Wellington against international teams: versus British Lions 1959

Above: Fans camping out overnight outside Athletic Park ahead of the big match the following day between Wellington and the British Isles.

Match Details

Result:?British Lions 21 v– Wellington 6
When:?1 August1959, at Athletic Park
Weather: Fine and sunny?
Crowd:?47,000

The Tour

The British Lions spent three months in New Zealand in 1959, winning 20 of their 25 matches. Although the All Blacks beat them 3-1 in the Test series, they were the most successful British team to tour down under to date.

The Lions played an attractive style of rugby, endearing themselves to New Zealand crowds wherever they played. Their positive style yielded them 113 tries at a rate of over 4.5 per game. Red headed Irish wing Tony O’Reilly was the most popular tourist, scoring 17 tries.

Before arriving in New Zealand, the British Lions had beaten the Wallabies 17-6 and 24-3 in a two-Test series.

Against the All Blacks, they were to lose the first Test in Dunedin 17-18 (scoring four tries, but trumped by Don Clarke’s six penalties), lose the second Test in Wellington 8-11, lose the third Test in Christchurch 8-22 and win the fourth Test in Auckland 9-6.

They opened their tour in Napier with a resounding 52-12 win over Hawke’s Bay, fullback Ken Scotland of Scotland scoring a hat-trick. They won five of their next six matches, including beating Auckland 15-10 and losing to Otago 8-26 a fortnight before the opening Test at Carisbrook.

Following the first Test loss, the Lions easily accounted for both West Coast-Buller and a combined team representing the top of the South Island (modern day Tasman). But they also lost to Canterbury 14-20. As July rolled into August, the next stop was Wellington.

The Match

Wellington had beaten both Auckland and Canterbury earlier in the season, so there were high hopes of victory in the capital.

Nev MacEwan (Athletic), who played at loosehead prop in this match but normally played lock, was the only player to have featured in the first Test win. But tighthead prop Ivan Vodanovich (Marist), centre Russell Watt (Athletic) and flanker Don McIntosh (Petone) had all been All Blacks. Tryo Ken Gray (Petone), who played at lock, was later to be an all-time great Wellington and All Blacks prop, and wing Ralph Caulton (Poneke) was about to be an All Black in this series. No. 8 Jim Grbich (Poneke) was a New Zealand Maori representative and lock/openside flanker Moray Bevan (Poneke) was the younger brother of former All Blacks halfback Vince Bevan who had played against the 1950 British Lions.

The pre-match hype surrounding this fixture was massive, with street parades and thousands swelling the city beforehand and the surrounds of Athletic Park on match-day. Hundreds camped out overnight, as was tradition for these big matches, and the Western Bank was full by 11.15 am. The infamous Western Bank was in its last year, soon to make way for the modern Millard Stand so an era was coming to an end.?

On the field, Wellington was well beaten, five tries to nil. A report from a subsequent match-day programme in 1966 when Gray was to lead Wellington to a famous victory sums this contest up:

“Lifting their game to new heights reached only once previously on the tour – in the first Tests, at Dunedin – the Lions forwards paved the way for a resounding 21-6 win.

“The British Isles went into the match knowing it must contain perhaps the strongest lineout contingent in the country. They not only contained it; they dominated it.

“With their growing success in the forwards, inevitably came the chances for the Lions backs to cut capers, and as the match wore on the brilliant rearguard in red thrilled the 47,000 who packed Athletic Park.

“But Wellington had its moments too. In the first half the forwards poured into the rucks and the backs were always ready to have a run. Wellington led 6-3 at half-time, but the Lions, with the wind behind them, were quick to assert supremacy in the second spell.”

Wellington was beaten across the pack, and the Athletic Park record crowd of 59,000 that swarmed back for the second Test on 15 August new they were in for a top match. The Lions played a third game in Wellington later in the tour, beating the New Zealand Juniors 29-9 in front of a Wellington mid-week record crowd of 48,000.

The Teams

Wellington: 1. I.N. MacEwan, 2. C. Currie, 3. I.M.H. Vodanovich, 4. M.V. Bevan, 5. D.G. Harker, 6. K.F. Gray, 7. D.N. McIntosh, 8. J. Grbich, 9. B.A. Cull, 10. J.W. Lees, 11. R. W. Caulton, 12. D.T. Bradburn, 13. J.R. Watt, 14. R.W. Smith, 15. J.D.P. Taitako

British Isles: 1. S. Millar, 2. A.R. Dawson, 3. H.F. McLeod, 4. H.J. Morgan, 5. R.W.D Marques, 6. R.H. Williams, 7. N.A.A. Murphy, 8. W.R. Evans, 9. R.E.G. Jeeps, 10. A.B.W. Risman, 11. D. Hewitt, 12. M.C. Thomas, 13. M.J. Price, 14. J.R.C. Young, 15. K.J.F. Scotland

The Players

The same report quoted above states that: “One Wellington player stood out like a beacon – R.W. Caulton on the left wing. He was magnificent and played his way into the New Zealand team for the second Test, at Athletic Park, two weeks later.

Caulton was the 600th All Black when he was chosen to make his Test debut. He didn’t disappoint, scoring two tries on debut in the winning effort. He then scored another two tries in the third Test at Christchurch and if he’d retired then he would’ve had the best strike rate of any All Black. The Wellington College educated wing went on to play 16 Tests, scoring eight tries. Upon retiring he moved into coaching and administration and served on the WRFU and NZRU committees and coached the NZ U17 side in 1985.

Russell Watt played much of his career for Wellington in the midfield, but he was good enough to score 28 tries in 42 All Black Appearances between 1957-1962 on the wing. Originally from Otago, Watt moved to Wellington in 1958 and eventually played 63 matches for Wellington.

Already an All Black, having made his Test debut against Australia the previous winter, Watt didn’t feature in this series at all, but he went to South Africa in 1960 and played against France in 1961 and Australia in 1962. He actually missed the 1961 Test in Wellington against the French as he was serving a suspension after being ordered off in a Jubilee Cup club game.

Other players mentioned in reports for playing well included fullback Jim Taitako (St Pat’s Old Boys), halfback Barry Cull (Athletic) McIntosh and Grbich.

References?

• The? Dominion?newspaper, July and August 1959?
• Arthur Swan and Gordon Jackson. Wellington’s Rugby History Part 11 1950-1979. WRFU, 1979.
• The Visitors - The History of International Rugby Teams in New Zealand by Rod Chester, Neville McMillan. MOA Publications, Auckland, 1990
• Rugby Weekly?Souvenir Edition. British Isles v Wellington 25 June 1966?
• The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Rugby?By Ron Palenski, Rod Chester, Neville McMillan. Hodder Moa Beckett, Auckland 1998
• All Blacks A-Z on www.allblacks.com

PHOTO CREDIT: Rugby fans queueing overnight outside Athletic Park, Berhampore, Wellington, before British and Irish Lions match. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1959/2660-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.http://natlib.govt.nz/records/30645119