# 1927 British Lions tour to Argentina

During its second tour to Argentina, the British Isles team, formed by English and Scottish players, played 9 matches in the country, winning all of them with more than 295 points scored and only 9 conceded.

## Background

The River Plate Rugby Union (RPRU, current "Argentine Rugby Union") had formed a commission to study how to bring a British team into the country. To do so they had to have the sum of m$n 25,000 (about £ 3,000 at that time) to pay the travel and subsistence costs of a staff of twenty-five people. With contributions from clubs, newspaper companies, stores such as Gath and Chaves, British railroads and refrigerators and personal contributions, 30,000 pesos were collected. In mid-1926 the RFU received an invitation from the RPRU, requesting for a team of "first class players" to visit Argentina for three or four weeks. The delegation should be of 25 people including a manager and a referee. The RFU responded affirmatively after consulting the International Board.
On July 19, 1927, a team composed of twenty-three players from England, Scotland and Ireland under the direction of James Baxter, none other than the president of the RFU, and a first-class referee, arrived in Buenos Aires and settled in the headquarters of Hurlingham Club for a fixture of nine games.
Fulfilling the request of the RPRU, this British combined was considerably stronger than the one that had been assembled in 1910. No less than fifteen of the twenty-three players were internationals or future internationals. His captain, David MacMyn, was a leading Scottish forward who had been part of the team that won its first Grand Slam in 1925 and shared the title of the Five Nations with Ireland in 1926. During the long sea voyage to Argentina, MacMyn made good use of onboard time for his men to train and make a tactical plan for the tour.
   We were all imbued with the desire to play as it should be played, and there was no laziness in our preparation on board the ship. We train hard. Every morning we had practice of scrum, backs, physical training of all kinds and swimming before lunch. At night we had many conversations in front of the blackboard and we made all kinds of plans. And so, the hard training and the free exchange of ideas stimulated us for the exhausting days that we had ahead.
In their first games, the Lions played an Anglo-Argentine combined and the Argentine champion San Isidro, which had won eight consecutive domestic championships to date. The Lions won those games with no goals conceded.
The following game was the first test v. Argentina, played on 31 July at Gimnasia y Esgrima stadium. It was the first time Argentina wore the horizontal light blue and white jersey (after wearing blue and white jerseys alternatively since its first match in 1910) after a proposal by Gimnasia y Esgrima executive Abelardo Gutiérrez. The match was attended by a record 12,000 spectators. After the match, MacMyn wrote: "The crowd was delighted. They were impressed by the fact that we played in silence, listening only to the captain's voice. Argentines have all the physical qualities required for rugby. They are big, strong and fast. They are tremendously enthusiastic –sometimes, excessively".
After playing Argentina, the Lions moved to the city Rosario in Santa Fe Province to play a combined team composed by players of porteños clubs Universitario and Gimnasia y Esgrima due to the impossibility of joining a competitive team with the small number of players in Rosario. Players of both teams arrived in Rosario after a long journey by train from Retiro to Rosario Norte station, the same day of the match. Held in Plaza Jewell, home venue of Club Atlético del Rosario, the Lions defeated the combined team by 24–0 in a rainy day.
The Lions returned to Buenos Aires to play the second test v. Argentina, winning 46–0 at GEBA, then playing another combined team (composed by players of Belgrano A.C. and Buenos Aires F.C.). The team would play two games more against the national team, the last of them on 21 August.

