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1931–32 South Africa rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

Field	Value
team	South Africa
image	Springboks 1931 tour.jpg
caption	The touring squad
yearstart	1931
yearfinish	1932
matchplayed	26
matchwon	23
matchdraw	2
matchlost	1
testplayed	4
testwon	4
testdraw	0
testlost	0
opponent1
played1	1
won1	1
draw1	0
lost1	0
opponent2
played2	1
won2	1
draw2	0
lost2	0
opponent3
played3	1
won3	1
draw3	0
lost3	0
opponent4
played4	1
won4	1
draw4	0
lost4	0

The 1931–32 South Africa tour of Britain and Ireland was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the South Africa national team against the four British Home Nation teams. The tour also took in several matches against British and Irish club, county and invitational teams. This was the fourth South Africa tour and the third tour of the Northern Hemisphere.

The tour was extremely successful for the South Africans, as the team only lost a single match. In the tests played the team beat all four home nations. The only team to beat the Springboks was the invitational East Midlands county team. The final tour record saw 26 matches played, with South Africa winning 23, losing one and drawing two.

Criticism of playing style

Although very successful on the pitch, the touring South Africans were unloved by their hosts and the press back home. Bennie Osler, the South African captain, introduced a style of play which centred on a continual kicking game; either into touch in an attempt to support his large pack or diagonally across the pitch for his wings to chase. This was seen by many critics of the time as 10-man tactics, with the backs taken out of the match, and thus the entertainment brought by previous South African tours removed.

Welsh journalist 'Old Stager' stated "The Africans, by adherence to ten-man rugby, are winning their matches, but are not capturing the hearts and the imagination of rugby followers...". O.L. Owen in his History of the RFU concurred with these thoughts, "The least spectacular and, so far as back play was concerned, the most disappointing of the South African touring sides..."

Results

Date	Opponent	Location	Result	Score
Match 1		Gloucester and Somerset	Bristol	Won
Match 2	8 October	Newport RFC	Rodney Parade, Newport	Won
Match 3	10 October	Swansea RFC	St Helens, Swansea	Won
Match 4	14 October	Abertillery and Cross Keys	Abertillery Park, Abertillery	Won
Match 5		London	Twickenham, London	Won
Match 6		Midland Counties	Villa Park, Birmingham	Won
Match 7		Durham and Northumberland	Roker Park, Sunderland	Won
Match 8	28 October	Glasgow	Anniesland	Won
Match 9	31 October	South of Scotland	Melrose, Scotland	Drawn
Match 10		Cambridge University	Cambridge	Won
Match 11		Combined Services	Twickenham, London	Won
Match 12		Oxford University	Oxford	Won
Match 13	14 November	Leicestershire and East Midlands	Welford Road, Leicester	Lost
Match 14		Devon and Cornwall	Devonport	Drawn
Match 15	21 November	Cardiff	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	Won
Match 16	24 November	Llanelli	Stradey Park, Llanelli	Won
Match 17	28 November	Neath and Aberavon	The Gnoll, Neath	Won
Match 18	5 December		St Helens, Swansea	Won
Match 19		Lancashire and Cheshire	Waterloo	Won
Match 20		Ulster	Ravenhill, Belfast	Won
Match 21	19 December		Dublin	Won
Match 22		London	Twickenham, London	Won
Match 23	2 January 1932		Twickenham, London	Won
Match 24		Cumberland and Yorkshire	Workington	Won
Match 25	9 January 1932	North of Scotland	Aberdeen	Won
Match 26	16 January 1932		Murrayfield, Edinburgh	Won

Touring party

Management

Manager: Theo Pienaar
Captain: Bennie Osler

Full backs

Gerry Brand (Western Province)
Jackie Tindall (Western Province)

Three-quarters

Geoff Gray (Western Province)
Jock van Niekerk (Western Province)
Floors Venter (Transvaal)
Frank Waring (Western Province)
JC van der Westhuizen (Western Province)
JH van der Westhuizen (Western Province)
Jimmy White (Border)
M Zimerman (Western Province)

