View source for New Zealand Army rugby team of 1919

{{EngvarB|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
[[File:King George V presents a cup to the captain of the winning New Zealand Services Rugby Team, London.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|New Zealand captain James Ryan receiving the Kings Cup from George V]]
The '''New Zealand Army rugby team of 1919''' was a [[rugby union]] team which represented [[New Zealand]] after the end of the [[First World War]]. Although spoken of as a single team, there were several New Zealand Services teams playing in Britain at the conclusion of the War. The most notable being the touring Army XV who played a series of games throughout Great Britain and France, including an internationally recognised match against the [[Wales national rugby union team|Wales national team]]. With the introduction of the King's Cup; a services tournament between forces from Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, the team split intself in two. The 'A' Team taking part in the King's Cup, while the 'B' team continued touring against club and county opponents.
==New Zealand Services==
The First World War saw a high percentage of amateur rugby union players signing up to serve their country.<ref>Scotland as an example had 24 recognised clubs which were members of the [[Scottish Rugby Union|SRU]], with 817 players. Of the 817, within two months of the start of the war, 638 had joined the armed forces. {{cite book |last=Thorburn |first=A.M.C. |title=The Scottish Rugby Union, Official History |year=1985 |publisher=Scottish Rugby Union and Collins Publishers|page=117 |isbn= 0-00-435697-7}}</ref> At the same time the sport of rugby union was suspended at club and country level in most countries. The sport survived during this period through organised games conducted by inter-service and allied forces.
When the War came to an end, most international and club teams were decimated; more than a hundred internationals had died in the conflict (See:[[List of international rugby union players killed in action during the First World War]]), many more were seriously injured and other players were now too old or out of condition. Therefore, club teams took the possibility to play an organised New Zealand team as a way to challenge their own teams as they sought to rebuild.
[[Llanelli RFC|Llanelli's]] first official game after the War was against the New Zealand Army team from the [[Larkhill Garrison]] in Wiltshire. This was followed by games against the [[New Zealand Machine Gun Corps]] on 22 February 1919.<ref name="Hughes98">Hughes (1986), pg 98.</ref> These and similar teams came together to make the New Zealand Army team. This team split into an 'A' and 'B' team when during a tour of Great Britain, an inter-services tournament, with a cup presented by [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]], was held between the allied forces.<ref>[https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov14_07Rail-t1-body-d18-d1.html Sport in Wartime ] W.F. Ingram, The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 7 (2 October 1939)</ref> The stronger New Zealand Army 'A' team took the challenge of the King's Cup and eventually triumphed over the British Army at Twickenham. The 'B' team continued the tour of Great Britain and France.
==The tour of Great Britain and France==
The tour of Great Britain and France took in 38 matches, of which the New Zealand Army won 33, drew two and lost just three games. With the tour over the Army team headed to South Africa for a further twelve matches.
==Touring party==
Those players marked with <sup>AB</sup> were also capped as New Zealand 'All Black' rugby union internationals, either before or after playing in the New Zealand Army team.
===Full-backs===
* C.H. Capper (Field Artillery)
* John Gerald O'Brien (Divisional Signals)<sup>AB</sup>
===Three-quarters===
* W.A. Ward (Rifle Brigade)
* [[Percy Storey|Percival Wright Storey]] (Otago Infantry Regiment)<sup>AB</sup>
* G.L. Owles (Field Artillery)
* [[Jack Stohr|Leonard "Jack" Stohr]] (Medical Corps)<sup>AB</sup>
* Edmond Ryan (Field Artillery)<sup>AB</sup>
===Five-eighths===
* [[Eric Cockroft|Eric Arthur Cockroft]] (Canterbury Infantry Regiment)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[Dick Roberts (rugby union)|Richard William Roberts]] (Rifle Brigade)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[William Fea]] (Rifle Brigade)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[James Ryan (rugby union player born 1887)|Jim Ryan]] (Otago Infantry Regiment)<sup>AB</sup>
* W.L. Henry (Canterbury Infantry Regiment)
* P. Tureia (Pioneers)
* G.J. McNaught (Machine Gun Corps)
* E. Watson (Wellington Infantry Regiment)
* G. Yardley (Auckland Infantry Regiment)
===Half-backs===
* [[Charles Brown (rugby union, born 1887)|Charlie Brown]] (Field Engineers)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[Don Sandman|D.McK. Sandman]] (Canterbury Infantry Regt.)
===Forwards===
* P. Allen (Wellington Infantry Regt.)
* J. Kissick (Field Engineers)
* F.P. Arnold (Auckland Infantry Regt.)
