1906–07 South Africa rugby union tour of Europe

1906–07 South Africa rugby union tour of Europe
The South Africa touring squad photographed in London
Manager	Cecil Carden
Tour captain(s)	Paul Roos
Summary	P W D L
Total	29 26 01 02
Test match	05 03 01 01
Opponent	P W D L
Scotland	1 0 0 1
Ireland	1 1 0 0
Wales	1 1 0 0
England	1 0 1 0
France	1 1 0 0
Tour chronology
Next tour	1912–13 Europe

The 1906–07 South Africa tour of Europe was a collection of friendly rugby union 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-themed South African novelty song "The Springboks' Waltz" was released in 1906 to commemorate the tour.^[1]

The 1906 Springboks were "the first national team to utilize the 3–4–1 formation".^[2]

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 and drew against England. The South African defeat of Wales 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.

Complete list of matches played by the Springboks in Europe:^[3]

  Test matches

#	Date	Opponents	City	Venue	Score
1	26 Sep	East Midlands	Northampton		37–0
2	29 Sep	Midland Counties	Leicester		29–0
3	3 Oct	Kent RU	Blackheath	Rectory Field	21–0
4	6 Oct	Durham RU	Hartlepool		22–4
5	10 Oct	Northumberland RU	Newcastle	St James' Park	44–0
6	13 Oct	Yorkshire RU	Leeds	Headingley Stadium	34–0
7	17 Oct	Devon RU	Devonport		22–6
8	20 Oct	Somerset RU	Taunton		14–0
9	24 Oct	Middlesex RU	Richmond		9–0
10	27 Oct	Newport RFC	Newport	Rodney Parade	8–0
11	31 Oct	Glamorgan County	Cardiff	Arms Park	6–3
12	3 Nov	Gloucestershire RU	Gloucester	Town Club	23–0
13	7 Nov	Oxford University	Oxford		24–3
14	10 Nov	Cambridge University	Cambridge		29–0
15	13 Nov	The South	Hawick	Mansfield Park	32–5
16	17 Nov	Scotland	Glasgow	Hampden Park	0–6
17	20 Nov	The North	Aberdeen	Pittodrie Stadium	35–3
18	24 Nov	Ireland	Belfast	Balmoral Showground	15–12
19	27 Nov	Dublin University	Dublin	Lansdowne Road	28–3
20	1 Dec	Wales	Swansea	St. Helen's	11–0
21	8 Dec	England	London	Crystal Palace	3–3
22	12 Dec	Lancashire RU	Manchester	Fallowfield Stadium	11–8
23	15 Dec	Cumberland	Carlisle	Devonshire Park	21–0
24	19 Dec	Surrey RU	Richmond		20–0
25	22 Dec	Cornwall	Redruth		9–3
26	26 Dec	Monmouthshire	Newport	Rodney Parade	17–0
27	29 Dec	Llanelli RFC	Llanelli	Stradey Park	16–3
28	1 Jan 1907	Cardiff	Cardiff	Arms Park	0–17
29	3 Jan 1907	France	Paris	Parc des Princes	55–6

17 November

Scotland	6–0	South Africa
Try: Purves, MacLeod	Report

Hampden Park, Glasgow Attendance: 32,500 Referee: HH Corley (Ireland)

Team details

Scotland South Africa Scotland: JG Scoular, KG MacLeod, T Sloan, MW Walter, ABHL Purves, LL Greig capt., P Munro, HG Monteith, IC Geddes, JC MacCallum, David Bedell-Sivright, GM Frew, LM Spiers, WP Scott, WH Thomson South Africa: AFW Marsberg, AC Stegmann, HA de Villiers, JD Kriege, JA Loubser, HW Carolin capt., FJ Dobbin, WAG Burger, HJ Daneel, DJ Brink, D Brooks, JWE Raaff, AF Burdett, WS Morkel, DS Maré

