British Lions v The Rest was a 1986 rugby union 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.

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 announced they would not be inviting the Lions side to tour South Africa the following year. Political objections to South Africa's apartheid 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 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. 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 (); Trevor Ringland (), Brendan Mullin (), John Devereux (), Rory Underwood (); John Rutherford (), Robert Jones (); Jeff Whitefoot (), Colin Deans () (captain), Des Fitzgerald (), Wade Dooley (),

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 () (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) (); Wayne Smith (), Nick Farr-Jones (); 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 (), 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