Overseas Unions rugby union team
 |
|
| Unions | International Rugby Board |
|---|---|
| First match | |
| Overseas Unions 32 - 13 Five Nations XV | |
| Largest win | |
| Overseas Unions 32 - 13 Five Nations XV | |
| Largest defeat | |
| None | |
The Overseas Unions rugby union team was set up to commemorate the centenary of the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB), which would shortly afterwards become the IRB or International Rugby Board. It consisted of players from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
They played one match against a combined Five Nations XV on Saturday, 19 April 1986, and beat them 32-15.
Controversially, the squad included a number of white South Africans at a time when the relationship of rugby union and apartheid was being questioned at high levels.
Unlike the first celebratory match three days earlier in a wet Cardiff Arms Park, this game was played in ideal conditions at Twickenham. At the time, there were only eight Unions affiliated to the Board, thus only players from those unions were chosen.
Five Nations XV: Serge Blanco (
France); Trevor Ringland (
Ireland), Philippe Sella ( France), Mike Kiernan ( Ireland), Rory Underwood (
England); Malcolm Dacey (
Wales), Richard Hill ( England); Jeff Whitefoot ( Wales), Steve Brain ( England), Iain Milne (
Scotland), Jean Condom ( France), Donal Lenihan ( Ireland) (captain), John Jeffrey ( Scotland), Iain Paxton ( Scotland), Laurent Rodriguez ( France)
...
Wikipedia