# 1938 British Lions tour to South Africa

The 1938 British Isles tour to South Africa was the fourteenth tour by a British Isles team and the sixth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950.
The tour party was led by Ireland's Sam Walker and managed by Col. Hartley, and took in 24 matches. Of the 24 games, 19 were against club or invitational teams, three were test matches against the South African national team and the other two games were outside South Africa against Rhodesia. The British Isles lost two and won one of the test matches, and in the non-test games lost five and won sixteen.
Like many of the early Lions parties, the tour did not represent the best of British and Irish rugby talent. Obvious omissions included Wilf Wooller and Cliff Jones.

## Touring party

* Manager: Col. Bernard Charles Hartley

## Match summary

Complete list of matches played by the British Isles in South Africa:
Test matches
| # | Date | Rival | City | Venue | Result | Score |
| 1 | 11 Jun | Border Bulldogs | East London | | Won | 11–8 |
| 2 | 15 Jun | Griqualand West | Kimberley | | Won | 22–9 |
| 3 | 18 Jun | Western Province | Cape Town | Newlands | Lost | 8–11 |
| 4 | 22 Jun | South Western Districts | Oudtshoorn | Recreation Ground | Won | 19–10 |
| 5 | 25 Jun | Western Province | Cape Town | Newlands | Lost | 11–21 |
| 6 | 29 Jun | Western Transvaal | Potchefstroom | Olën Park | Won | 26–9 |
| 7 | 2 Jul | Orange Free State | Bloemfontein | | Won | 21–6 |
| 8 | 6 Jul | Orange Free State Country | Kroonstad | Loubser Park | Won | 18–3 |
| 9 | 9 Jul | Transvaal | Johannesburg | Ellis Park | Lost | 9–16 |
| 10 | 13 Jul | Northern Transvaal | Pretoria | Caledonian Ground | Won | 20–12 |
| 11 | 16 Jul | Cape Province | Kimberley | | Won | 10–3 |
| 12 | 20 Jul | Rhodesia | Salisbury | | Won | 25–11 |
| 13 | 23 Jul | Rhodesia | Bulawayo | | Won | 45–11 |
| 14 | 30 Jul | Transvaal | Johannesburg | Ellis Park | Won | 17–9 |
| 15 | 6 Aug | South Africa | Johannesburg | Ellis Park | Lost | 12–26 |
| 16 | 13 Aug | Northern Province | Durban | Kingsmead Cricket | Lost | 8–26 |
| 17 | 17 Aug | Natal | Pietermaritzburg | | Won | 15–11 |
| 18 | 20 Aug | Border Bulldogs | East London | | Won | 19–11 |
| 19 | 24 Aug | North-East Districts | Burgersdorp | | Won | 42–3 |
| 20 | 27 Aug | Eastern Province | Port Elizabeth | St George's Park | Won | 6–5 |
| 21 | 3 Sep | South Africa | Port Elizabeth | St George's Park | Lost | 3–19 |
| 22 | 10 Sep | South Africa | Cape Town | Newlands Stadium | Won | 21–16 |
| 23 | 17 Sep | Western Province Universities | Cape Town | Newlands Stadium | Won | 19–16 |
| 24 | 21 Sep | Western Province Country | Cape Town | Newlands Stadium | Lost | 7–12 |
Balance :
| Pl | W | D | L | Ps | Pc |
| 24 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 414 | 284 |

## Test details
### First Test

* 8 August 1938
| South Africa | 26–12 | British Isles |
| Try: Harris, Williams (2), Louw Con: Brand (4) Pen: Brand (2) | Report | Pen: Jenkins (3), Taylor |
* Ellis Park, Johannesburg Attendance: 36,000 Referee: A.M. Horak
| South Africa | British Isles |
South Africa: G.H Brand, F.G Turner, G.P Lochner, P de Wet, D.O Williams, T.A Harris, D.H Craven (Captain), S.C Louw, J.W Lotz, M.M Louw, B.A du Toit, W.F Bergh, A.R Sherriff, W.E Bastard, L.C Strachan
British Isles: V..G.J Jenkins, E.J Unwin, D.J Macrae, H.R McKibbon, E.L Jones, F.J Reynolds, J.L Giles, M.E Morgan, C.R.A Graves, G.T Dancer, S Walker (Captain), R.B Mayne, R. Alexander, W.G Howard, A.R