1976 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand and Fiji. 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 ...

toured

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 ...

and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

for the first time in 1976. Although Ireland had first played the

All Blacks 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 ...

in 1905, this tour saw Ireland play them away for the first time. However, the tour is probably best remembered for the final game against Fiji. A tired Ireland team arrived in Fiji only to discover that, as a result of a scheduling mistake, the senior Fiji team were actually on tour in Australia. The

Fiji Rugby Union Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA), along with Samoa and Tonga. There are a ...

managed to bring together a small group of first-team players and stand-ins. The official attendance was 12,000, but Fijian newspapers reported closer to 17,000, with many locals packed into tight surroundings. The try-line was exceptionally close to the deadball-line, with Tony Ensor at one point running over both the try-line and deadball-line. As well as playing in extremely hot weather, the teams also had to deal with a pitch invasion by dozens of frogs. Despite Ireland's inexperience with such conditions, they ran out winners, 0–8. ''The Ireland Rugby Miscellany'' (2007): Ciaran Cronin Mike Gibson, Willie Duggan,

Philip Orr Philip Andrew Orr (born 14 December 1950) is a former Irish international and British and Irish Lions Rugby Union loosehead prop. Orr was born in Dublin. Educated at The High School, Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, he played for Old Wesley ...

and

Moss Keane Maurice Ignatius "Moss" Keane (27 July 1948 – 5 October 2010) was a Gaelic footballer and a rugby union footballer who played for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. Life and career Born at Currow in County Kerry, Keane started out as a ...

all returned to New Zealand with the British Lions for their 1977 tour.

Matches

:''Scores and results list Ireland's points tally first.''

Touring party

*Manager: K. Quilligan *Assistant Manager:

Roly Meates T. W. Roland "Roly" Meates (1937/1938 – 5 July 2023) was an Ireland national rugby union team coach and chairman of the Irish Rugby Football Union board of selectors. Roly Meates studied dentistry at Trinity College Dublin, where he played as a ...

*Medical Officer: T.C.J. O’Connell *Captain: Tom Grace

Backs

Forwards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1976 Ireland Rugby Union Tour Of New Zealand And Fiji Ireland national rugby union team tours of New Zealand Rugby union tours of Fiji Ireland tour Ireland tour 1976 in Fijian rugby union

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 ...

Matches

Touring party

Backs

Forwards

See also

References