‘Pontypridd’ versus the All Blacks

PONTYPRIDD VERSUS THE ALL BLACKS

Over the years Pontypridd have had the honour of playing against many of the world’s international sides, including Romania, Australia, Spain, Western Samoa, South Africa, Fiji, USA, and Canada. However, apart from the famous game against New Zealand provincial side Taranaki on 10 March 1979, when a late try by the then All Blacks captain Graham Mourie allowed the visitors to scrape home by 14-16, we have never played against the full New Zealand side. However, it turns out that four of our players were in a Mid-District XV that met the great All Blacks on 12 December 1935.

We found out about this when the club was recently contacted by Samuel and Marie Bailey regarding their uncle, Edward Phillips (for some reason, known as Edgar Phillips). He was highly thought of in Pontypridd circles at the time, as shown by the cartoon drawn by one of the committee in the 1930s.

Edward/Edgar played on the wing for the Mid-District team in the game staged at the Ynys Stadium in Aberdare. This was a major sports ground at the time, home of the Aberdare Athletic football team, and with a capacity of over 20,000. The site is still a major sporting venue, with the Sobell Leisure Centre, an athletics stadium, various cricket pitches, and the home of Aberdare RFC.

The All Blacks played 28 games in Britain and Ireland on the 1935-36 tour, and another two in Canada on the way home. When they met the Mid-District XV they had only lost one game, to Swansea, and they had already beaten Scotland and Ireland. It is now unthinkable that the All Blacks would play such a match, but New Zealand sources said the game was played to “promote first-class rugby in the Welsh hills” and they said that the team and crowd were “very sporting”.

Reports of the game tell us that a crowd of 6,000 lined the touchlines to see the Mid-District side come out, with Pontypridd, having four players in the back division. The team was:

Backs – Tom Williams (Pontypridd); Tom Keegan (Pontypridd), Tommy le Clare (Cilfynydd), Glan James (Treorchy, captain), Edgar Phillips (Pontypridd); Ernie Tucker (Pontypridd) and Luther Davies (Cilfynydd).

Forwards – A Thomas (Aberaman), Walt Francis (Cilfynydd), R Leyshon (Merthyr), Ben Davies (Ystrad Rhondda), Tommy Ellis James (Treorchy), L Rees (Cilfynydd), Emrys Carter (Penygraig) and Fred Harding (Treorchy).

To their credit, the Mid District side gave a great showing before going down 31-10. The Valley lads scored two tries, and Edgar Phillips scored the first, chasing his own kick to touch down. He then had a hand in the second, throwing an inside pass to skipper Glan James, who went on to score. Tommy le Clare converted both of the tries.

Jack Manchester skippered the All Blacks team, which included Eric Tindill, the only man ever to be capped at rugby and cricket before Jeff Wilson emulated the feat in the ’90s. Tindill went on to referee a rugby international and umpire a cricket Test match. He died in August 2010, just a few months short of his hundredth birthday.

Albert Freethy of Neath was referee for the match. He was one of the great rugby union referees of the period, taking charge of eighteen tests between 1923 and 1931 and refereeing the Olympic Games final in 1924. During the 1924-25 tour by the New Zealand Invincibles, he had sent off Cyril Brownlie during the England-New Zealand test, the first time a player had been sent off from a test.

Alun Granfield