Wellington against international teams: versus British Lions 1950

Above: The crowd builds at Athletic Park in 1950 for the big match.?

Match Details

Result:?Great Britain 12 – Wellington 6
When: 24 June 1950, at Athletic Park
Weather: Fine and sunny
Crowd:?30,000

The Tour

The 1950 British Lions are regarded as being one of the most exciting international sides to visit New Zealand. Playing expansive, attractive rugby, they were wildly popular everywhere they went. The midweek attendance of 40,000 at their final match of the tour against New Zealand Maori reflected this.

Their record was played 23, won 17, lost five and drew one. They met the All Blacks in four Tests. The first in Dunedin was drawn 9-9; New Zealand won the second in Christchurch 8-0, the third in Wellington 6-3 and the fourth in Auckland 11-8. The Lions also defeated New Zealand Maori 14-8 at Athletic Park. The match against Wellington was a week before he third Test, also at Athletic Park.

The Match

Wellington were in the middle of a lean trot that lasted two-three seasons from the late 1940s as many elder players retired and a new crop of stars such as Ron Jarden were finding their feet. Wellington won just three of 11 matches in 1950. This game was early in the representative season and Wellington had so far drawn with both Manawatu and Marlborough and lost 13-16 to Taranaki.

Wellington had a proud record against visiting teams, and in particular ones from the British Isles. Wellington had beaten British touring sides in 1888, 1908 and 1930, so weren’t about to lie down.

Wellington did have quality players. Halfback Vince Bevan ( representing Tawa) played in all four Tests in this series, while No. 8 Graham Mexted (Tawa) played in the fourth. Ray O’Callaghan (Marist Old Boys) and Des O’Donnell (St Pat’s Old Boys) had played for the All Blacks before. Up and comer Jarden (University) took his place on the left wing.

Conditions were good and a quality match on a firm ground was predicted.

Classy Welsh centre Bleddyn Williams opened the scoring for the visitors after just four minutes of play. They doubled their lead to 6-0 on 20 minutes after pouncing on a defensive Wellington lineout. It got worse for Wellington when O’Callaghan missed an easy penalty and the Lions responded by running in two more tries by halftime. None of their tries were converted and they led 12-0 at halftime (the equivalent of 20-0 today).

Wellington finally got on the board when wing Mick Hourigan (Marist Old Boys) crossed early in the second half after a movement involving Jarden and 19-year old centre George Martin (Hutt). J.A Phillips (St Pat’s Old Boys) then kicked a penalty to cut the Lions’ lead to 12-6 midway through the second spell, and that was the end of the scoring as both sides battled hard to the end.

For Wellington, their forwards played well, holding the Lions in most facets. Lock Frank Crist (Wellington), who now has the old gym at Wellington College named after him, hooker Stan Judd (Onslow) and Mexted stood out. The difference was the ?lan of the Lions backs, particularly in the first half. Centre Williams, first five-eighth Jack Kyle and Olympic Games sprinter Ken Jones on the wing were standouts.

The Teams

Wellington:?1. B. J. Lloyd, 2. S.W. Judd, 3. D.H O’Donnell, 4. S. Heperi, 5. A.H. Avery, 6. W.F. Crist, 7. D. O’Gorman, 8. G.G. Mexted, 9. V.D. Bevan, 10. R. Williams, 11. R.A. Jarden, 12. R.T. O’Callaghan, 13. G. Martin, 14. M. J. Hourigan, 15. J. Phillips

British Isles: 1. J.D. Robins, 2. K.D. Mullen, 3. J. Clifford, 4. J.S. McCarthy, 5. J.G. Stephens, 6. D. Hayward, 7. R.T. Evans, 8. E.R. Johns, 9. G. Rimmer, 10. J.W. Kyle, 11. M.C Thomas, 12. J. Matthews, 13. B.L. Williams, 14. K.J. Jones, 15. W.B. Cleaver

The Players

Wellington’s Player of the Match was centre George Martin. A subsequent report in the Rugby Weekly praised his performance. “But the player who took the fancy of the crowd was a robust young man at centre. His name was George Martin, who in the same year represented New Zealand in the Empire Games pole vault. He tackled with all the vehemence his great physical condition could muster. Opposed by the noted crash tackler Dr. Jack Matthews, young Martin gave rather better than he took and left the ground one of the heroes of the game.”

With a long, accurate pass, halfback Vince Bevan was one of the best halfbacks of the day, whose international career was interrupted the previous season, 1949, when he wasn’t allowed to tour South Africa with the All Blacks on the basis that he was part Maori. He came back strong in 1950 and played a full part in this 3-1 Test win over the Lions.

Bevan played 70 matches for Wellington between 1947-54 and made his Test debut against Australia in 1949. He was also an All Black tourist to Australia in 1947 and to Europe and Canada in 1953-54. Bevan’s grandson Tamati Ellison recently played his 100th Super Rugby match, for the Rebels.

Graham Mexted rose to prominence from the then Senior B club Tawa. This match against the Lions was his first major game for Wellington and he impressed so much he was selected for the All Blacks to play the fourth Test at Eden Park. This would be his only Test, but he also toured Australia in 1951 and played in five tour matches.

For Wellington, Mexted’s best season was 1953, as an integral member of the team that famously lifted the Ranfurly Shield off Waikato, defended it several times and then lost it to Canterbury. Mexted’s sons, Alan and Murray both played for Wellington, the latter playing 34 Tests for the All Blacks.

Ray O’Callaghan was also a leading player in Wellington’s 1953 side, in top form as a fullback and scoring 16 points in their 22-16 Ranfurly Shield defence over Southland. He played five seasons for Wellington after hailing from the West Coast and also playing games for Canterbury. His sole All Blacks appearance was at second five-eighth in 1949 against Australia.

Prop Des O’Donnell also played one Test and that was also against the Wallabies in 1949. An old boy of St Pat’s Silverstream, O’Donnell played for Wellington between 1945-1951

References?

• The?Evening Post?and?Dominion?newspapers, June 1950
• Arthur Swan and Gordon Jackson. Wellington’s Rugby History 1870-1950. A.H and H.W Reed for the WRFU, 1952.
• 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:?Crowd at Athletic Park. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: 114/165/12-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.?http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23023478