## Touring team

| Player | Position | Club | Born / National team | 1st test | 2nd test | 3rd test | 4th test |
| Roger Wakefield | Forward | Cambridge Univ. | (uncapped) | | | | |
| Jack Wallens | Fullback | | England | Y | | Y | Y |
| AF Hamilton Smythe | Three-Quarter | | (uncapped) | | | Y | |
| Robert Kelly | Three-Quarter | | Scotland | Y | Y | | Y |
| Edward Taylor | Wing | Oxford Univ. | Scotland | | Y | Y | Y |
| Carl Aarvold | Wing | Cambridge Univ. | England | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Peter Douty | Scrum-half | | Scotland | | Y | Y | |
| George McIlwaine | Flanker | Cambridge Univ. | South Africa | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| AD Allen | F. Prop | Cambridge Univ. | (uncapped) | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Granville Coghlan | Lock | Cambridge Univ. | England | | Y | | Y |
| Thomas Gubb | Lock | Oxford Univ. | South Africa | | | Y | |
| Donald Troup | Lock/Flanker | Oxford Univ. | (uncapped) | Y | | Y | |
| Eric Coley | Flanker | | England | | Y | | Y |
| Theodore Pike | Flanker | Lansdowne | Ireland | Y | | | |
| Douglas Law | Hooker | | England | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Charles Payne | Prop | | Ireland | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| David MacMyn (C) | Number 8 | London Scottish | Scotland | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Ernie Hammett | Three-Quarter | | England | Y | Y | Y | |
| James Farrell | Lock | Bective Rangers | Ireland | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Wilf Sobey | Scrum-half | Old Millhillians | England | Y | Y | | Y |
| Jules Malfroy | Scrum-half | Cambridge Univ. | New Zealand | | | | |
| Roger Spong | Fly-half | Old Millhillians | England | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Guy Wilson | Wing | | England | Y | | | Y |
* Manager: James "Bim" Baxter

### Notes

* ↑ Capped in 1928.
* 1 2 3 4 Uncapped
* 1 2 3 Capped in 1929.
* ↑ Capped in 1930.

## Matches
### Match summary

* Full list of matches played by the British Lions in Argentina:
* indicates test matches
| # | Date | Rival | City | Venue | Score |
| 1 | 24 Jul | Anglo–Argentinos | Hurlingham | Hurlingham Club | 27–0 |
| 2 | 27 Jul | San Isidro | Buenos Aires | Belgrano A.C. | 14–0 |
| 3 | 31 Jul | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Gimnasia y Esgrima | 37–0 |
| 4 | 3 Aug | GEBA / CUBA Combined | Rosario | Plaza Jewell | 24–0 |
| 5 | 7 Aug | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Gimnasia y Esgrima | 46–0 |
| 6 | 10 Aug | Belgrano / Buenos Aires Combined | Buenos Aires | Belgrano A.C. | 44–3 |
| 7 | 14 Aug | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Gimnasia y Esgrima | 34–3 |
| 8 | 15 Aug | Combinado de Clubes | Buenos Aires | Gimnasia y Esgrima | 29–3 |
| 9 | 21 Aug | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Gimnasia y Esgrima | 43–0 |

#### Notes

* ↑ Selection of Argentine players with English bornplace or origin. At those times, it was usual to play an end of season match of that nature.
* ↑ Combined team of unknown local clubs.

### First test

* 31 July 1927
| Argentina | 0–37 | British Isles |
| | Report | Try: Aarvold, Hammett, Kelly, MacMyn, Payne, Spong, Wilson (2) Con: Hammett (3) Pen: Hammett Drop: Spong |
* Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Thomas Vile (Wales)
| Argentina | British Isles |
| Argentina | | British Isles |
| César Pollano | FB | 15 | FB | Jack Wallens |
| César Vázquez | W | 14 | W | Guy Wilson |
| Arturo Rodríguez Jurado (c) | C | 13 | C | Ernest Hammett |
| Fabio Lucioni | C | 12 | C | Robert Kelly |
| W. Braddon | W | 11 | W | Carl Aarvold |
| Alberto Zappa | FH | 10 | FH | Roger Spong |
| Reginald Cooper | SH | 9 | SH | Wilf Sobey |
| Antonio Pasalagua | N8 | 8 | N8 | David MacMyn (c) |
| Antonio Hobson | F | 7 | F | Theodore Pike |
| Miguel McCormick | F | 6 | F | George McIlwaine |
| Rodolfo Serra | L | 5 | L | Donald Troup |
| Josée Cuesta Silva | L | 4 | L | Jimmy Farrell |
| Ray Cameron | P | 3 | P | Arthur Allen |
| Jorge Conrard | H | 2 | H | Douglas Law |
| Enrique Bustamante | P | 1 | P | Charles Payne |

