St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future
Three
Transcript:
This is part three of the audio trail documenting the student project and display produced in 2022 by Cosmin Gregor and Lewis Douglass. The previous two parts told the story of the build up to, and the games played during, the 1954 All-Whites tour behind the Iron Curtain. This entry in the trail explores a further awarded object, a beautiful embossed vase, as well as catches the overall story of the tour up to the game versus Constructurul Bucharest, as briefly explored in the first part.
The vase itself is painted glass, embossed with floral patterns. It is gold in colour and is still accompanied by its lid. The quality of these presentations, both the vase and the participation trophy illustrate how well the Swansea team were treated whilst in Romania, going hand in hand with being chauffeured and wined and dined. This, and the impressive stadia that the games were played in, both the National stadium and Dinamo stadium, revealed the value that the Romania of the day placed on not just their own sports teams but also those visiting.
As a bonus object to this entry in the trail, we can also see this perceived value in the programme from the first game versus Locomotiva. Whilst the programme itself is printed on a frail paper, understandable given its mass production, it is however illustrated with fantastic side-profile portraits of what can be assumed to be the players. The programme is shared between a rugby and a separate football game, and each page, even the first is adorned with these sketches. Like the rest of the material legacy of this tour, both the items highlighted in this part of the trail have a tremendous unique quality to them, unlike much else in the collection here at the archive.
To continue the overall story and speak of the time between the games, the student project points our attention to photographs that show the team relaxing lakeside and engaging in water activities in the hotel pool. As touched upon in the previous parts of this trail, as it came close to the second game of the tour the Swansea pack requested that the game be delayed until the later part of the day. The Romanian Rugby Federation accepted the request, and so the game was played at 5:30pm on the 26th of August. On this occasion, with time to relax, time to prepare and more acceptable weather conditions, Swansea came out on top 16 to 5, with Owen Hughes and Jim Rees scoring tries. The All-Whites side returned home two days later, on the 28th of August. This time on direct flights to London, with a bus awaiting them there to return them to Wales.
This trail concludes in the next part, no longer telling the story behind the 1954 tour but that of the reciprocated tour by a Romanian XV thirteen months later. Please don’t forget to click next to follow on to the end.