24 November

Ireland	12–15	South Africa
Try: Sugars (2), Maclear Pen: Parke	Report	Try: Loubser (2), Krige, Stegmann Pen: Joubert

Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast Attendance: 15,000 Referee: JD Tulloch (Scotland)

Team details

Ireland South Africa Ireland GJ Henebrey, HB Thrift, Bertie Gotto, James Cecil Parke, Basil Maclear, TTH Robinson, ED Caddell, A Tedford, CE Allen capt., Harold Sugars, George Hamlet, M White, G McIldowie, HG Wilson, JJ Coffey South Africa: SJ Joubert, AC Stegmann, JH Hirsh, JD Krige, JA Loubser, DC Jackson, HW Carolin, WAG Burger, HJ Daneel, AF Burdett, PJ Roos capt., WC Martheze, DFT Morkel, WS Morkel, PA Le Roux

1 December

Wales	0–11	South Africa
	Report	Try: Joubert, Loubser, Raaff Con: Joubert

St. Helen's, Swansea Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Arthur Owen Jones (England)

Team details

Wales South Africa Wales: John Dyke (Penarth), Teddy Morgan (London Welsh), Gwyn Nicholls (Cardiff) capt., Rhys Gabe (Cardiff), Johnnie Williams (Cardiff), Percy Bush (Cardiff), Dicky Owen (Swansea), Will Joseph (Swansea), George Travers, (Pill Harriers), Dai Jones (Treherbert), Arthur Harding (London Welsh), Jack Jenkins (London Welsh), Jack Williams (London Welsh), Charlie Pritchard (Newport), Dick Thomas, (Mountain Ash) South Africa: AF Marsberg, S Joubert, HA de Villiers, JD Krige, JA Loubser, DC Jackson, FJ Dobbin, P Roos capt., WA Burger, HJ Daneel, PA le Roux, DJ Brink, WC Martheze, JWE Raaff, WS Morkel

Before the game hopes were high that the Welsh would be able to see off the South African threat.^[5] As one commentator wrote, "There was nothing in the South African's play to forbid Welsh hopes of repeating their success of last season...",^[6] harking back to Wales' famous victory over the All Blacks. 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.^[6] 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.^[7] When Billy Trew withdrew from the Glamorgan XV against Monmouthshire 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"^[8]

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.^[5] 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 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.

8 December

England	3–3	South Africa
Try: Brooks	Report	Try: Millar

Crystal Palace, London Attendance: 40,000 Referee: JD Tulloch (Scotland)

Team details

England South Africa England: John Birkett, Arnold Alcock, EJ 'John' Jackett, Freddie Brooks, Cecil Shaw, Robert Dibble, William Mills, Harry Shewring, Thomas Simpson, Basil Hill, Vincent Cartwright, Thomas Kelly, John Green, Adrian Stoop, Raphael Jago South Africa: SJ Joubert, AFW Marsberg, HA de Villiers, SC de Melker, JA Loubser, DC Jackson, FJ Dobbin, WA Millar, HJ Daneel, DJ Brink, PJ Roos capt., JWE Raaff, DFT Morkel, WS Morkel, PA Le Roux

The Springboks had a magnificent reception from a crowd of 15,000.^[9] 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.

3 January 1907

France	6–55	South Africa
Try: Purves, Jerome		Try: Dobbin (3), Mare (2), Loubser (2) Martheze (2), Hirsch (2), Reid, Raaff Con: Mare (8)

Parc des Princes, Paris

France does not include this match in its official records and no caps were awarded.^[10]

Team details
France South Africa

• Billot, John (1974). Springboks in Wales. Ferndale: Ron Jones Publications.
• Parry-Jones, David (1999). Prince Gwyn, Gwyn Nicholls and the First Golden Era of Welsh Rugby. Bridgend: seren. ISBN 1-85411-262-7.
• Thomas, Wayne (1979). A Century of Welsh Rugby Players. Ansells Ltd.
• Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0766-3.

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