East Africa rugby union team

Sources:^{[18] [19]}

Five and a half years after their first match against the University of Cape Town, East Africa played their first international match against the British Lions, as they returned home from their 1955 tour of South Africa.

The Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) took the opportunity of the 1955 match to invite the Lions manager (J.A.E. Siggins) to officially open their newly built national stadium, the RFUEA Ground (then called the Ngong Road Ground) prior to kick-off. The capacity crowd of 6000 was treated to a magnificent display of running handling rugby that had characterised the tourists' games in South Africa.

According to the match programme, East Africa fielded seven players who were winning their first cap, Brodziak, Chambers, Darroch, MacLean, Meintjes, Tippett and Wheeler.^[20] In addition East Africa selected two reserves and the Lions one; although substitutions were not allowed it was usual to select reserves at this time in case a player did not arrive on time or was unable to start the match. The match programme also states that Frank Sykes (Northampton & England), Robin Roe (Lansdowne & Ireland) and Tom Reid (Garryowen & Ireland) had been selected to play this match, but the Lions' archives^[21] suggest that ultimately they did not. It appears that the reserve Bryn Meredith and Billy Williams (who had been assigned as the Lions touch-judge) were called upon to start in place of Roe and R.H. Williams while D.G.S. Baker was required to fill in for Sykes. East Africa took the field as advertised in the programme.

One of the contemporary match reports was written by Tony Coxall, a 13-year-old pupil from Arusha School in Tanzania who attended the match as part of a school trip^[22] in which twenty boys undertook the five-and-a-half-hour, 170 miles (270 km) journey to Nairobi in a 1.5 ton lorry. In this report it is stated that the Lions scored two tries before East Africa answered with a penalty and that at half time the score was 6–19. It also states that the seats cost 1 shilling each and that the crowd were entertained by the band of the Royal Irish Fusiliers at half-time.

As was usual for touring teams visiting East Africa during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Lions were given private hospitality as opposed to staying in hotels. Cliff Morgan, Haydn Morris and Gareth Griffiths (all players with Cardiff RFC) stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Arthur "Pat" Bryant, who had played for Cardiff prior to World War I, and who was an official of the East African Rugby Union. He had refereed for the RFUEA (in his blue and black Cardiff jersey) until his retirement at about 63 years of age. The tourists also encountered another former Cardiff player from the 1940s, Captain Howell Loveluck who was in Kenya as chaplain to the British Forces stationed there at the time of the Mau Mau Uprising.^[23]

There is a frequently repeated urban legend ^{[24] [25]} that Idi Amin (later to become the infamous military dictator of Uganda) was selected as a replacement by East Africa for their match against the 1955 British Lions. The story is entirely unfounded, he does not appear on the team list or in the team photograph^[3] and replacements were first introduced into international rugby 13 years after this event is supposed to have taken place.^[26] Mike Gibson of Ireland is generally recognised as being the first ever replacement in a rugby union match (he came on for the injured Barry John during the first test in Pretoria on the 1968 British Lions tour to South Africa). The first replacement for East Africa was Douglas "Dougie" Hamilton who came on in the 1968 match versus Queen's University (Belfast) R.F.C.

Source:^[27]

The Barbarians, managed by Brigadier HL Glyn-Hughes and H Waddell, had just completed a successful tour of South Africa and stopped off in Nairobi on their way home. Members of this team who had previously visited Nairobi with the 1955 Lions were RH Williams, AJF O'Reilly, REG Jeeps, HF McLeod, JT Greenwood, CI Morgan, AR Smith and AC Pedlow. RH Davies had previously toured with the 1957 Combined (Oxford and Cambridge) Universities side.

The match was played before a capacity crowd in the late afternoon to early evening on a Wednesday; the papers reported that the colony's Legislative Council (Legco.) had adjourned early that day before cryptically referring to the Barbarian game later in the same paragraph by way of an oblique explanation. The visitors playing champagne rugby in the highest traditions of their club. Tony O'Reilly scored seven tries, no doubt making up for the fact that he had been injured and unable to play when he had come to Nairobi with the Lions three years earlier. East Africa's first try was scored by RN Angus of Kenya Harlequins, the first scored by East Africa on their Ngong Road ground.

In 1960–1961, the Springboks undertook a four-month tour of the United Kingdom and France, winning all their 43 matches except for a 0–0 draw against France and a 6–0 defeat by the Barbarians at Cardiff in what is often inaccurately listed as the final match of that tour. They left London on Wednesday 22 February by air, landing in Nairobi for a four-day stopover in Kenya on their way back to Johannesburg and, on Saturday 25 February 1961, they played East Africa. This was the only meeting between these teams, quite possibly the first match between South Africa and another African "nation", but unequivocally the true last match of the tour.

