The South African Country Districts XV was an invitational
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 ...
side selected to play against touring international teams. In one of its first guises, the Districts side lost 32–12 against the touring
British Isles' Barbarians at Potchefstroom, on 24 May 1969. Barbarians' touring party included eight future or former
British and Irish Lions with the likes of Mike Gibson, Sandy Arneil, Bob Taylor, John Pullin and John O'Shea having toured the Republic in 1968.
In 1978 and 1980 the team was multi-racial in composition. The Districts' multi-racial predecessor was the South African Invitation XV which on 7 June 1975 beat the French at
Newlands
Newlands may refer to:
Places Australia
* Newlands, Queensland, a locality in the Whitsunday Region
New Zealand
* Newlands, Wellington, a suburb of Wellington
South Africa
* Newlands, Cape Town, a suburb of Cape Town
* Newlands, Johannesbur ...
in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
by 18 points to 3.
In August 1978 the Country Districts XV played the touring
American Cougars at the
Border Rugby Union Grounds in
East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
before 5,500 spectators, winning 44-12.
As one of four games played prior to the Currie Cup final of 1979, a Country Districts XV defeated the multi racial
South African Barbarians side (shorn of its WP forward contingent) 29-13 in Cape Town prior to their departure on their UK tour in October.
1980 Match v Lions
On Wednesday 4 June 1980 the South African Country Districts XV team lost 7-27 at
Windhoek
Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...
's South-West Stadium to the
Lions
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...
on
their tour of South Africa. A crowd of 9,000 saw replacement
Charles Williams score a try and
fly-half Errol Tobias
Errol George Tobias (born 18 March 1950) is a former South African rugby union footballer, and the first player of colour to play in a test match for the South African national side. He gained six caps between 1981 and 1984 when the country was ...
add a penalty to complete the Districts' score.
Jim Renwick,
Gareth Williams,
Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lions ...
and
Colm Tucker
Colm Tucker (22 September 1952 – 11 January 2012) was an international rugby union player. He toured South Africa in 1980 with the British Lions during a period when at club level he was representing Shannon RFC
Shannon Rugby Football ...
scored a try each for the visitors, while
Gareth Davies added 11 points through a conversion and three penalties.
Lineups:
On 26 May 1981 a Country Districts B XV recorded a 17-16 victory in Wellington against the touring Irish side whilst the following year they were defeated 33-24 by the second South American Jaguars touring side.
The Country Districts side played against both the 1984 touring English and South American Jaguar sides. The team was drawn from players competing in the Sport Pienaar Cup, losing both fixtures 33-12 and 30-18 respectively.
See also
*
1980 British Lions tour to South Africa
In 1980 the British and Irish Lions rugby union team toured South Africa (including one game in Windhoek, South West Africa, the future Namibia). The tour was not a success for the Lions, as they lost the first three tests before salvaging some ...
References
{{reflist, 2
South African rugby union teams