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1924–25 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France

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1924–25 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France
The Invincibles, as they were nicknamed after winning all 32 of their games overseas [1]
ManagerS.S. Dean
Tour captain(s)Cliff Porter
Top point scorer(s)Mark Nicholls (131) [2]
Top try scorer(s)Bert Cooke (28) [2]
Summary
P W D L
Total
32 32 00 00
Test match
04 04 00 00
Opponent
P W D L
 Ireland
1 1 0 0
 Wales
1 1 0 0
 England
1 1 0 0
 France
1 1 0 0
Tour chronology
Previous tour1924 NS Wales
Next tour1925 NS Wales

The Invincibles was a nickname given to the 1924–25 New Zealand national team which toured the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Canada. The team was captained by Cliff Porter, and numbered among its top players George Nēpia and brothers Cyril and Maurice Brownlie. During the test against England Cyril Brownlie was sent off by the Welsh referee Albert Freethy, the first player to be sent off from a test.

Between September 1924 and February 1925, the team played 32 games including four test matches, one each against Ireland, England, Wales, and France. They won all 32 games, scoring 838 points and only having 116 points scored against them.

Cliff Porter was tour captain, but played only 17 of the 32 games due to injury, including just one test (against France). During the remaining games, tour vice-captain Johnstone Richardson (Jock) took over the captaincy.

Touring party

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Match summary

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Complete list of matches played by the All Blacks in the British Isles, France and Canada:[3]   Test matches

Team that played France on January 18
Scene of the match v France in Paris
Miniature rugby ball presented to Fred Lucas signed by the entire team
# Date Rival City Venue Score
1 13 Sep 1924 Devonshire RU Devonport Rectory Ground 11–0
2 18 Sep Cornwall RU Camborne Recreation Ground 29–0
3 20 Sep Somersetshire RU Weston-super-Mare Weston Ground 6–0
4 25 Sep Gloucestershire RU Gloucester Kingsholm Stadium 6–0
5 27 Sep Swansea RFC Swansea St Helens Ground 39–3
6 2 Oct Newport RFC Newport Athletic Ground 13–10
7 4 Oct Leicester Tigers Leicester Welford Road Stadium 27–0
8 8 Oct North Midlands RU Birmingham Villa Park 40–3
9 11 Oct Cheshire RU Birkenhead Birkenhead Park 18–5
10 15 Oct Durham Sunderland Roker Park 43–7
11 18 Oct Yorkshire RU Bradford Lidget Green 42–4
12 22 Oct Lancashire RU Manchester Old Trafford 23–0
13 25 Oct Cumberland Carlisle Brunton Park 41–0
14 1 Nov  Ireland Dublin Lansdowne Road 6–0
15 5 Nov Ulster Rugby Belfast Ravenhill Stadium 28–6
16 8 Nov Northumberland RU Gosforth 27–4
17 12 Nov Cambridge University Grange Road 5–0
18 15 Nov London Counties London Twickenham Stadium 31–6
19 20 Nov Oxford University Oxford Iffley Road 33–15
20 22 Nov Cardiff RFC Cardiff National Stadium 16–8
21 29 Nov  Wales Swansea St Helens Ground 19–0
22 2 Dec Llanelli RFC Llanelli Stradey Park 8–3
23 6 Dec East Midlands Northampton Cricket Ground 31–7
24 11 Dec Warwickshire RU Highfield Road 20–0
25 13 Dec Combined Services London Twickenham Stadium 25–3
26 17 Dec Hampshire RU Portsmouth Fratton Park 22–0
27 27 Dec London Counties London Rectory Field 28–3
28 3 Jan 1925  England London Twickenham Stadium 17–11
29 11 Jan Selection Francais Colombes Stade Olympique 37–8
30 18 Jan  France Toulouse Stade des Ponts Jumeaux 30–6
31 14 Feb Vancouver Vancouver Cricket Oval 49–0
32 18 Feb Victoria Vancouver Island Victoria Ground 68–4

