The 1936 British Lions tour of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

was a series of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

matches arranged between the British Lions and various Argentine teams. The tourists played ten matches, nine of which were against club and combined teams while one match took in a full Argentina national team. Despite being sanctioned by the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

, no caps were awarded to players from either side. This was the third and final international tour to South America by a combined British team, and although classed as the British Lions, it was predominantly English, with a handful of Scottish and Irish players. The Lions won all the games played, scoring 399 points and conceding only 12.

Background

By 1936 Argentine rugby was in expansion and growth. Four years earlier, the

Junior Springboks The South Africa national under-20 rugby union team (nicknamed the Junior Boks or the Baby Boks) are South Africa's junior team at national level. They have been competing in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship (formerly the IRB Junior World Cha ...

had visited the country to play several matches. In 1933 two South African players, Wollie Wolheim and Rybeck Elliot returned to Argentina to play for local team Hindú, which was considered by the Argentine Union as a sort of professionalism and Hindú was suspended for one season. Lions (tercer viaje olvidado)
by Ricardo Sabanes on Periodismo Rugby website, 1 Jun 2017 In 1935 eleven players of San Isidro (the most important rugby team of Argentina by then) were suspended by the club executives. The banned players organised some friendly matches under the name "Abelleyra XV" until they established a new institution,

San Isidro Club San Isidro Club (mostly known for its acronym SIC) is an Argentine sports club based in the Boulogne Sur Mer district of Greater Buenos Aires. The club has gained recognition due to its rugby union team, being one of the most successful clubs o ...

. The last Lions tour to Argentina came when former player Douglas Prentice, who had led the team during their tour to New Zealand an Australia in 1930 and was the current manager, arrived with twenty-three players. No Welsh players were part of the team despite

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

had won the

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

that year. The British played only one test v.

at Gimnasia y Esgrima, with a record attendance of 15,000, on August 16th. The Lions won by 23–0. The Argentine line-up for that game was Héctor Alfonso; R. Elliot, Herbert Talbot, Horacio Pascuali, Emilio Schiavio; Percy Talbot, N.W. Cooper; Jorge Cilley, Gilbert Logan, José Frigoli; J.L. Francombe (cap), Tomás Salzman; Bernardo Mitchelstein, Víctor Inchausti, Archie Cameron. Belgrano was the only team to score a

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against The Lions, when the visiting team won by 37–3.

Touring party

Doug Prentice Frank Douglas Prentice (21 September 1898 – 3 October 1962) was an English rugby union player and administrator who played 239 games for Leicester Tigers between 1923 and 1931, was captain of the 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Aus ...

(

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

), Manager * Dr.

Hugh Llewellyn Glyn Hughes thumb Brigadier Hugh Llewellyn Glyn Hughes, (25 July 1892 – 24 November 1973) was a British military officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps and later medical administrator, educationalist and sports administrator. Hughes served in both the Fi ...

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), Referee

Players

Bernard Gadney Bernard Cecil Gadney (16 July 1909 – 15 November 2000) was an English rugby union footballer who played as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers, England and the British Lions. Gadney won 14 England caps between 1932 and 1938 and was captain ...

(

) Captain * Charles Beamish (

) *John Alfred Brett (

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) *Vesey Boyle (

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). *

John Gordon A'Bear John A'Bear (16 July 1913 – 3 October 1979) was an English rugby union player. He played club rugby for Gloucester and was their youngest captain. Although he never won a cap for England, he did tour Argentina with the British Isles team ...

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Owen Chadwick William Owen Chadwick (20 May 1916 – 17 July 2015) was a British Anglican priest, academic, rugby international,Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

) *Paul Cooke (

) *Philip Edward Dunkley ("Pop Dunkley", Harlequins) *George Edward Hancock (

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) *Peter George Hobbs (

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) *P. C. Hordern (

) *Thomas Frederick Huskisson ( Old Merchant Taylors) *Tom Knowles (

) * J. S. Moll (

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) *

Alexander Obolensky Prince Alexander Sergeevich Obolensky KStJ (russian: Александр Серге́евич Оболенский; 17 February 1916 – 29 March 1940) was a Rurikid prince of Russian origin who became a naturalised Briton, having spent most of h ...

(

) *D. E. Pratten (

) *Robin Prescott ( Harlequins) *

Wilson Shaw Robert Wilson Shaw CBE (11 April 1913 – 23 July 1979) was a Scottish rugby union footballer who played for Scotland in 19 tests between 1934 and 1939.Bath, p158 Rugby Union career Amateur career Shaw played club for Glasgow HSFP and could ...

(Glasgow High School) *John Tallent (

) *Harold John Uren ( Waterloo) * Jim Unwin ( Rosslyn Park) * Jock Waters ( Selkirk) *William Henry Weston (

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) ;Notes

Match summary

Complete list of matches played by the British Isles in Argentina:British & Irish Lions results
on Rugby Football HistoryEarly Lions: Squads and results (1888–1938)
on BBC Sport, 18 May 2005
/ref> Test match Lions pumas 1936

Match details

Argentina Test

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1936 British Lions Tour To Argentina British Lions tour of Argentina British & Irish Lions tours Rugby union tours of Argentina

Tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

1935–36 in British rugby union 1936 in Irish sport History of rugby union matches between Argentina and the British & Irish Lions