New Zealand Barbarians
rugby union club in New Zealand
The New Zealand Barbarians, officially New Zealand Barbarian Rugby Club Inc., nicknamed the Baa-Baas, is a rugby union club headquartered at Eden Park in Kingsland, Auckland. The idea came from the concept of the Barbarian F.C..
The team was founded in 1937 by two ex-All Blacks, Ronald Bush and Hubert McLean, who captained their first game, against Auckland in 1938.
Tours
Jubilee Tour Party 1987
To mark the club's 50th Jubilee, an unbeaten five-match tour to the United Kingdom and Ireland was undertaken in March 1987, two months before the inaugural World Cup, where they recorded wins against Leicester (33-3), Wanderers (Dublin) (34-3), Ballymena (29-4), Cornwall (63-9). They also produced a devastating performance in Cardiff, beating the Barbarians 68-16. There were thirteen All Blacks in the party of 22 and a further six future caps, with Wayne Smith being drafted in from Italy as a replacement for one game. New Zealand were emerging from a turbulent 1986, the year of the rebel Cavaliers tour to South Africa and the "Baby Blacks" tests, the subsequent reintegration of the Cavaliers into the Bledisloe Cup games, and the infamous Battle of Nantes. Eight players who had survived November in Nantes toured, as did four Cavaliers.
Management staff was: Peter Murdoch (Coach), Kevin Barry (Team Manager), D.E.Kirk (Auckland) Captain, Clive Murdoch (Masseur)
Back Threes: G.J.L. Cooper (Auckland), C.I.Green (Canterbury), C, D.J.Halligan (Waikato), J.J.Kirwan (Auckland)
Centres: B.J. McCahill (Auckland), N.J.Schuster (Wellington), J.T.Stanley (Auckland)
Half backs: S.J.Bachop (Otago), I.B.Deans (Canterbury), W.R. Smith (Canterbury)
Front rows: J.A.S.Buchan (Canterbury), W.G.Bunn (Taranaki), B.T.Fitzpatrick (Auckland), S.C.McDowall (Auckland), B.McGrattan (Wellington)
Locks: B.L.Anderson (Wairapa-Bush), M.Weedon (Bay of Plenty), G.W.Whetton (Auckland)
Back rows: M.R.Brewer (Otago), M.N.Jones (Auckland), A.J.Whetton (Auckland), D.A.Williams (Wellington)
Subsequent NZ Barbarian trips to the UK were undertaken in 1996 and 2003.
1996 tour
The November 1996 matches were part of the ERFU's 125th celebrations with a warm-up fixture against the North Of England played in the snow at Huddersfield ahead of a "test" against England the week after.John Hart's 24-man squad, captained by Sean Fitzpatrick featured 19 All Blacks and four future All Blacks and won both fixtures, an 86-0 win against the North of England for whom twelve first choice selections had withdrawn from the team on the preceding Wednesday and a 34-19 victory against England at Twickenham Stadium.
“New Zealand Barbarians” enters the record as rugby union club in New Zealand. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Zealand, Barbarians and rugby can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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