# 1910 British Lions tour to South Africa

The 1910 British Isles tour to South Africa was the eighth tour by a British Isles rugby union team and the fourth to South Africa. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950. As well as South Africa, the tour included a game in Bulawayo in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
Led by Ireland's Tommy Smyth and managed by Walter E. Rees and W Cail the tour took in 24 matches. Of the 24 games, 21 were against club or invitational teams and three were test matches against the South African national team. The British Isles team lost two and won one test match against the Springboks.
Seven players from Newport RFC were selected for the tour which was for a time the record for players selected from one club for a British Lions Tour.
The Lions jerseys switched from red to blue, with white shorts and red socks. This combination would remain until 1950.

## Touring party

* Managers: Walter E. Rees and William Cail
| Name | Position | Club | Country | 1° Test | 2° Test | 3° Test | Tests played | Non-tests played |
| Stanley Williams | Full Back | Newport | England | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 13 |
| Mel Baker | Three-Quarter | Newport | Wales | | | Y | 1 | 11 |
| Reg Plummer | Three-Quarter | Newport | Wales | | | | 0 | 12 |
| Maurice Edward Neale | Three-Quarter | Bristol | England | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 11 |
| Alexander Foster | Three-Quarter | City of Derry | Ireland | Y | Y | | 2 | 15 |
| C.G. Timms | Three-Quarter | Edinburgh University | Scotland | | | | 0 | 11 |
| Jack Jones | Three-Quarter | Newport | Wales | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 17 |
| Jack Spoors | Three-Quarter | Bristol | England | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 16 |
| Kenneth Berridge Wood | Three-Quarter | Leicester | England | Y | | Y | 1 | |
| Noel Forbes Humphreys | Half back | Tynedale | Wales | | | | 0 | 5 |
| Arthur Norman McClinton | Half back | North of Ireland | Ireland | | | | 0 | 8 |
| G.A.M. Isherwood | Half back | Cheshire and Sale | England | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 16 |
| Eric Milroy | Half back | Watsonians | Scotland | | | | 0 | 4 |
| Tommy Smyth (captain) | Forward | Newport | Ireland | | Y | Y | 2 | 16 |
| William Tyrrell | Forward | Queen's University | Ireland | | | | 0 | 10 |
| Dyne Fenton Smith | Forward | Richmond | England | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 20 |
| Phil Waller | Forward | Newport | Wales | Y | Y | Y | 3 | |
| James Reid-Kerr | Forward | Greenock Wanderers | Scotland | | | | 0 | 0 |
| R.C. Stevenson | Forward | St Andrews University RFC | Scotland | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 12 |
| L.M. Speirs | Forward | Watsonians | Scotland | | | | 0 | 0 |
| E. O'D Crean | Forward | Liverpool | England | | | | 0 | 4 |
| Harry Jarman | Forward | Newport | Wales | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 14 |
| O.J.S. Piper | Forward | Cork Constitution | Ireland | Y | | | 1 | 15 |
| William Albert Robertson | Forward | Edinburgh University | Scotland | | | | 0 | 10 |
| Charles Pillman | Forward | Blackheath | England | | Y | Y | 2 | 14 |
| William Joseph Ashby | Forward | Queen's College | Ireland | | | | 0 | 2 |
| F.G. Handford | Forward | Kersal | England | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 15 |
| Tom Richards | Forward | Bristol | Australia | Y | Y | | 2 | 10 |
| Jim Webb | Forward | Abertillery | Wales | Y | Y | Y | 3 | 7 |

### Notes

* ↑ Timms was never capped for Scotland.
* ↑ Jones had also been on the 1908 tour of Australia and New Zealand.
* 1 2 3 Uncapped
* ↑ Speirs played no games nor did he appear in the official photograph of the tour, but he is listed as having been selected.

## Results

Complete list of matches played by the British Isles in South Africa:
Test matches
| | Date | Opponent | Location | Result | Score |
| 1 | 11 June | South Western Districts | Mossel Bay | Won | 14–4 |
| 2 | 15 June | Western Province (County) | Cape Town | Won | 11–3 |
| 3 | 18 June | Western Province (College) | Cape Town | Won | 9–3 |
| 4 | 22 June | Western Province (Town) | Cape Town | Drew | 11–11 |
| 5 | 25 June | Western Province | Cape Town | Won | 5–3 |
| 6 | 29 June | Griqualand West | Kimberley | Lost | 0–8 |
| 7 | 2 July | Transvaal | Johannesburg | Lost | 8–27 |
| 8 | 5 July | Pretoria | Pretoria | Won | 17–0 |
| 9 | 7 July | Transvaal (County) | Johannesburg | Won | 45–4 |
| 10 | 9 July | Transvaal | Johannesburg | Lost | 6–13 |
| 11 | 13 July | Natal | Pietermaritzburg | Won | 18–16 |
| 12 | 16 July | Natal | Durban | Won | 19–13 |
| 13 | 20 July | Orange River County | Bloemfontein | Won | 12–9 |
| 14 | 23 July | Griqualand West | Kimberley | Lost | 3–9 |
| 15 | 27 July | Cape Colony | Kimberley | Lost | 0–19 |
| 16 | 30 July | Southern Rhodesia | Bulawayo | Won | 24–11 |
| 17 | 6 August | South Africa | Wanderers Ground, Johannesburg | Lost | 10–14 |
| 18 | 10 August | North Eastern Districts | Burgersdorp | Drew | 8–8 |
| 19 | 13 August | Border | East London | Won | 30–10 |
| 20 | 17 August | Border | King Williams Town | Drew | 13–13 |
| 21 | 20 August | Eastern Province | Port Elizabeth | Won | 14–6 |
| 22 | 27 August | South Africa | Crusaders Ground, Port Elizabeth | Won | 8–3 |
| 23 | 3 September | South Africa | Newlands, Cape Town | Lost | 5–21 |
| 24 | 6 September | Western Province | Cape Town | Lost | 0–8 |
Balance :
| Pl | W | D | L | Ps | Pc |
| 24 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 290 | 236 |