The 1974 New Zealand rugby union tour of Ireland, Wales and England was a series of eight matches played by the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

(the All Blacks) in November 1974. The tour formed part of the celebrations of the centenary of the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) ( ga, Cumann Rugbaí na hÉireann) is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ...

and six of the eight matches were played in Ireland, culminating in the international against the

Ireland national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Champi ...

. The tourists then moved to

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 ...

to play a team designated 'A Welsh XV' but which was in fact a full-strength

team. Although neither Wales nor New Zealand awarded caps for the match it was a full international in all but name and attracted a crowd of 50,000 to

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

for a midweek afternoon match. The final fixture was against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

who selected the entire pack of forwards who had played in the test matches on that year's

1974 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1974, the British & Irish Lions toured South Africa, with matches in South West Africa and Rhodesia. Under the leadership of Willie John McBride, the Lions went through the tour undefeated, winning 21 of their 22 matches and being held to a ...

.Rothmans p41 The Barbarians held the All Blacks to a 13–13 draw and prevented them from completing a clean sweep by winning all eight matches on tour. This was the first time that the All Blacks had undertaken a short tour to Europe. On each of the seven previous All Black tours the tourists had played at least fifteen fixtures and at least four full international matches.

Matches

:''Scores and results list New Zealand's points tally first.''

References

* http://stats.allblacks.com/asp/tourbreak.asp?IDID=71

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:New Zealand 1974 rugby union tours

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

1974 in New Zealand rugby union 1974–75 in Irish rugby union 1974–75 in English rugby union 1974–75 in Welsh rugby union 1974–75 in European rugby union