British Lions v The Rest was a 1986

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 that saw the British Lions play against '

The Rest ''The Rest'' is a compilation album released by the Scottish band Deacon Blue in October 2012. It is part of the band's catalogue reissue program. ''The Rest'', as the title implies, contains tracks that were not necessarily associated with t ...

' to celebrate the centenary of the

International Rugby Football 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 ...

. The Rest consisted of players from Australia, France, New Zealand and South Africa. At the time, there were only eight unions affiliated to the Board, thus only players from those countries were chosen. The Rest beat the Lions 15–7 in April 1986 in the match played at

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 ...

British Lions selection

The Lions team was selected by the Four Home Unions committee which organises Lions tours. The Lions would have toured South Africa in 1986 if the regular schedule had been followed, but in December 1985 the

South African Rugby Board The South African Rugby Board was the rugby union governing body of white South Africans between 1889 and 1992. The governing of white and coloured rugby union was handled separately during South Africa under Apartheid. On the 23 March 1992 the no ...

announced they would not be inviting the Lions side to tour South Africa the following year. Political objections to South Africa's

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 ...

policies including a potential boycott of the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

and state of emergency in South Africa at the time lay behind this decision. The Lions squad was managed by

Clive Rowlands Clive Rowlands OBE (born 14 May 1938) is a former Welsh rugby union footballer and later coach. Rowlands was born in Upper Cwmtwrch. As recorded in the preface for the book 'The Children of Craig-Y-Nos', Rowlands was admitted in 1947, as an ...

and coached by Mick Doyle. The 21 players selected were issued with Lions' blazers and ties and considered to be official British Lions.

The match

The match was a midweek game in

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 ...

. The wet weather marred the game, in marked contrast to the Overseas Unions match three days later played in ideal conditions at Twickenham.Scrum.com match summary
/ref> British Lions:

Gavin Hastings Andrew Gavin Hastings, (born 3 January 1962) is a Scottish former rugby union player. A fullback, he is widely regarded to be one of the best ever Scottish rugby players and was one of the outstanding players of his generation, winning 61 c ...

();

Trevor Ringland Trevor Maxwell Ringland, (born 13 November 1959) is a Northern Irish solicitor, former rugby union player and politician. From June 2013 to July 2014, he served as Co-Chairman of the NI Conservatives. After attending Larne Grammar School, he rea ...

(),

Brendan Mullin Brendan John Mullin (born Jerusalem, 31 October 1963) is a former Ireland international rugby union football player. He played as a centre. Profile Mullin spent his early life in Jerusalem, Israel and attended secondary school in Blackrock Col ...

(), John Devereux (),

Rory Underwood Rory Underwood, (born 19 June 1963) is an English former rugby union player, he is 's record international try scorer with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996. Underwood's principal position was wing and he played 236 games for ...

(); John Rutherford (), Robert Jones (); Jeff Whitefoot (),

Colin Deans Colin Thomas Deans (born 3 May 1955) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career He was born in Hawick in the Scottish borders. He played for Hawick Trades and then Hawick.Bath, p133 His nickname w ...

() (captain),

Des Fitzgerald Desmond Fitzgerald (born 20 December 1957 in Dublin) is a former Irish rugby union international player who played for the Irish national rugby union team. He played as a prop forward. He played for the Ireland team from 1984 to 1992, winning 34 ...

(),

Wade Dooley Wade Dooley (born 2 October 1957) is a former England rugby union international who played lock forward. He played for his country 55 times and was known as the "Blackpool Tower", as a result of being 6 feet 8 inches tall and a police officer ...

(),

Donal Lenihan Donal Gerard Lenihan (born 12 September 1959) is a retired Irish rugby union player. He appears regularly as a co-commentator on TV and radio for rugby matches and writes for the Irish Examiner. He also works as a financial consultant in Cork. ...

