
Poidevin
Con: Lynagh (2)
Penalty Goal: Lynagh
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Referee: R C Francis (New Zealand)

British and Irish Lions: A G Hastings ( Scotland); T M Ringland ( Ireland), B J Mullin ( Ireland), J A Devereux ( Wales), R Underwood ( England); J Y Rutherford ( Scotland), R N Jones ( Wales); J Whitefoot ( Wales), C T Deans ( Scotland) (captain), D C Fitzgerald ( Ireland), W A Dooley ( England), D G Lenihan ( Ireland), John Jeffrey ( Scotland), J R Beattie ( Scotland), N J Carr ( Ireland) Replacements I A M Paxton ( Scotland) for Dooley; M Dacey ( Wales) for Rutherford

The Rest: S Blanco ( France); P Estève ( France), A G Slack ( Australia) (captain), M P Lynagh ( Australia), J J Kirwan ( New Zealand); W R Smith ( New Zealand), N C Farr-Jones ( Australia); E E Rodriguez ( Australia), T A Lawton ( Australia), G A Knight ( New Zealand), S A G Cutler ( Australia), S W P Burger ( South Africa), M W Shaw ( New Zealand), M G Mexted ( New Zealand), S P Poidevin ( Australia)

References

  1. ↑ Griffiths, John. "The Lions tour that never was, Cecil Afrika's Sevens' career and Shane Williams' try-scoring rate". espnscrum.com. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Clem Thomas (2005). The History of the British and Irish Lions. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 1845960300.
  3. ↑ Scrum.com match summary

See also

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