* A.A. Lucas (Field Artillery)
* [[Moke Belliss|Ernest Bellis]] (Otago Infantry Regt.)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[Jim Moffitt]] (Auckland Infantry Regt.)<sup>AB</sup>
* R.W. Bilkey (Field Artillery)
* [[Toby Murray|Harold Vivian Murray]] (Machine Gun Corps)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[John Alexander Bruce]] (Field Engineers)<sup>AB</sup>
* E.J. Naylor (Otago Infantry Regt.)
* Michael Cain (NZ Rifle Brigade)<sup>AB</sup>
* R. Sellars (Divisional Signals)
* [[Eric Cockroft]] (Field Artillery)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[Arthur Singe]] (Auckland Infantry Regt.)
* [[James Burt Douglas]] (Otago Infantry Regt.)<sup>AB</sup>
* S.J. Standen (Field Artillery)
* [[Richard Fogarty|Dick Fogarty]] (Rifle Brigade)<sup>AB</sup>
* C.W. Tepene (Otago Infantry Regt.)
* A. Gilchrist (Field Artillery)
* [[Alfred West]] (Field Artillery)<sup>AB</sup>
* [[Edward Hasell]] (Field Artillery)<sup>AB</sup>
* H.G. Whittington (Rifle Brigade)
* [[Ranji Wilson]] (Rifle Brigade)<sup>AB</sup>
==Results==
[[File:Mother Country vs New Zealand programme 1919.jpg|thumb|250px|Programme for the match between the Mother Country and New Zealand service teams]]
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
!
!Date
!Opponent
!Location
!Result
!Score
|-
|[[#Royal Naval Division|Match 1]]
|
|Royal Naval Division
|[[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]]
|Drawn
|0–0
|-
|[[#Monmouthshire - 1st Match|Match 2]]
|1 February
|[[Monmouthshire County RFC|Monmouthshire]]
|[[Crosskeys]]
|Won
|22–3
|-
|[[#United Services|Match 3]]
|
|United Services
|[[Torquay]]
|Won
|9–0
|-
|[[#Canadian Forces|Match 4]]
|
|Canadian Forces
|[[Chiswick]]
|Won
|12–0
|-
|[[#South African Services|Match 5]]
|
|South African Services
|[[Richmond, London|Richmond]]
|Won
|26–5
|-
|[[#Coventry|Match 6]]
|
|[[Coventry R.F.C.]]
|[[Coventry]]
|Won
|14–0
|-
|[[#Australian Imperial Forces|Match 7]]
|
|Australian Imperial Forces
|[[Richmond, London|Richmond]]
|Won
|9–0
|-
|[[#RAF - 1st Match|Match 8]]
|
|RAF <sup>1</sup>
|[[Swansea]]
|Won
|22–3
|-
|[[#Canadian Expeditionary Force|Match 9]]
|
|Canadian Expeditionary Force<sup>1</sup>
|[[Portsmouth]]
|Won
|11–0
|-
|[[#Yorkshire|Match 10]]
|
|[[Yorkshire Rugby Football Union|Yorkshire]]
|[[Bradford]]
|Won
|44–5
|-
|[[#British XV|Match 11]]
|
|British XV
|[[Leicester]]
|Won
|11–3
|-
|[[#RAF 2nd Match|Match 12]]
|
|RAF
|[[Richmond, London|Richmond]]
|Won
|3–0
|-
|[[#Gloucester|Match 13]]
|
|[[Gloucester Rugby|Gloucester]]
|[[Gloucester]]
|Won
|15–12
|-
|[[#Cardiff|Match 14]]
|29 March
|[[Cardiff RFC|Cardiff]]
|[[Cardiff]]
|Drawn
|0–0
|-
|[[#South African Forces|Match 15]]
|
|South African Forces<sup>1</sup>
|[[Twickenham Stadium|Twickenham]]
|Won
|14–5
|-
|[[#Maesteg|Match 16]]
|2 April
|[[Maesteg RFC|Maesteg]]
|[[Maesteg]]
|Won
|8–3
|-
|[[#Mother Country|Match 17]] ('A' team)
|5 April
|Mother Country<sup>1</sup>
|[[Edinburgh]]
|Won
|6–3
|-
|[[#Abertillery|Match 18]] ('B' team)
|5 April
|[[Abertillery RFC|Abertillery]]
|[[Abertillery]]
|Won
|3–0
|-
|[[#Cross Keys|Match 19]] ('B' team)
| 9 April
|[[Cross Keys RFC|Cross Keys]]
|[[Crosskeys]]
|Won
|6–0
|-
|[[#Australian Imperial Forces|Match 20]] ('A' team)
|12 April
|Australian Imperial Forces<sup>1</sup>
|[[Bradford]]
|Lost
|5–6
|-
|[[#Pill Harriers|Match 21]] ('B' Team)
|12 April
|[[Pill Harriers RFC|Pill Harriers]]
|[[Newport, Wales|Newport]]
|Drawn
|0–0
|-
|[[#Ogmore Vale|Match 22]] ('B' Team)
|16 April
|Ogmore Vale
|[[Ogmore Vale]]
|Won
|12–7
|-
|[[#Mother Country - King's Cup Final|Match 23]] ('A' team)
|16 April
|Mother Country – King's Cup Final<sup>1</sup>
|[[Twickenham Stadium|Twickenham]]
|Won
|9–3
|-