Half backs

Danie Craven (Western Province)
Murray "Tiny" Francis (Orange Free State)
Bennie Osler (Western Province)
P. de Villiers (Western Province)

Forwards

W.F. Bergh (South Western Districts)
J.N. Bierman (Transvaal)
George Daneel (Transvaal)
John Dold (Eastern Province)
H.M. Forrest (Transvaal)
Manie Geere (Transvaal)
Bert Kipling (Griqualand West)
Matthys "Boy" Louw (Western Province)
S.C. Louw (Western Province)
J.A.J. McDonald (Western Province)
A.J. van der Merwe (Western Province)
P.J. Mostert (Western Province)
Philip Nel ()
L.C. Strachan (Transvaal)
S.R. du Toit (Western Province)

The matches

Newport

SC Louw van der Merwe Osler Pen: Brand

Newport: WA Everson, Jack Morley (capt.), K Richards, JR Edwards, K Watkins, Dicky Ralph, R Tovey, JC Slade, J Hughes, JA Addison, Harry Peacock, R Newton, DA Jones, P Hordern, Sam Danahar

South Africa: GH Brand, M Zimerman, JH van der Westhuizen, JC van der Westhuizen, FW Wearing, BL Osler, P de Villiers, MM Louw, PJ Mostert, SC Louw, JN Bierman, SR du Toit, PJ Nel, AJ van der Merwe, GM Daneel

Swansea

JC van der Westhuizen Con: Brand

Swansea: Iorrie Herbert, Rhys Evans, Jack Rees (capt.), Claude Davey, Jim Dark, Dennis Manley, Idwal Rees, Bryn Evans, Tom Day, Glyn Jones, Gwynfor Lewis, Dai Thomas, Will Davies, Joe White, Edgar Long

South Africa: JC Tindall, JH van der Westhuizen, JC van der Westhuizen (capt.), FW Wearing, GH Brand, MG Francis, DH Craven, MM Louw, HG Kipling, SC Louw, AJ van der Merwe, V Geere, HM Forrest, GM Daneel, JAJ McDonald

Abertillery and Cross Keys

Pen: O'Neill van der Merwe Con: Osler (2)

Abertillery/Cross Keys: Jimmy O'Neill (Abertillery) (capt.), Jim Bird (Abertillery), George Thompson (Cross Keys), Gerald Lewis (Cross Keys), JR Davies (Cross Keys), Syd Watkins (Cross Keys), Albert Hockey (Abertillery), Mel Meek (Abertillery), Lonza Bowdler (Cross Keys), Ken Salmon (Cross Keys), Steve Morris (Cross Keys), Trevor Thomas (Abertillery), Eddie Lloyd (Abertillery), RT Probert (Cross Keys), Albert Fear (Abertillery)

South Africa: JC Tindall, JH van der Westhuizen, BG Gray, J White, M Zimmerman, BL Osler (capt.), DH Craven, PJ Mostert, HG Kipling, SR du Toit, V Geere, PJ Nel, LC Strachan, JB Dold, AJ van der Merwe

Glasgow

Murdoch Con Shaw Scott Pen Scott Louw Venter Con: Brand (3) Pen Brand

Leicestershire and East Midlands

Hardwicke Beamish Buckingham Cons: Weston (4) Pen: Weston Drop Goal: Slow Gray Con: Francis Drop Goal: Francis Leicestershire and East Midlands:Bobby Barr (Leicester); Jeff Hardwicke (Leicester), Ralph Buckingham (Leicester), Charlie Brumwell (Bedford), Len Ashwell (Bedford); Charles Slow (Northampton), Bernard Gadney (Leicester); Henry Greenwood (Leicester), Doug Norman (Leicester), Ray Longland (Northampton), Thomas Harris (Northampton), Anthony Roncoroni (West Herts), Bill Weston (Northampton), George Beamish (Leicester), Eric Coley (Northampton)

South Africa: Tindall; Venter, van der Westhuizen, Gray, Zimmerman; Francis, Craven; Louw, Mostert, du Toit, Nel, Strachan, Bierman, Dold, Daneel

Cardiff

Con: Stone Gray McDonald Con: Brand (2)

