The 1906–07 South Africa tour of Europe was a collection of friendly

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

games undertaken by the South Africa national team against the four British Home Nation teams. The tour also took in several matches against British and Irish club, county and invitational teams before finally travelling to France to play the national team. This was the inaugural South Africa tour and is recognised as the event that coined the phrase ''Springboks'' as a nickname for the South African team. The

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

-themed

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

"The Springboks' Waltz" was released in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

to commemorate the tour. The 1906 Springboks were "the first national team to utilize the 3–4–1 formation". The tour was extremely successful for the South Africans which helped garner respect from the Northern Hemisphere teams and established South Africa as a formidable rugby playing country. In the tests played the team would only lose to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and drew against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The South African defeat of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

was a shock to many critics and ended the international careers of some of the greatest Welsh players of the time. Out of 29 matches played, South Africa won 26, lost two and drew one.

Touring party

Management

*Manager: Cecil Carden *Captain: Paul Roos

Full backs

*Arthur Burmeister (

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

) *Steve Joubert (

) *Arthur Marsberg (

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...

)

Three-quarters

* Sydney de Melker (

) * HA de Villiers (

) *Jack Hirsch ( Eastern Province) *

Japie Krige Japie Krige (5 July 1879 – 14 January 1961) was a South African international rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglopho ...

(

) *Japie le Roux (

) * Bob Loubser (

) * Andrew Morkel (

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

) *

Anton Stegmann Anton Stegmann (25 August 1883 – 23 January 1972) was a South African international rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, A ...

(

)

Half backs

* Harold 'Paddy' Carolin (

) *

Uncle Dobbin Frederick James Dobbin (10 October 1879 – 5 February 1950)
Scrum.com universally known as Uncle Dobbin was a South ...

(

) *

Dirk Jackson Dirk Cloete Jackson (21 April 1885 – 17 September 1976) was a South African rugby union player and cricketer. Jackson was born on a farm on the outskirts of Cape Town and was educated nearby at Diocesan College. A halfback, he played three of ...

(

)

Forwards

*Daniel Brink (

) *Douglas Brookes (

Border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

) * Adam Francis Burdett (

) *William Burger (

) *Henry Daneel (

) *Pietie le Roux (

) *

Dietlof Maré Dietlof Siegfried Maré (2 July 1885 – 14 October 1913) was a South African international rugby union player. Born in Wellington, he attended Huguenot College before playing provincial rugby for Transvaal (now known as the Golden Lions). He ma ...

(

) *

Rajah Martheze Rajah Martheze (29 November 1877 – 16 February 1912) was a South African international rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, A ...

(

) * William Millar (

) * Douglas Morkel (

) *William Morkel (

) *William Allan Neill (

) * Klondyke Raaff (

) *Hubert Reid (

) * Paul Roos (

)

Match summary

Complete list of matches played by the ''Springboks'' in Europe: Test matches Springboks v east midlands

Match details

Devon

Newport

Glamorgan

Scotland

Ireland

Wales

Before the game hopes were high that the Welsh would be able to see off the South African threat.Parry-Jones (1999), p. 188. As one commentator wrote, "There was nothing in the South African's play to forbid Welsh hopes of repeating their success of last season...",Parry-Jones (1999), p. 180. harking back to Wales' famous victory over the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. When a Glamorgan XV team, which contained many Welsh caps that were to face South Africa, could only manage a drew against Gloucester, it caused some people to re-think the team's chances of winning. This caused an outcry for Welsh star, Gwyn Nicholls, to come out of international retirement to face South Africa. Even the South African players' voiced their disappointment at not facing Nicholls on the pitch.Parry-Jones (1999), p. 181. When

Billy Trew William James Trew, better known as Billy Trew (12 March 1879 – 20 August 1926) was a Welsh international centre, outside half and wing who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Football Club. He won 29 caps for Wales and is seen as one of t ...

withdrew from the Glamorgan XV against

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

on 22 November, Nicholls was the surprise replacement, and a few days later Nicholls told the ''Daily Mirror'' that he intended to "have a shot at the Springboks"Parry-Jones (1999), p. 186. On the day of the match, South Africa were without some of their star players, including lead try scorer Stegmann, who had suffered a leg strain in the Belfast encounter. However, captain and talisman Paul Roos was back in the squad though sporting a heavy pad on his injured shoulder. The weather on the day was dry and the hard pitch suited the visitors. After an aggressive but blunt opening from the hosts, the South Africans found their pace and quickly took advantage. By half time the tourist were 6–0 ahead with tries from Joubert and Loubser. Gwyn Nicholls had a particularly poor game, wasting a panicked kick from Marsberg in the first half and throughout the game he and Gabe were so tightly marked that they were ineffective. In the second half it was a Nicholls error that handed the Springboks their third try when he caught a high ball safely, only to release it into open play. 'Klondyke' Raaff dribbled the ball away and scored a try that Joubert duly converted. The final result was 11–0 to the visitors; the majority of Welsh crowd were silenced by such a terrible result, though enough good-will was shown to carry captain Roos, and the constantly impressive Marsberg from the pitch. After the games there were many ramifications for the Welsh team. The papers stated that the weakness shown by the forwards, and too many old players in the pack, were the reasons for the poor Welsh display. The

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clu ...

reacted to the press comments by dropping many of the players from international rugby. Those players that would never again represent their country included, Dai Jones, Will Joseph, Gwyn Nicholls and Jack Williams; just one year after the legendary game against the All Blacks.

England

Monmouthshire

Llanelli

The Springboks had a magnificent reception from a crowd of 15,000. The South Africans started on an attack, but the Llanelli forwards soon rallied, resulting in a try that placed the Welshmen ahead. For the remainder of the first half the Springboks persistently pressed, eventually succeeding in piercing the Welsh defence, resulting in a converted try. The Springboks were leading 5 to 3 at the interval. After the start of the second half the Welsh made a determined effort, but the Springboks forwards gained supremacy which they maintained. Towards the end of the game the Springbok scored with a succession of backline movements, resulting in two tries for Loubser. One of these tries was converted and a penalty goal was added, for the 16 to 3 final score.

Cardiff

France

France does not include this match in its official records and no caps were awarded.

Bibliography

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South Africa 1906 rugby union tours 1907 rugby union tours

1906 in South African rugby union 1907 in South African rugby union 1906–07 in English rugby union 1906–07 in Scottish rugby union 1906–07 in French rugby union 1906–07 in Irish rugby union 1906–07 in Welsh rugby union