1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa
Encyclopedia
The 1984 England rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of seven matches played by the England national rugby union team
in South Africa
in May and June 1984. England played seven games, including two test matches against the South Africa national rugby union team
. They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as drawing the fixture against Western Province.
In the face of much criticism, and in spite of covert political pressure, the Rugby Football Union
decided that the tour of South Africa should go ahead, but probably with hindsight, in the light of results, later wished that they had not. Many players were unable to tour (not for political reasons, only Ralph Knibbs of Bristol stood up to be counted in that respect) and the squad was relatively inexperienced. 10 of the 26 players were uncapped before the tour and 7 gained their first caps in South Africa.
Replacement
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in May and June 1984. England played seven games, including two test matches against the South Africa national rugby union team
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
. They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as drawing the fixture against Western Province.
In the face of much criticism, and in spite of covert political pressure, the Rugby Football Union
Rugby Football Union
The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...
decided that the tour of South Africa should go ahead, but probably with hindsight, in the light of results, later wished that they had not. Many players were unable to tour (not for political reasons, only Ralph Knibbs of Bristol stood up to be counted in that respect) and the squad was relatively inexperienced. 10 of the 26 players were uncapped before the tour and 7 gained their first caps in South Africa.
Matches
- Scores and results list England's points tally first.
Opposing Team For Against Date Venue Status Currie Cup "B" Section 31 21 19/05/1984 Kings Park Stadium Kings Park StadiumKings Park , is a stadium in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa, which was originally built in 1891 and extensively renovated in the 1990s...
, DurbanDurbanDurban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
Tour Match South African Federation 23 21 23/05/1984 Danie Craven Stadium Danie Craven StadiumDanie Craven Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at Coetzenburg in Stellenbosch, South Africa. It is part of the Stellenbosch University's sport facilities. The stadium was named after rugby doyen and Springbok scrum half Danie Craven. The stadium holds 16,000 people and was built in 1979.The Danie...
, StellenboschTour Match Western Province Western Province (rugby team)DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The team has won the Currie Cup on 32 occasions and has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team...
15 15 26/05/1984 Newlands Newlands StadiumNewlands Stadium, currently referred to as DHL Newlands for sponsorship reasons, is located in Cape Town, South Africa.The stadium currently has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all seater venue....
, Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
Tour Match South African Rugby Association 30 8 29/05/1984 Border Rugby Union Ground, East London Tour Match South Africa South Africa national rugby union teamThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
15 33 02/06/1984 Boet Erasmus Stadium EPRFU StadiumEPRU Stadium, also known by its original name of Boet Erasmus Stadium, is a stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 33,852 people. The original name Boet Erasmus Stadium was named after Boet Erasmus, a former mayor of Port Elizabeth.It was used mostly for rugby union...
, Port ElizabethPort Elizabeth, Eastern CapePort Elizabeth is one of the largest cities in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, east of Cape Town. The city, often shortened to PE and nicknamed "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City", stretches for 16 km along Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in South Africa...
First Test Test match (rugby union)Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....Country Districts 33 12 05/06/1984 DP de Villers Stadium, Sasolburg SasolburgSasolburg is a large industrial town in the far north of the Free State province of South Africa. Sasolburg is further sub-divided into three areas: Sasolburg proper, Vaalpark and Zamdela...
Tour Match South Africa South Africa national rugby union teamThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
9 35 19/06/1984 Ellis Park Ellis Park StadiumEllis Park Stadium, also known because of its sponsorship by The Coca-Cola Company as Coca-Cola Park, is a rugby union and association football stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was won by the country's...
, JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
Second Test Test match (rugby union)Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....
Touring party
- Tour Manager : C.R. JacobsRon Jacobs (rugby player)Charles Ronald Jacobs was an English Rugby Union player. He played at prop for Northampton and . He went to Oakham School in Rutland, where he captained the first XV in 1945...
- Team Manager: W.G.D. Morgan
- Coach: J.R.H. GreenwoodDick GreenwoodJohn Richard Heaton Greenwood is a former rugby union international flanker, captain of Waterloo, Cambridge University, Lancashire and England as well as national coach...