Cardiff: Tommy Stone, Ronnie Boon, Graham Jones, Bernard Turnbull, John Roberts, Harry Bowcott (capt.), Maurice Turnbull, Tom Lewis, Don Tarr, Tom Gadd, Archie Skym, Viv Osmond, Colin Ross, Bob Barrell, Iorrie Isaacs

South Africa: GH Brand, M Zimerman, BG Gray, JC van der Westhuizen, DO Williams, BL Osler (capt.), P de Villiers, MM Louw, PJ Mostert, SR du Toit, AJ van der Merwe, WF Bergh, V Geere, JN Bierman, JAJ McDonald

Llanelli

Gray Williams

Llanelli: Bryn Howells, Wattie Lewis, Sid Howells, Tom Evans, Horace Fairhurst, Dai John, Bert Jones, Bryn Evans, Jack Williams, Edgar Jones, Cliff Treharne, Alf Parker, Will Lang, Jim Lang, Ivor Jones (capt.)

South Africa: GH Brand, DO Williams, BG Gray, JH van der Westhuizen, FW Waring, MM Louw (capt.), DH Craven, MG Francis, HG Kipling, V Geere, GM Daneel, PJ Nel, WF Bergh, JN Bierman, LC Strachan

Neath and Aberavon

Con: Osler Pen: Osler

Neath & Aberavon: Phil Lloyd (Neath), Dan Jones (Neath), Glyn Daniels (Neath), Gwyn Moore (Neath), Fred Nicholas (Aberavon), Wilf Selby (Aberavon), Tal Harris (Aberavon), Tom Arthur (Neath), Miah McGrath (Aberavon), Ned Jenkins (Aberavon), Walter Vickery (Aberavon), Gordon Hopkins (Neath), Arthur Lemon (Neath), Cyril Griffiths (Aberavon) (Capt.), Glyn Prosser (Neath)

South Africa: JC Tindall, M Zimerman, J White, JC van der Westhuizen, FD Venter, BL Osler (capt.), DH Craven, SR du Toit, HG Kipling, PJ Mostert, AJ van der Merwe, PJ Nel, WF Bergh, JB Dold, JAJ McDonald

Wales

Bergh Con: Osler

Wales: Jack Bassett (Penarth) (capt.), Jack Morley (Newport), Claude Davey (Swansea), Frank Williams (Cardiff), Ronnie Boon (Cardiff), Dicky Ralph (Newport), Wick Powell (London Welsh), Tom Day (Swansea), Lonza Bowdler, (Cross Keys), Archie Skym (Cardiff), Ned Jenkins (Aberavon), Tom Arthur (Neath), Arthur Lemon (Neath), Watcyn Thomas (Swansea), Will Davies (Swansea)

South Africa: GH Brand, M Zimerman, BG Gray, J White, FD Ventor, DH Craven, PJ Mostert, BL Osler (capt.), HG Kipling, MM Louw, AJ van der Marwe, WF Bergh, PJ Nel, GM Daneel, JAJ McDonald

Ireland

Zimerman Con: Osler

Ireland: Major Egan, Ned Lightfoot, Eugene Davy, Morgan Crowe, Jack Arigho, Laurence McMahon, Paul Murray, Hal Withers, Victor Pike, Jimmy Farrell, Jack Russell, Jack Siggins, Noel Murphy, George Beamish (c), Jammie Clinch

South Africa: Gerry Brand, Morris Zimerman, Franky Waring, C van der Westhuizen, Ponie van der Westhuizen, Bennie Osler (c), Danie Craven, Boy Louw, Bert Kipling, Phil Mostert, Flip Nel, Ferdie Bergh, Nick Bierman, Andre McDonald, George Daneel

England

Drop: Brand

Scotland

Craven

Bibliography

References

Billot (1974), pg 126.
"The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". google.com.
Rowans Rugby Guide. Scottish edition. 1931-32. pub Rowans Ltd. 70 Buchanan St. Glasgow
Rowans Rugby Guide. Scottish edition. 1931-32. pub Rowans Ltd. 70 Buchanan St. Glasgow

Info: Wikipedia Source

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