(),

John Jeffrey John Jeffrey (born 25 March 1959 in Kelso in the Scottish Borders) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He is an administrator for World Rugby. Rugby Union career Amateur career Jeffrey was educated at St. Mary's Schoo ...

(), John Beattie (),

Nigel Carr Nigel Carr (born 27 July 1959) was an Ireland rugby union international whose promising career was cut short due to injuries sustained in an IRA bomb explosion. Early life Nigel John Carr was born in Belfast on 27 July 1959. He won Irish U-23 ...

() Replacements

Iain Paxton Iain Angus McLeod Paxton (born 29 December 1957) is a Scottish former rugby union player. He won 36 caps for Scotland at number eight and lock between 1981 and 1988, scoring a total of five tries.Bath, p153 He also won four caps for the Brit ...

() for Dooley;

Malcolm Dacey Malcolm Dacey (born 12 July 1960 in Swansea) is a former Wales international rugby union player who attained 15 international caps. An outside-half, he played club rugby for Swansea RFC. Dacey made an appearance for the British & Irish Lions, co ...

() for Rutherford The Rest:

Serge Blanco Serge Blanco (born 31 August 1958) is a former rugby union footballer who played fullback for Biarritz Olympique and the French national side, gaining 93 caps, 81 of them at fullback. His alternative position was wing. He was generally nicknamed ...

();

Patrick Estève Patrick Estève (born Lavelanet, 14 February 1959) is a former French rugby union player and a current coach. He played as wing. He was nicknamed ''TGV''. He first played at Carcassonne, which he joined in 1964, aged only 5 years old, and would joi ...

(),

Andrew Slack Andrew Gerard Slack (born 24 September 1955 in Brisbane) is an Australian former state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in 19 Test matches in between 1984 and 1987. His 133 appearances for Queensland bet ...

() (captain),

Michael Lynagh Michael Patrick Thomas Lynagh, AM (born 25 October 1963) is an Australian former rugby union player who played mainly as a fly-half. Lynagh represented Australia from 1984 to 1995, playing at both inside centre and fly half. Lynagh was capped ...

(),

John Kirwan (rugby) Sir John James Patrick Kirwan (born 16 December 1964) is a New Zealand mental health advocate, former rugby union and rugby league player, and former rugby union coach. A wing, he played for Auckland in the 1980s and 1990s, when they dominate ...

(); Wayne Smith (),

Nick Farr-Jones Nicholas Campbell Farr-Jones AM (born 18 April 1962) is a former Australian rugby union footballer. His position was scrum-half. He is probably best remembered for winning the 1991 Rugby World Cup with his team against England. He now works at ...

(); Enrique Rodriguez (),

Tom Lawton Thomas Anthony Lawton (born Darwin, 1 November 1962) is a former Australian rugby union player. He played as a hooker. Career Lawton comes from a known rugby union family: his grandfather, Tom Lawton, Snr was an important medic and, during his ...

(), Gary Knight (), Steve Cutler (),

Schalk Burger Schalk Willem Petrus Burger Jr. (born 13 April 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a flanker for Saracens in the English Premiership and has won 86 caps for South Africa. He was a member of the 2007 Ru ...

(), Mark Shaw (),

Murray Mexted Murray Graham Mexted (born 5 September 1953) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played 34 consecutive tests for the All Blacks from 1979 to 1985. He also played 38 non-test games including 7 as captain. During his time with the All B ...

(),

Simon Poidevin Simon Paul Poidevin (born 31 October 1958) is a former Australian rugby union player. Poidevin made his Test debut for Australia against Fiji during the 1980 tour of Fiji. He was a member of the Wallabies side that defeated New Zealand 2–1 ...

()

References

* {{British and Irish Lions 1986 British & Irish Lions matches Rugby union and apartheid 1985–86 in British rugby union 1985–86 in French rugby union 1986 in Australian rugby union 1986 in New Zealand rugby union 1986 in South African rugby union April 1986 sports events in the United Kingdom

British Lions selection

The match

See also

References