1908 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia

1908 British Lions Tour to New Zealand and Australia
Date	23 May  – 2 September
Coach(es)	George Harnett
Tour captain(s)	Arthur 'Boxer' Harding
Test series winners	New Zealand (2–0)
Top test point scorer(s)	Reggie Gibbs (3) Jack Jones (3)
← Australia and New Zealand 1904 South Africa 1910 →

The 1908 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was the seventh tour by a British Isles team and the fourth to New Zealand and Australia. The tour is often referred to as the Anglo-Welsh Tour as only English and Welsh players were selected due to the Irish and Scottish Rugby Unions not participating. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.

Led by Arthur 'Boxer' Harding and managed by George Harnett the tour took in 26 matches, 9 in Australia and 17 in New Zealand. Of the 26 games, 23 were against club or invitational teams and three were test matches against the All Blacks. The Lions lost two and drew one match against the All Blacks.

The tour was not received well in Wales, as the Welsh players selected were chosen exclusively from those players from a well educated and professional class background. The selection was in fact addressed by the Welsh Rugby Union who stated that when a British Isles team was mooted for a South Africa tour in 1910, that the players should be chosen '...irrespective of the social position of the players.'

Touring party

The Anglo-Welsh touring party after arriving in Wellington in 1908. Manager George Harnett is seated in the centre, with captain Arthur Harding holding a rugby ball to Harnett's right.

• Manager: George Harnett

Full Backs

• John Dyke (Penarth)
• E.J. 'John' Jackett (Falmouth/Leicester)

Three-Quarters

• Frederick Ernest Chapman (Westoe)
• Reggie Gibbs (Cardiff)
• Johnnie Williams (Cardiff)
• Rowland Griffiths (Newport)
• Jack Jones (Pontypool)
• James Phillips Jones (Guy's Hospital)
• Pat McEvedy (Guy's Hospital)
• Henry Vassall (Blackheath)

Half backs

• James "Maffer" Davey (Redruth)
• Herbert Laxon (Cambridge University)
• William Llewellyn Morgan (Cardiff)
• G.L. Williams (Liverpool)

Forwards

• Herbert Archer (Guy's Hospital)
• Robert Dibble (Bridgwater)
• Percy Down (Bristol)
• Gerald Kyrke (Marlborough Nomads)
• R.K. Green (Neath)
• Edgar Morgan (Swansea)
• L.S. Thomas (Penarth)
• Arthur Harding (Cardiff) (captain)
• Jack Williams (London Welsh)
• Guy Reginald Hind (Guy's Hospital)
• F.S. Jackson (Leicester)
• William Leonard Oldham (Coventry)
• John Anthony Sydney Ritson (Northern)
• Thomas William Smith (Leicester)

Results

Cartoon by William Blomfield, published by the New Zealand Observer following the tour's first test match. It depicts the touring Anglo-Welsh as a "dilapidated lion" following their 32–5 defeat to New Zealand.

	Date	Opponent	Location	Result	Score
Match 1	23 May	Wairarapa	Masterton, New Zealand	Won	17–3
Match 2	27 May	Wellington	Wellington, New Zealand	Lost	13–19
Match 3	30 May	Otago	Dunedin, New Zealand	Lost	6–9
Match 4	3 June	Southland	Invercargill, New Zealand	Won	14–8
Match 5	6 June	New Zealand	Dunedin	Lost	5–32
Match 6	10 June	South Canterbury	Timaru, New Zealand	Won	12–6
Match 7	13 June	Canterbury	Christchurch, New Zealand	Lost	8–13
Match 8	17 June	West Coast/Buller	Greymouth, New Zealand	Won	22–3
Match 9	20 June	Nelson Bays/Marlborough	Nelson, New Zealand	Won	12–0
Match 10	27 June	New Zealand	Wellington	Drew	3–3
Match 11	1 July	Hawke's Bay	Napier, New Zealand	Won	25–3
Match 12	4 July	Poverty Bay	Gisborne, New Zealand	Won	26–0
Match 13	8 July	Manawatu/Horowhenua	Palmerston North, New Zealand	Won	12–3
Match 14	11 July	Wanganui	Wanganui, New Zealand	Won	9–6
Match 15	15 July	Taranaki	New Plymouth, New Zealand	Lost	0–5
Match 16	18 July	Auckland	Auckland	Lost	0–11
Match 17	25 July	New Zealand	Auckland	Lost	0–29
Match 18	5 August	New South Wales	Sydney	Won	3–0
Match 19	8 August	New South Wales	Sydney	Won	8–0
Match 20	12 August	Western Districts	Orange, Australia	Lost	10–15
Match 21	15 August	Metropolitan	Sydney	Won	16–13
Match 22	19 August	Newcastle	Newcastle, Australia	Won	42–0
Match 23	22 August	New South Wales	Sydney	Lost	3–6
Match 24	26 August	Queensland	Brisbane, Australia	Won	20–3
Match 25	29 August	Queensland	Brisbane	Won	11–8
Match 26	2 September	Brisbane	Brisbane	Won	26–3

The matches

First Test

6 June

New Zealand	32–5	British Isles
Try: Cameron Hunter Mitchinson (2) Roberts (2) Thompson Con: Francis Gillett (2) Roberts Pen: Roberts		Try: Gibbs Con: Jackson

Carisbrook,Dunedin Attendance: 23,000 Referee: J Duncan (Otago, New Zealand)

Second Test

27 June

New Zealand	3–3	British Isles
Pen: Francis		Try: Jones

Athletic Park, Wellington Attendance: 10,000 Referee: A. Campbell (Auckland, New Zealand)

Third Test

25 July

New Zealand	29–0	British Isles
Try: Deans Francis Gillett Glasgow Hayward Hunter Mitchinson Con: Colman

Potters Park, Auckland Attendance: 12,000 Referee: A. Campbell (Auckland, New Zealand)

External links

• Geoffrey T. Vincent, '"Practical Imperialism": The Anglo-Welsh Rugby Tour of New Zealand, 1908', The International Journal of the History of Sport, vol. 15, no. 1, April 1998, pp. 123–40 (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09523369808714015?journalCode=fhsp20#preview).