St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future
Three
Transcript:
This is part three of the seven part audio trail sharing the story of the tours of the New Zealand All Blacks in the UK between 1905 and 1989. The previous part of the trail explored the tour of 1924, the ‘Invincible’ tour, of the undefeated All-Blacks. Nothing lasts forever however, as by the following 1935 tour, Swansea RFC were about to claim their great accolade.
Early in the tour in 1935, New Zealand met Swansea once again at St Helen’s, on the 28th of September. Whilst the previous match of 1924 ended in 39-3 to New Zealand, the tides had changed for Swansea and the result of 1935: 11 – 3 to Swansea. Around 30,000 people witnessed the historic win. New Zealand played 26 club teams on this tour with Swansea being the only club team to actually beat the 'All Blacks'. Swansea thus became the first ever club side to have beaten a New Zealand touring team, whilst simultaneously becoming the first to take down the ‘big three’. The whole Swansea team played magnificently but the stars were the teenage half-backs, still attending Gowerton Grammar School, Haydn Tanner and Willie Davies. Davies had just turned 19 and Tanner was still just 18 years old. Jack Manchester, the All Blacks captain told the New Zealand press: "Tell them at home, we have been beaten. But please don't tell them it was by a pair of schoolboys." This quote is most certainly on display at St Helen’s, among the rest of the items in this trail.
Thankfully, there are many objects that share the material legacy of this occasion. Most noticeably, another jersey: this one worn by ‘All Blacks’ lock William Reuben Collins in this very match. At 100kg & 1.88m, Bill Collins was the heaviest and one of the tallest players in the New Zealand squad. The giant from Hawke’s Bay played 7 matches before injury and heart strain unfortunately ended his tour and shortly afterwards, his career. It was kindly gifted to Swansea RFC by Collins after the match. The jersey itself is a little different to those that predated it. It is of course still in black, but no quilting or elaborate shoulder design is seen. The white collar is much more standard, and as the jersey stands today, it is missing its lace to tighten the collar. The fern leaf, on this jersey now much smaller, sits atop a blue patch and on the rear a white number 23 (Collins’ tour squad number) sits atop a black patch. The colour of the jersey has somewhat faded over the years, be that through ultra-violet damage or otherwise. It is still in good condition for the most part, and is a wonderful commemorative piece.
Also a part of the material legacy, the match programme from that very match. Costing just two pence, the programme tells us that kick-off was at 3:30 on that September day. The attractive header of the programme is surrounded by two large fern leaves, undoubtedly catching the attention for what was to become a memorable game. Additionally on display is a carved wood commemorative plaque, with a black stained background. The text on the plaque reads ‘Swansea RFC v. New Zealand’ followed by the date. The plaque bears the Swansea castle badge on the left, and a fern leaf on the right, on a shield design. Unfortunately the name of the artist who carved and then presented the plaque to commemorate the match, is unknown but they produced an original piece more than worthy of the display here at St Helen’s.
This 1935 win finished what had been started in 1908 with Swansea’s defeat of Australia. This most major accolade that this trail opened with is now shared just outside of St Helen’s, with a blue heritage plaque that was dedicated in 2015. The plaque reads: ‘St Helen’s Swansea RFC ground since 1876. First ever club to defeat Australia (1908), South Africa (1912) and New Zealand (1935)’, before repeating in Welsh. This achievement over the ‘Big Three’ continues to put St Helen’s on the Rugby football map, and this plaque goes a way to share that important history along with the display that this trail records.
To speak a little more on the tour of 1935 itself however, the other results around Britain, Ireland and Canada were relatively similar to that of the previous tours. Some were closer matches than they may have been previously, but were still wins for the All Blacks. This in itself enshrines Swansea’s win with the substance it deserves, however it is also worth noting that in that same tour the test matches against Wales on the 21st of December 1935, followed by England on the 4th January 1936 were both losses for New Zealand. Wales won 13 - 12, whilst England won 13–0.
Movie footage of Swansea’s historic win over New Zealand can be found playing in the clubhouse on match days and can also be viewed on the St Helen’s Archive website in the “Video & Aural” section.
The next part in the trail takes us to the post-war tours of 1945, by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and by the All-Blacks in 1953-54. Please do follow on to find out more. Please don’t forget to press next.