1938 British Lions tour to South Africa

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.

1938 British Lions Tour
to South Africa
Date11 June – 21 September
Coach(es)Major B.C. Hartley
Tour captain(s) Sam Walker
Test series winners South Africa (2–1)
Top test point scorer(s) Vivian Jenkins (9)

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

Match summary

Complete list of matches played by the British Isles in South Africa:[1][2]

     Test matches

The first test v South Africa, played on August 6 at Ellis Park
# Date Rival City Venue Result Score
1 11 Jun Border Bulldogs East LondonWon 11–8
2 15 Jun Griqualand WestKimberleyWon 22–9
3 18 Jun Western Province Cape TownNewlands Lost 8–11
4 22 Jun South Western Districts OudtshoornRecreation Ground Won 19–10
5 25 Jun Western Province Cape TownNewlands Lost 11–21
6 29 Jun Transvaal PotchefstroomOlën Park Won 26–9
7 2 Jul Orange Free State BloemfonteinWon 21–6
8 6 Jul Orange Free State CountryKroonstadLoubser ParkWon 18–3
9 9 Jul Transvaal JohannesburgEllis ParkLost 9–16
10 13 Jul Northern Transvaal PretoriaCaledonian GroundWon 20–12
11 16 Jul Cape Province KimberleyWon 10–3
12 20 Jul Rhodesia SalisburyWon 25–11
13 23 Jul Rhodesia BulawayoWon 45–11
14 30 Jul Transvaal JohannesburgEllis Park Won 17–9
15 6 Aug  South Africa JohannesburgEllis Park Lost 12–26
16 13 Aug Northern Province DurbanKingsmead Cricket Lost 8–26
17 17 Aug Natal PietermaritzburgWon 15–11
18 20 Aug Border Bulldogs East LondonWon 19–11
19 24 Aug North-East Districts BurgersdorpWon 42–3
20 27 Aug Eastern Province Port ElizabethSt George's Park Won 6–5
21 3 Sep  South Africa Port ElizabethSt George's Park Lost 3–19
22 10 Sep  South Africa Cape TownNewlands Stadium Won 21–16
23 17 Sep Western Province Universities Cape TownNewlands Stadium Won 19–16
24 21 Sep Western Province Country Cape TownNewlands Stadium Lost 7–12
Balance
Pl W D L Ps Pc
241707414284

Test details

First Test
8 August 1938
South Africa  26–12 British Isles
Try: Harris,
Williams (2),
Louw
Con: Brand (4)
Pen: Brand (2)
 Report Pen: Jenkins (3), Taylor
Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Attendance: 36,000
Referee: A.M. Horak
South Africa
British Isles

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

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References
  1. British & Irish Lions results on Rugby Football History
  2. Early Lions: Squads and results (1888–1938) on BBC Sport, 18 May 2005
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