|[[#French Army|Match 24]] ('A' team)
|19 April
|French Army
|[[Twickenham Stadium|Twickenham]]
|Won
|20–3
|-
|[[#Neath|Match 25]] ('B' team)
|19 April
|[[Neath RFC|Neath]]
|[[Neath]]
|Won
|10–3
|-style="background:#ffe0e0"
|[[#Wales|Match 26]]
|21 April
|[[Wales national rugby union team|Wales]]
|[[Cardiff Arms Park|Cardiff]]
|Won
|6–3
|-
|[[#Abergavenny|Match 27]]
|
|[[Abergavenny RFC|Abergavenny]]
|[[Abergavenny]]
|Won
|20–0
|-
|[[#Ebbw Vale|Match 28]]
|
|[[Ebbw Vale RFC|Ebbw Vale]]
|[[Ebbw Vale]]
|Won
|28–0
|-
|[[#Coventry|Match 29]]
|
|[[Coventry R.F.C.|Coventry]]
|[[Coventry]]
|Won
|7–0
|-
|[[#Queen's University|Match 30]]
|
|[[Queen's University RFC|Queen's University]]
|[[Belfast]]
|Won
|18–0
|-
|[[#United Services - 2nd Match|Match 31]]
|
|United Services
|[[Salisbury]]
|Won
|20–7
|-
|[[#Devon|Match 32]]
|
|Devon
|[[Torquay]]
|Won
|14–0
|-
|[[#Tredegar|Match 33]]
|
|[[Tredegar RFC|Tredegar]]
|[[Tredegar]]
|Won
|8–0
|-
|[[#Monmouthshire - 2nd Match|Match 34]]
|5 May
|[[Monmouthshire County RFC|Monmouthshire]]
|[[Ebbw Vale]]
|Lost
|3–4
|-
|[[#French XV|Match 35]]
|
|French XV
|Paris
|Won
|16–10
|-
|[[#Selection Francais - 1 March|Match 36]]
|
|Selection Francais
|[[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]]
|Won
|16–6
|-
|[[#Selection Francais - 2 March|Match 37]]
|
|Selection Francais
|[[Toulouse]]
|Won
|16–6
|-
|[[#Northern Command|Match 38]]
|
|Northern Command
|[[Headingley]]
|Won
|33–0
|}
<sup>1</sup> The matches that made up the King's Cup competition.
==New Zealand Army in Wales==
During the First World War, the ban on players who had switched to play professional [[rugby league]] from playing rugby union was lifted. This allowed players from both codes to play in services teams without threat of action. With the war over, the [[Welsh Rugby Union]] immediately sought to re-establish the amateur rules, and were suspicious that several of the New Zealand team had played professional rugby before the war and now wanted a guarantee that all the New Zealanders were amateurs.<ref name="Billot47">Billot (1972), pg 47.</ref> This view led one irate British Service officer to comment, "As if it matters a damn whether they are amateurs or professionals when they have come to this country to fight and die for us."<ref name="Billot47"/> The WRU, realising that they had misjudged public sentiment towards the Services teams, quickly dropped their complaint and did not raise the issue again.<ref name="Billot47"/>
===Wales===
{{rugbybox
|date = 21 April 1919
|home = {{flagicon|WAL}} [[Wales national rugby union team|Wales]]
|score = 3–6
|away = {{flagicon|NZL}} New Zealand Army
|homescore = '''Pen:''' [[Jerry Shea|Shea]]
|awayscore = '''Pen:''' Stohr (2)
|stadium = [[Cardiff Arms Park]]
|attendance =
|referee = R Charman {{flagicon|ENG}}(England) }}
<small>'''Wales:''' [[Ianto Davies]] ([[Maesteg RFC|Maesteg]]), [[Jerry Shea]] ([[Pill Harriers RFC|Pill Harriers]]), [[Melbourne Thomas]] ([[Bridgend Ravens|Bridgend]]), [[Evan Rees (rugby)|Evan Rees]] ([[Swansea RFC|Swansea]]), [[Trevor Nicholas]] ([[Cardiff RFC|Cardiff]]). [[Walter Martin (rugby player)|Walter Martin]] ([[Newport RFC|Newport]]), [[Ike Fowler]] ([[Llanelli RFC|Llanelli]]), [[Glyn Stephens]] ([[Neath RFC|Neath]]) '''capt.''', [[Jim Jones (rugby union)|Jim Jones]] ([[Aberavon RFC|Aberavon]]), [[William Havard]] ([[Llanelli RFC|Llanelli]]), [[Gwyn Francis]] ([[Llanelli RFC|Llanelli]]), [[Jack Whitfield]] ([[Pill Harriers RFC|Pill Harriers]]), [[Aaron Rees]] ([[Swansea RFC|Swansea]]), [[Bill Morris (rugby union, born 1894)|Bill Morris]] ([[Abertillery RFC|Abertillery]]), [[Tom Parker (rugby player)|Tom Parker]] ([[Swansea RFC|Swansea]])</small><br/>