### Second test

* 7 August 1927
| Argentina | 0–46 | British Isles |
| | | Try: Aarvold (4), Kelly (2), McIlwaine, MacMyn, Payne, Spong Con: Hammett (6) Drop: Hammett |
* Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Referee: Thomas Vile (Wales)
| Argentina | | British Isles |
| A. Jacobs | FB | 15 | FB | Peter Douty |
| Martín Ayerra | W | 14 | W | Carl Aarvold |
| Carlos Reyes | C | 13 | C | Ernest Hammett |
| Céesar Vázquez | C | 12 | C | Robert Kelly |
| G.E.F. Cooke | W | 11 | W | Edward Taylor |
| Marco Hernáandez | FH | 10 | FH | Roger Spong |
| Reginald Cooper | SH | 9 | SH | Wilf Sobey |
| Julián Sommer | N8 | 8 | N8 | David MacMyn (c) |
| Arturo Rodríguez Jurado (c) | F | 7 | F | Eric Coley |
| Roberto Botting | F | 6 | F | George McIlwaine |
| Ray Cameron | L | 5 | L | Granville Coghlan |
| José Cuesta Silva | L | 4 | L | Jimmy Farrell |
| Alfredo Riganti | P | 3 | P | Arthur Allen |
| Jorge Conrard | H | 2 | H | Douglas Law |
| Enrique Bustamante | P | 1 | P | Charles Payne |

### Third test

* 14 August 1927
| Argentina | 3–34 | British Isles |
| Goal from mark: Torino | | Try: Douty, Hamilton-Smythe (2), McIlwaine, Taylor (3) Con: Hammett (5) Pen: Hammett |
* Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Referee: Thomas Vile (Wales)
| Argentina | | British Isles |
| C. Derkheim | FB | 15 | FB | Jack Wallens |
| Norberto Escary | W | 14 | W | Carl Aarvold |
| Carlos Reyes | C | 13 | C | Ernest Hammett |
| Marco Hernández | C | 12 | C | Arthur Hamilton-Smythe |
| Llewellyn Makin | W | 11 | W | Edward Taylor |
| Francisco Torino | FH | 10 | FH | Roger Spong |
| Reginald Cooper | SH | 9 | SH | Peter Douty |
| Roberto Botting | N8 | 8 | N8 | David MacMyn (c) |
| Arturo Rodríguez Jurado (c) | F | 7 | F | Donald Troup |
| Antonio Pasalagua | F | 6 | F | George McIlwaine |
| Rodolfo Serra | L | 5 | L | Tom Gubb |
| José Cuesta Silva | L | 4 | L | Jimmy Farrell |
| Alfredo Riganti | P | 3 | P | Charles Payne |
| Vicente Grimoldi | H | 2 | H | Douglas Law |
| Enrique Bustamante | P | 1 | P | Arthur Allen |

### Fourth test

* 21 August 1927
| Argentina | 0–43 | British Isles |
| | | Try: Aarvold (3), Coghlan, Kelly (2), McIlwaine, MacMyn, Sobey, Spong, Wilson Con: Wilson (5) |
* Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Referee: Thomas Vile (Wales)
| Argentina | | British Isles |
| A. Jacobs | FB | 15 | FB | Jack Wallens |
| César Vázquez | W | 14 | W | Carl Aarvold |
| Carlos Reyes | C | 13 | C | Robert Kelly |
| Marco Hernández | C | 12 | C | Guy Wilson |
| Norberto Escary | W | 11 | W | Edward Taylor |
| Francisco Torino | FH | 10 | FH | Roger Spong |
| Reginald Cooper | SH | 9 | SH | Wilf Sobey |
| Roberto Botting | N8 | 8 | N8 | David MacMyn (c) |
| Salvador Muller | F | 7 | F | Eric Coley |
| Arturo Rodríguez Jurado (c) | F | 6 | F | George McIlwaine |
| José Cuesta Silva | L | 5 | L | Granville Coghlan |
| Rodolfo Serra | L | 4 | L | Jimmy Farrell |
| Alfredo Riganti | P | 3 | P | Arthur Allen |
| Vicente Grimoldi | H | 2 | H | Douglas Law |
| Enrique Bustamante | P | 1 | P | Charles Payne |

## Aftermath

The British Lions tour on Argentina was a huge success, with a great number of people attending the games in spite of the large defeats to the national team. The RPRU obtained a profit of almost m$n 65,000, which would be invested in mortgage titles to cost future tours with no help from the National State or other government subsidies.
In sporting terms, the tour of the British team of 1927 was of great importance for Argentine rugby, which gave a powerful boost to the expansion of the game in the country. 33 teams were registered to the Union to play at the 1927 domestic championships (four teams more than the previous edition). The boost given by the British team tour also encouraged the creation of new rugby clubs, such as Olivos in 1927 and Los Matreros one year later.