1908 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia


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.'
Regarding the Lions uniform, 1908 brought a change of format and a change of colours. With the Scottish and Irish unions declining to be involved, red jerseys with a thick white band reflected the combination of England and Wales. Shorts were dark blue with red socks.

Touring party

Complete list of matches played by the British Isles in New Zealand and Australia:
Test matches
, 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
#DateRivalCityCountryResultScore
123 MayWairarapaMastertonNew ZealandWon17–3
227 MayWellingtonWellingtonNew ZealandLost13–19
330 MayOtagoDunedinNew ZealandLost6–9
43 JuneSouthlandInvercargillNew ZealandWon14–8
[|5]6 JuneDunedinNew ZealandLost5–32
6[|10] JuneSouth CanterburyTimaruNew ZealandWon12–6
713 JuneCanterburyChristchurchNew ZealandLost8–13
817 JuneWest Coast/BullerGreymouthNew ZealandWon22–3
920 JuneNelson Bays/MarlboroughNelsonNew ZealandWon12–0
1027 JuneWellingtonNew ZealandDrew3–3
111 JulyHawke's BayNapierNew ZealandWon25–3
124 JulyPoverty BayGisborneNew ZealandWon26–0
138 JulyManawatu/HorowhenuaPalmerston NorthNew ZealandWon12–3
1411 JulyWanganuiWanganuiNew ZealandWon9–6
1515 JulyTaranakiNew PlymouthNew ZealandLost0–5
1618 JulyAucklandAucklandNew ZealandLost0–11
1725 JulyAucklandNew ZealandLost0–29
185 AugustNSW WaratahsSydneyAustraliaWon3–0
198 AugustNSW WaratahsSydneyAustraliaWon8–0
2012 AugustWestern DistrictsOrangeAustraliaLost10–15
2115 AugustMetropolitanSydneyAustraliaWon16–13
2219 AugustNewcastleNewcastleAustraliaWon42–0
2322 AugustNSW WaratahsSydneyAustraliaLost3–6
2426 AugustQueensland RedsBrisbaneAustraliaWon20–3
2529 AugustQueensland RedsBrisbaneAustraliaWon11–8
262 SeptemberBrisbaneBrisbaneAustraliaWon26–3

Played inPlWDLPsPc
New Zealand17917184153
Australia970213948
Total261619323201

Test details

First Test

Team details-

Second Test

Team details-

Third Test

Team details-

OWIKI.org. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.