<small>'''New Zealand Army:''' C Capper, W Ford, L Stohr, P Storey, J Ryan '''capt.''', W Fea, C Brown, M Cain, E Hassell, J Kissick, J Moffitt, A Wilson, A West, A Singe, R Fogarty</small>
==The King's Cup==
The King's Cup was contested by six teams. The New Zealand Army, the British Army (known during the competition as the Mother Country), Australian Imperial Forces, Canadian Expeditionary Forces, South African Forces and the RAF.
The competition, sometimes referred to as the 'Inter-Services and Dominions Rugby Championship',<ref>[https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Fran-t1-body1-d17-d7.html New Zealand Rifle Brigade]</ref> consisted of a small league, whereby each of the teams played each other over a period of weeks. Once the teams had played each encounter, the two sides with the most wins would face each other for the right to play for the King's Cup at Twickenham. The winner of the final was then invited to play the French Army team, again at Twickenham. The matches were played in varying locations around Britain.
The New Zealand Army 'A' team's first encounter was with the RAF played at [[Swansea]] in Wales; New Zealand won 22–3. This was followed by another victory, this time against the Canadian Force at [[Portsmouth]] in England. After beating the South African Forces team at Twickenham, New Zealand travelled to [[Edinburgh]] in Scotland to play the 'Mother Country', the British Army team. This was the closest encounter to date, with New Zealand winning 6–3. With four wins from four encounters, New Zealand had already secured their place in the final, but then lost the final match of the round against Australia at Bradford. This was the first loss of the tour for the New Zealand Army, for either the A or B team.
The final in London was between New Zealand and the 'Mother Country' team. James Ryan led his team to a 9–3 victory, earning the right to Face the French Army three days later. After the win over France, Ryan was award the King's Cup, presented by King George V. With the King's Cup Championship over, the 'A' team returned to Wales to rejoin the rest of the squad ready to face the Wales team at Swansea.
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Billot |first=John |title=All Blacks in Wales |year=1972 |publisher=Ron Jones Publications |location=Ferndale }}
* {{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Gareth |title=The Scarlets: A History of Llanelli Rugby Club |year=1986 |publisher=Llanelli Borough Council |location= Llanelli|isbn=0-906821-05-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=David |author2=Williams, Gareth  |title=Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union |year=1980 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=0-7083-0766-3}}
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{cite news| last = Trouillard | first = Stéphanie | url = http://www.france24.com/en/20150916-forgotten-story-first-ever-rugby-world-cup-kings-cup-first-world-war | title = The forgotten story of the first-ever rugby 'World Cup' | date = 19 September 2015 | access-date = 7 January 2016 | publisher = France24 }}
* {{cite web | last = Akers | first = Clive | url = http://ww100.govt.nz/a-wartime-world-cup | title = A Wartime World Cup | publisher = ww100.govt.nz | date = 14 September 2016 | access-date = 7 January 2016}}
[[Category:New Zealand Army]]
[[Category:1919 rugby union tours|New Zealand Army]]
[[Category:1919 in New Zealand rugby union|tour]]
[[Category:1918–19 in English rugby union|tour]]
[[Category:1918–19 in Welsh rugby union|tour]]
[[Category:1918–19 in Scottish rugby union|tour]]
[[Category:1918–19 in French rugby union|tour]]
[[Category:Military sports clubs and teams]]