In 1949,

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 ...

played a

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 ...

match against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

(colloquially known as the All Blacks) as a part of the

1949 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa 1949 saw the second full tour of South Africa by a representative New Zealand rugby union team (the All Blacks, New Zealand national rugby union team). The All Blacks achieved a record of 13 wins, 7 losses and 4 draws, and they lost the test se ...

. The match was played on 27 July 1949 at Hartsfield Rugby Ground in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

. The final result was Rhodesia 10–8 New Zealand. As of 2019, this is the only time the All Blacks have been beaten by a non-Test nation and makes Rhodesia one of only eight countries to have won against the All Blacks.

Background

Rugby in

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and Southern Rhodesia was governed on an all-Rhodesia basis by the Rhodesia RFU but they were treated as a province of South Africa for rugby reasons and their players were eligible for selection by the South African team. In 1949, the All Blacks visited Rhodesia as a part of their tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The New Zealand team's management for the tour had been troubled due to sailing to South Africa on a ship with little space to train, the team not bringing any

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

players due to South Africa's recently introduced

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

laws and the fact there was no formal tour coach. The team also travelled with only ten capped players and were led by

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program ''The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and for ...

. As a result of no Māori players, the All Blacks did not perform their traditional

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

before any match in protest with manager Jim Parker explaining "The war cry is a creation of the Māoris and as we have no Māoris with us we are not giving the war cry."

Match

The match was played at Hartsfield rugby ground in front of 10,000 spectators. In the first half, Rhodesia opened the scoring with a try from J.A. Brink after a

grubber kick The grubber kick is a type of kick in various codes of football with an oval ball which results in the ball moving erratically along the ground. The point of the grubber is to make the ball roll and tumble across the ground, making it hard for the ...

into the All Blacks' in-goal area, which was converted by Ed Karg. In the second half, Rhodesia scored another try by John Morkel stealing the ball from the New Zealand fullback Jack Goddard and passing it to Claude Jones for the second try which Karg also converted. The All Blacks responded with a try from Eric Boggs, which was converted by Goddard. They then scored another try from scrum half Bill Conrad which Goddard was unable to convert. Rhodesia then continued with attacking tactics and held out for a 10–8 victory.

Details

Aftermath

After the match,

John Morkel John Clother Morkel (22 August 1928 – 4 July 2010) was a South African-born Rhodesian international rugby union player. He was born in Cape Town, Union of South Africa and was the captain of the Rhodesia national rugby union team and played as ...

was carried off on the shoulders of the crowd and stated "It is not often Rhodesia does a thing like this". Allen accepted defeat graciously stating "So far as Rhodesia's win was concerned, they deserved every bit of it and I can tell you that we shall be flat out to reciprocate on Saturday". Rhodesian folklore later ascribed the victory to the mythical "Shangani Mermaids" who supposedly made it harder for visiting rugby teams once they had crossed the

Shangani River The Shangani is a river in Zimbabwe that starts near Gweru, Gweru River being one of its main tributaries' and goes through Midlands and Matabeleland North provinces. It empties into the Gwayi River. The Shangani River was the site of the 4 D ...

. The teams met three days later in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

for a second game, which resulted in a 3–3 draw. On the way back to South Africa after the Rhodesian games, the All Blacks' train crashed into another train, killing one local Rhodesian railway worker and injuring one All Black. The All Blacks went on to lose the South Africa Test series 4–0 and Rhodesia scored two of the seven tries the All Blacks conceded through the whole tour. Rhodesia never won another game against a touring side before being reconstituted as

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

in 1980.

References

{{Reflist 1949 in rugby union New Zealand national rugby union team matches Zimbabwe national rugby union team 1949 in Southern Rhodesia July 1949 sports events in Africa