1937 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand

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1937 South Africa rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand
Summary
PWDL
Total
29 270002
Test match
05040001
Opponent
PWDL
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
2 2 0 0
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
3 2 0 1
The 1937 Springbok backline in action against Australia. StateLibQld 1 105568 Springboks v. Australia, 1937.jpg
The 1937 Springbok backline in action against Australia.

The 1937 South Africa tour to Australasia [1] was one of the most successful Springbok tours in history, so much so that the touring team was nicknamed the "Invincibles". The squad was captained by Philip Nel.

Contents

The tour started on 26 June 1937 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia with a 9–5 win over the Wallabies. The Springboks followed up the win with an emphatic 26–17 win on 17 July at the same grounds, outscoring the Wallabies 6 tries to 3 and taking the series 2–0.

When the Springboks arrived in New Zealand later that year nobody expected them to win the series, as no other South African team had ever achieved the feat, and when the New Zealand leg of the tour kicked off on 14 August with a 13–7 loss to New Zealand at Athletic Park in Wellington, it seemed business as usual.

Mr Nel and his men had other ideas, adopting a strategy sent to them via telegram from Springbok great Paul Roos: "skrum, skrum, skrum". Their dominant pack was the impetus used to deal New Zealand two convincing defeats; a 13–6 win at Lancaster Park in Christchurch and a 17–6 win at Eden Park in Auckland, taking the series 2–1. The latter translates into a 27–6 (5 try to nil) win using today's point system. The hero of the decider was centre Louis Babrow, who scored two critical tries. Babrow nearly did not feature in the last test as he was an observant Jew and the match fell on Yom Kippur; however, he justified playing on a high holy day by saying that the sun had not yet risen in South Africa by the time of kickoff in New Zealand.

The 1937 Springbok team remains the only Springbok team ever to have won a series in New Zealand and contained legendary players such as Danie Craven and Boy Louw.

Matches in Australia

Springbok and Wallaby forwards compete for the ball in the mud during the first test in Sydney. Springboks and Wallabies in the mud, Sydney, 1937..jpg
Springbok and Wallaby forwards compete for the ball in the mud during the first test in Sydney.

Scores and results list South Africa's points tally first.

Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
Flag of Western Australia.svg Western Australia 47831 May 1937 Perth Tour match
Flag of South Australia.svg South Australia 5535 June 1937 Adelaide Tour match
Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria 451112 June 1937 Melbourne Tour match
Combined Western XV63016 June 1937 Orange Tour match
Flag of New South Wales.svg New South Wales 61719 June 1937SydneyTour match
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 9526 June 1937 Cricket Ground, SydneyTest match
Newcastle58830 June 1937 Newcastle Tour match
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia XV 3633 July 1937 Brisbane Tour match
Toowoomba XV6007 July 1937 Toowoomba Tour match
Flag of Queensland.svg Queensland 39411 July 1937 Brisbane Tour match
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 261717 July 1937 Cricket Ground, SydneyTest match

Matches in New Zealand

Scores and results list South Africa's points tally first.

Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
Auckland colours, Air NZ Cup.png Auckland 19525 July 1937 Eden Park, Auckland Tour match
Mooloo.png Waikato /
Kcountry.png King Country /
Thamesvalley.png Thames Valley
6328 July 1937 Rugby Park, Hamilton Tour match
TaranakiRugby.png Taranaki 17331 July 1937 Pukekura Park, New Plymouth Tour match
ManawatuTurbosColours.png Manawatu 3934 August 1937 Showgrounds, Palmerston North Tour match
Wellington Lions colours.png Wellington 2908 August 1937 Athletic Park, Wellington Tour match
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 71314 August 1937 Athletic Park, Wellington Test match
Nelson Rugby Colours.png Nelson /
Golden Bay-Motueka Rugby Colours.png Golden Bay-Motueka /
Marlborough Rugby Colours.png Marlborough
22018 August 1937 Lansdowne Park, Blenheim Tour match
CanterburyColours.png Canterbury 23822 August 1937 Lancaster Park, Christchurch Tour match
West Coast-Buller rugby colours.png West Coast-Buller 31626 August 1937 Rugby Park, Greymouth Tour match
Scantab.png South Canterbury 43628 August 1937 Fraser Park, Timaru Tour match
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1364 September 1937 Lancaster Park, Christchurch Test match
SouthlandRugby.png Southland 30178 September 1937 Rugby Park, Invercargill Tour match
Otagorugby.png Otago 47712 September 1937 Carisbrook, Dunedin Tour match
Hawkes Bay Air NZ Cup colours.png Hawke's Bay 211215 September 1937 McLean Park, Napier Tour match
Povertybay.png Poverty Bay /
Bopcolours.png Bay of Plenty /
Ecoast.png East Coast
33320 September 1937Rugby Park, Gisborne Tour match
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 17625 September 1937 Eden Park, Auckland Test match
North auckland rugby.png North Auckland 14629 September 1937 Okara Park, Whangarei Tour match

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References

  1. McKinney, Stewart (25 January 2011). Voices from the Back of the Bus: Tall Tales and Hoary Stories from Rugby's Real Heroes. Random House. ISBN   978-1-907195-81-5.