Submitted by admin on April 23, 2009 - 01:36
OVERSEAS TEAMS IN NEW ZEALAND
The first team to visit New Zealand was the New South Wales side of 1882. Other New South Wales teams paid visits in 1886, 1894, 1901, 1923, 1925, and 1928. In 1896 and 1963 Queensland sent a team for a series of matches. Teams representing Australia came to New Zealand during the 1905, 1913, 1931, 1936, 1946, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1958, 1962, and 1964 seasons. The 1905, 1913, and 1949 sides were here when New Zealand teams were overseas; a New Zealand team was in South Africa, too, at the time of the New South Wales tour of 1928. The New South Wales Country teams of 1954 and 1960, the Australian Universities teams of 1929, 1933, 1949, and 1954, and the Australian United Services of 1953 have also visited New Zealand. An American University team played five matches in New Zealand in 1910. The first team from Great Britain toured during 1888, the players being from England and Scotland. Then came the 1904 side, with players from England, Wales, and Ireland. The third side was the 1908 Anglo-Welsh team and then, after a break of 22 years, the 1930 team, comprising representatives of all the Home countries. Another 20 years elapsed before the fourth British Isles teams arrived (1950), the fifth side from the United Kingdom and Ireland coming in 1959. Four South African teams have played in New Zealand, the first in 1921, the second in 1937, the third in 1956, and the fourth in 1965. Fiji teams have toured in 1939, 1951, 1954 (while returning home from a tour of Australia), and 1957, perhaps the most interesting of our visitors, France, touring in 1961. England came in 1963, Australia in 1964, and South Africa in 1965.
All these teams have played 499 matches in New Zealand, for the results shown in the following table.
Summary of Matches
| Points | ||||||
| P. | W. | D. | L. | For | Agst. | |
| 1882–New South Wales | 7 | 4 | .. | 3 | 42 | 40 |
| 1886–New South Wales | 12 | 2 | .. | 10 | 22 | 130 |
| 1888–Great Britain | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 82 | 33 |
| 1894–New South Wales | 12 | 4 | .. | 8 | 107 | 137 |
| 1896–Queensland | 6 | .. | .. | 6 | 38 | 125 |
| 1901–New South Wales | 7 | 1 | .. | 6 | 42 | 102 |
| 1904–Great Britain | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 33 |
| 1905–Australia | 7 | 3 | .. | 4 | 51 | 83 |
| 1908–Anglo-Welsh | 17 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 184 | 153 |
| 1910–American Univ. | 5 | .. | 1 | 4 | 22 | 81 |
| 1913–Australia | 9 | 4 | .. | 5 | 118 | 114 |
| 1921–South Africa | 19 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 244 | 81 |
| 1921–New South Wales | 10 | 9 | .. | 1 | 229 | 84 |
| 1923–New South Wales | 10 | 2 | .. | 8 | 119 | 245 |
| 1925–New South Wales | 11 | 9 | .. | 2 | 240 | 149 |
| 1928–New South Wales | 10 | 5 | .. | 5 | 166 | 141 |
| 1929–Australian Univ. | 3 | .. | .. | 3 | 16 | 97 |
| 1930–Great Britain | 21 | 15 | .. | 6 | 420 | 205 |
| 1931–Australia | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 131 | 117 |
| 1933–Australian Univ. | 3 | .. | .. | 3 | 16 | 97 |
| 1936–Australia | 10 | 3 | .. | 7 | 144 | 160 |
| 1937–South Africa | 17 | 16 | .. | 1 | 411 | 104 |
| 1939–Fiji | 8 | 7 | 1 | .. | 93 | 49 |
| 1946–Australia | 12 | 5 | .. | 7 | 139 | 207 |
| 1949–Australian Univ. | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 14 |
| 1949–Australia | 12 | 11 | .. | 1 | 228 | 108 |
| 1950–British Isles | 23 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 420 | 162 |
| 1951–Fiji | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 239 | 232 |
| 1952–Australia | 10 | 8 | .. | 2 | 155 | 120 |
| 1953–Australian United Services | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 87 |
| 1954 Australian Univ. | 3 | 1 | .. | 2 | 43 | 50 |
| 1954–Fiji* | 1 | .. | .. | 1 | 3 | 39 |
| 1954–New South Wales | ||||||
| Country | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 159 | 118 |
| 1955–Australia | 13 | 10 | .. | 3 | 219 | 106 |
| 1956–South Africa | 23 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 370 | 177 |
| 1957–Fiji | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 314 | 182 |
| 1958–Australia | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 139 | 154 |
| 1959–British Isles | 25 | 20 | .. | 5 | 582 | 266 |
| 1960–New South Wales Country | 10 | 7 | .. | 3 | 161 | 104 |
| 1961–France | 13 | 6 | .. | 7 | 150 | 149 |
| 1962–Australia | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 218 | 111 |
| 1963–Queensland | 4 | 1 | .. | 3 | 50 | 59 |
| 1963–England | 5 | 1 | .. | 4 | 45 | 73 |
| 1964 Australia | 8 | 4 | .. | 4 | 109 | 80 |
| 1965–South Africa | 24 | 19 | .. | 5 | 485 | 219 |
| Totals | 499 | 291 | 23 | 185 | 7,246 | 5,339 |
*Played against Auckland on returning from an Australian tour.
During the above tours the International XVs of New Zealand have been assembled to play “test” matches against New South Wales, Queensland, South Africa, teams from the British Isles, and France. A summary of these contests shows New Zealand to have won 69 games, with four drawn and 17 lost.