The test-matches

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Ireland

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1 November 1924
Ireland 0–6 New Zealand
Try: Snowy Svenson
Pen: Nicholls
Lansdowne Road
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: A.E. Freethy (Wales)

Ireland: 15.William Crawford, 14.Henry Stephenson, 13.George Stephenson, 12.James Gardiner, 11.Tom Hewitt, 10.Frank Hewitt, 9.John McDowell, 8.James Clinch, 7.Robert Crichton, 6.Norman Brand, 5.William Collis, 4.Alex Spain, 3.Dick Collopy, 2.Thomas McClelland, 1.Jim McVicker
New Zealand: 15.George Nēpia, 14.Snowy Svenson, 13.Frederick Lucas, 12.Bert Cooke, 11.Augustine Hart, 10.Mark Nicholls, 9.Bill Dalley, 8.Les Cupples, 7.Son White, 6.Jock Richardson (c), 5.Read Masters, 4.Maurice Brownlie, 3.Bull Irvine, 2.Quentin Donald, 1.James Parker

Wales

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29 November 1924
Wales 0–19 New Zealand
Try: Irvine (2)
M Brownlie
Svenson
Con: Nicholls
Pen: Nicholls
St Helens
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Col. J.S. Brunton (England)

Wales: Tom Johnson (Cardiff), Ernie Finch (Llanelli), Albert Jenkins (Llanelli), Albert Stock (Newport), Rowe Harding (Swansea), Jack Wetter (Newport) capt., Eddie Williams (Neath), Bobby Delahay (Cardiff), Dai Parker (Swansea), Jack Gore, (Blaina), Charlie Pugh (Maesteg), Steve Morris (Cross Keys), Cliff Williams (Llanelli), Douglas Marsden-Jones (London Welsh), Dai Hiddlestone (Neath)
New Zealand: G Nēpia, J Steel, AE Cooke, KS Svenson, NP McGregor, MF Nicholls, J Mill, JH Parker, WR Irvine, Q Donald, RR Masters, LF Cupples, CJ Brownlie, MJ Brownlie, J Richardson (capt.)

England

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3 January 1925
England 11–17 New Zealand
Try: Cove-Smith, Kittermaster
Con: Conway
Pen: Corbett		Try: Steel, Svenson
MJ Brownlie, Parker,
Con: Nicholls
Pen: Nicholls
Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Albert Freethy (Wales)

England:15.Jim Brough, 14.Richard Hamilton-Wickes, 13.Vivian Davies, 12.Leonard Corbett, 11.Cliff Gibbs, 10.Harold Kittermaster, 9.Arthur Young, 8.Tom Voyce, 7.Geoffrey Conway, 6.Freddie Blakiston, 5.Ron Cove-Smith, 4.Wavell Wakefield (cap.), 3.Ronald Hillard, 2.Sam Tucker, 1.Reg Edwards
New Zealand:15.George Nēpia, 14.John Steel, 13.Bert Cooke, 12.Mark Nicholls, 11.Snowy Svenson, 10.Neil McGregor, 9.Jimmy Mill, 8.Jock Richardson (cap.), 7.Son White, 6.Cyril Brownlie Red card, 5.Read Masters, 4.Maurice Brownlie, 3.Bull Irvine, 2.Quentin Donald, 1.James Parker,

France

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18 January 1925
France 6–30 New Zealand
Try: Cassayeet
Ribere		Try: Cooke (2), Irivine, Porter,
Richardson, Steel, Svenson,
White
Con: Nicholls (3)
Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: H.E.B. Wilkins (England)

Bibliography

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  • Chester, R., Palenski, R., and McMillan, N. (1998) The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Rugby. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett.

References

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  1. ^ The 1924 Invincibles All Black team on NZ History website
  2. ^ a b Match centre - In Australia, the British Isles, France and Canada on AllBlacks.com
  3. ^ 90 years on Invincibles remain larger than life part of All Blacks history by James Mortimer on All Blacks website, 9 Dec 2014
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