The final score was 39–0, the half-time score having been 15–0 with South Africa piling on a further 21 points within a quarter of an hour of the beginning of the second half, though the flood gates were closed for the rest of the match with the Springboks then only scoring once more. Johannes "Hannes" Botha (a flanker) and Gideon "Giepie" Wentzel (a full-back) played out of position.

Source:^[19]

Almost exactly seven years after hosting the 1955 Lions, East Africa faced the Lions again on the same ground, this time as they were returning from their 1962 tour to South Africa. At half time the score was 0 – 29^[28]

In 1964, the Welsh national team undertook their first overseas tour, a five-match tour of Africa. They left London on Sunday 10 May flying to Nairobi, arriving on Monday morning. They played their first ever match outside Europe (and thus their first match in the Southern Hemisphere) against East Africa on Tuesday 12 May, winning 26–8, before flying to Cape Town on Wednesday.

Welsh captain Clive Rowlands dictated the patterns of play and orchestrated many of the Welsh moves. Dewi Bebb snatched his try at a chance from a lineout three yards from the line and dived over before the opposition could lay a finger on him. The East African team fought valiantly and often caused the visitors defence problems with strong surging runs; their star player was Eric Weaver a Welshman serving in Nairobi with the RAF, he had previously played professional football with Swindon Town.^[29] The Welsh fly-half in this match (Marsden Young) had not been – and was not subsequently – capped by Wales. As this match was not regarded as a full test by the Welsh Rugby Union, so this player does not appear on the List of Wales national rugby union players.

The remaining four matches of the tour were in South Africa, who were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the South African Rugby Board. The first of these was played on 19 May against Boland at Wellington which they won 17–6. The test-match against South Africa, played at King's Park, Durban on 23 May, was lost 3–24. The final two games were played on 27 May and 30 May against Northern Transvaal at Pretoria (lost 9–22) and the Orange Free State at Bloemfontein (won 14–6).

It was the lack of success experienced by the team on this tour that is credited with sparking the Welsh Rugby Union into action, appointing their first national coach and reaping the rewards with their fabled^{[peacockprose ]} teams of the 1970s.

Sources:^{[19] [30]}

The idea of an East African rugby touring team was first broached while the Kenya athletics team was visiting the Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1953. The manager of that team was Archie Evans, a member of the Nondescripts RFC in Nairobi and he was able to communicate this proposal to the fledgling Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA). The tour took several months to organise, the process being hindered by the postal delays between the RFUEA, the Northern Rhodesian Rugby Union and its subsidiary, the Northern Rhodesian Congo Border Rugby Union. It was eventually decided that the latter of these would host the tour and permissions were sought from the respective governing bodies (the South African Rugby Board for Rhodesia and the Rugby Football Union in London for East Africa).

The delays during the planning meant that there was no time to stage trials. Instead the recently played first ever match between Kenya and Tanganyika was used to select the majority of the players that were to go on the tour. Arrangements were finalised just two weeks before departure; unfortunately one of the best players East Africa ever produced, A.I. McLean, was unable to take part as the hastily arranged tour coincided with his wedding. Most of the organisational work had been carried out by C.F. Schermbrucker (acting President of the RFUEA), Owen Wheeler (Hon Secretary RFUEA) and Mr. R.E. Luyt who had previously lived and played rugby in the Copperbelt.

The team, managed by A.K. Fyfe and Andrew G. Clark, left by air from Nairobi West on 17 August 1954. Played 8 matches, won 7 and lost 1 (to the Copperbelt XV).

Source:^{[19] [31]}

In 1962, the Tuskers, captained By Chris Young, toured the Copperbelt region of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) for the second time. They played seven matches winning two; those played against Ndola and Mufulira.

Source:^[19]

In September 1966, the Third Tuskers toured England. Their captain was Brian Granville-Ross, their manager was Balf Laing, and their assistant manager was Peter Griffiths.

Played against Richmond F.C., Blackheath F.C., Anti-Assassins, Wilmslow RUFC, Vale of Lune RUFC, Harlequin F.C. and Fylde. All matches were lost.

This tour took place in September 1972. The team played eight matches, winning three.^[19]

Source:^[19]

At the culmination of the 1978 tour to Zambia by Kenya an invitation was issued to the Tuskers to tour Zambia in 1979 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the First Tuskers Tour.^[32] The second ever match between East Africa and Zambia took place on this tour with East Africa winning 21–13, thus evening up the record. Jackson Omaido (Mean Machine) was tour Captain.

The entire squad consisted of Kenyan players with the exception of David Nsubuga of Uganda. Rob Bertram, then chairman of Nondescripts RFC, was the tour manager^[33] and Jackson Omaido (Harlequins) was the Captain. Rodney Evans (Nondescripts) was player-coach and took over the captain's role with Omaido injured ahead of the test against Zimbabwe.^[32]