The 1938 British Isles tour to South Africa was the fourteenth tour by a

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

team and the sixth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950. The tour party was led by Ireland's Sam Walker and managed by Col. Hartley, and took in 24 matches. Of the 24 games, 19 were against club or invitational teams, three were test matches against the South African national team and the other two games were outside South Africa against

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. The British Isles lost two and won one of the test matches, and in the non-test games lost five and won sixteen. Like many of the early Lions parties, the tour did not represent the best of British and Irish rugby talent. Obvious omissions included

Wilf Wooller Wilfred Wooller (20 November 1912 – 10 March 1997) was a Welsh cricketer, rugby union footballer, cricket administrator and journalist. He was acclaimed as one of the greatest all-round sportsmen that Wales has ever produced. He captained G ...

and Cliff Jones.

Touring party

*Manager: Col. Bernard Charles Hartley

Full Backs

Vivian Jenkins Vivian Gordon James "Viv" Jenkins (2 November 1911 – 5 January 2004) was a Welsh rugby union player who, having taught Classics and Games at Dover College, went on to have a successful career as a sports journalist. He won 14 caps for Wales an ...

(

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

) * Charles Frederick Grieve (

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and )

Three-Quarters

* Jim Unwin ( Rosslyn Park) * Bill Clement (

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

) *

Elvet Jones Elfed Lewis "Elvet" Jones MBE (29 April 1912 – 5 October 1989) was a Welsh rugby union whose international career was curtailed due to the outbreak of the Second World War. He played club rugby for Llanelli, and in 1938 he was selected to tour ...

(

) * Charles Vesey Boyle (

Dublin University The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

) * Roy Leyland ( Waterloo) * D.J. Macrae ( St. Andrew's University) * Harry McKibbin (

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

) * Basil Ellard Nicholson (Old Whitgiftians)

Half backs

* Frank Jeffrey "Jeff" Reynolds (Old Cranleighans) * George Ernest Cromey (

) * James "Jimmy" Leonard Giles (

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

) *

Haydn Tanner Haydn Tanner (9 January 1917 – 5 June 2009) was a Wales, Welsh international rugby union player who represented both Wales national rugby union team, Wales and the British and Irish Lions. At club level he played for several top-flight teams, i ...

(

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

) * George J Morgan ( Clontarf)

Forwards

* Sam Walker (

Instonians Instonians is a sports club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that incorporates rugby union, men's and ladies' hockey and cricket sections. There is also a golf society that plays under the Instonians name. Instonians Rugby Football, Cricke ...

) ''(captain)'' * Eddie Morgan (

) * William Gordon Howard (Old Birkonians) * William 'Bunner' Travers ( Newport) * Charles Robert "Bob" Arthur Graves ( Wanderers) * Paddy Mayne ( Queen's University) * Gerald "Beef" Thomas Dancer (

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

) * S.R. Couchman (Old Cranleighans) * A.G. Purchas (

) * J.A. Waters ( Selkirk) * P.L. Duff (

Glasgow Academicals The Glasgow Academical Football Club is the third oldest rugby football club in Scotland. The club was also a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (the future SRU) in 1873. History Glasgow Hawks In 1997 the decision was made to ...

) * Ivor Williams (

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

) * Russell Taylor ( Cross Keys) * Robert Alexander ( North of Ireland)

Match summary

Complete list of matches played by the British Isles in South Africa:British & Irish Lions results
on Rugby Football HistoryEarly Lions: Squads and results (1888–1938)
on BBC Sport, 18 May 2005 Test matches South africa v british lions

Test details

First Test

South Africa: G.H Brand, F.G Turner, G.P Lochner, P de Wet, D.O Williams, T.A Harris, D.H Craven (Captain), S.C Louw, J.W Lotz, M.M Louw, B.A du Toit, W.F Bergh, A.R Sherriff, W.E Bastard, L.C Strachan
British Isles: V..G.J Jenkins, E.J Unwin, D.J Macrae, H.R McKibbon, E.L Jones, F.J Reynolds, J.L Giles, M.E Morgan, C.R.A Graves, G.T Dancer, S Walker (Captain), R.B Mayne, R. Alexander, W.G Howard, A.R

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1938 British Lions Tour To South Africa British Lions tour British & Irish Lions tours of South Africa Rugby union tours of Zimbabwe 1938 in South African rugby union 1937–38 in British rugby union 1938 in Irish sport