- Captain: J.P. ScottJohn Scott (rugby player)John Scott is a former rugby union international who represented England from 1978 to 1984.-Rugby career:A back row forward, he played most of his club rugby for Cardiff RFC. Winning 34 England caps between 1978 and 1984, he formed a strong partnership with No. 9 Steve Smith. He also roomed with...
(Cardiff) 31 Caps
Full Backs
- W.H. HareDusty HareWilliam Henry "Dusty" Hare MBE is a former international rugby union footballer, who played fullback.Hare currently holds the world record for points scored in a first class rugby career with 7,337 points....
(Leicester) 23 Caps - N.C. Stringer (Wasps) 2 Caps
Three-Quarters
- M.D. BaileyMark Bailey (Rugby)Professor Mark David Bailey is the High Master of St Paul's School, London. He was previously professor of Later Medieval History in the University of East Anglia and an England rugby footballer....
(Cambridge University) No Caps - S.B. Burnhill (Loughborough College) No Caps
- P.W. DodgePaul DodgePaul William Dodge is a former English rugby union international footballer who gained 32 caps for his country between 1978 and 1985. His Leicester Tigers career earned him 436 appearances....
(Leicester) 25 Caps - J.A. Palmer (Bath) No Caps
- A.M. Swift (Swansea) 5 Caps
- D.M. Trick (Bath) 1 Cap
Half-Backs
- G.H. Davies (Wasps) 12 Caps
- R.J. HillRichard Hill (scrum-half)Richard Hill , is rugby union coach and former English international rugby footballer.-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Hill was educated at Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School in Salisbury, and Exeter University...
(Bath) No Caps - J.P. Horton (Bath) 9 Caps
- N.G. YoungsNick YoungsNicholas Gerald Youngs is a former English rugby union footballer who played for Leicester Tigers and England, at scrum-half, gaining six England caps in 1983-1984...
(Leicester) 6 Caps
Replacement
- B. BarleyBryan BarleyBryan Barley was a former England international rugby union centre.He was educated at Normanton Grammar School and Leeds University where he studied economics and mathematics....
(Wakefield) 3 Caps
Forwards
- P.J. BlakewayPhil BlakewayPhilip John "Phil" Blakeway is a former international rugby union player. He toured South Africa in 1980 with the British and Irish Lions and at the time played club rugby for Gloucester Rugby.-Notes:...
(Gloucester) 14 Caps - S.E. BrainSteve BrainSteve Brain is a retired rugby union player who played hooker for Coventry R.F.C. and represented England in over a dozen international matches, including three Five Nations, now the Six Nations Championship, between 1984 and 1986....
(Coventry) No Caps - C.J.S. Butcher (Harlequins) No Caps
- D.A. Cusani (Orrel) No Caps
- J.H. Fidler (Gloucester) 2 Caps
- J.P. Hall (Bath) 3 Caps
- S.G.F. Mills (Gloucester) 3 Caps
- G.S. Pearce (Northampton) 14 Caps
- M. Preedy (Gloucester) No Caps
- P.A.G. Rendall (Wasps) 1 Cap
- G.W. Rees (Nottingham) No Caps
- J.P. ScottJohn Scott (rugby player)John Scott is a former rugby union international who represented England from 1978 to 1984.-Rugby career:A back row forward, he played most of his club rugby for Cardiff RFC. Winning 34 England caps between 1978 and 1984, he formed a strong partnership with No. 9 Steve Smith. He also roomed with...
(Cardiff) 31 Caps - M.C. TeagueMike TeagueMichael Clive Teague is a former England and British Lions rugby union footballer.-Early life:Teague was born and raised on a pig farm a few miles outside Gloucester...
(Gloucester) No Caps - P.J. WinterbottomPeter WinterbottomPeter James Winterbottom , is a former England rugby union footballer who played as an openside flanker. He was England's most-capped openside until being overtaken by Neil Back in 2003...
(Headingley) 13 Caps