# 1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia

The British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1950 was the first post-war tour made by the Lions; there had not been one since 1938.
The 1950 team was the first to be nicknamed "the British Lions", rather than just "British Isles" and sported newly redesigned jerseys and a fresh style of play, managing to win 22 and draw one of 29 matches over the two nations. The Lions won the opening four fixtures before losing to Otago and Southland, but succeeded in holding the All Blacks to a nine-all draw. The Lions performed well in the remaining All Black tests though they lost all three, the team did not lose another non-test in the New Zealand leg of the tour. The Lions won all their games in Australia except for their final fixture against a New South Wales XV in Newcastle. They won both of the two tests against Australia, in Brisbane and in Sydney.
Because the team was travelling by ship, rather than by air as modern tours do, they also stopped off in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to play an unofficial game against the national team.

## Squad

Manager: L.B. Osborne (England)
| Player | Position | National team | Club/­province | Lions Tests this tour |
| Grahame Budge | Prop | Scotland | Edinburgh Wanderers | 2 |
| Tom Clifford | Prop | Ireland | Young Munster | 5 |
| Cliff Davies | Prop | Wales | Cardiff | 1 |
| John Robins | Prop | Wales | Birkenhead Park | 5 |
| Dai Davies | Prop | Wales | Somerset Police | 3 |
| Karl Mullen (c) | Hooker | Ireland | Old Belvedere | 4 |
| Roy John | Lock | Wales | Neath | 6 |
| Don Hayward | Lock | Wales | Newbridge | 3 |
| Jimmy Nelson | Lock | Ireland | Malone | 4 |
| Bob Evans | Flanker | Wales | Newport | 6 |
| Jim McCarthy | Flanker | Ireland | Dolphin | 0 |
| Bill McKay | Flanker | Ireland | Queen's University RFC | 6 |
| Vic Roberts | Flanker | England | Penryn | 0 |
| Peter Kininmonth | No. 8 | Scotland | Richmond | 3 |
| Rees Stephens | No. 8 | Wales | Neath | 2 |
| Angus Black | Scrum-half | Scotland | Edinburgh University | 2 |
| Gordon Rimmer | Scrum-half | England | Waterloo | 1 |
| Rex Willis | Scrum-half | Wales | Cardiff | 3 |
| Jack Kyle | Fly-half | Ireland | Queen's University | 6 |
| Noel Henderson | Centre | Ireland | Queen's University | 1 |
| Jack Matthews | Centre | Wales | Cardiff | 6 |
| Ivor Preece | Centre | England | Coventry | 1 |
| Bleddyn Williams | Centre | Wales | Cardiff | 5 |
| Ken Jones | Wing | Wales | Newport | 3 |
| Mick Lane | Wing | Ireland | University College Cork | 2 |
| Ranald Macdonald | Wing | Scotland | Edinburgh University | 2 |
| George Norton | Wing | Ireland | Bective Rangers | 0 |
| Doug Smith | Wing | Scotland | London Scottish | 1 |
| Malcolm Thomas | Wing | Wales | Newport | 3 |
| Billy Cleaver | Full-back | Wales | Cardiff | 3 |
| Lewis Jones | Full-back | Wales | Llanelli | 3 |

## Results

Scores and results list British Isles' points tally first.
| Opposing Team | For | Against | Date | Venue | Status |
| Nelson-Marlborough-Golden Bay-Motueka | 24 | 3 | 10 May 1950 | Nelson | Tour Match |
| Buller | 24 | 9 | 13 May 1950 | Westport | Tour Match |
| West Coast | 32 | 3 | 16 May 1950 | Greymouth | Tour Match |
| Otago | 9 | 23 | 19 May 1950 | Dunedin | Tour Match |
| Southland | 0 | 11 | 23 May 1950 | Invercargill | Tour Match |
| New Zealand | 9 | 9 | 27 May 1950 | Carisbrook, Dunedin | Test Match |
| South Canterbury | 27 | 8 | 30 May 1950 | Timaru | Tour Match |
| Canterbury | 16 | 5 | 3 June 1950 | Christchurch | Tour Match |
| Ashburton County-North Otago | 29 | 6 | 6 June 1950 | Ashburton | Tour Match |
| New Zealand | 0 | 8 | 10 June 1950 | Christchurch | Test Match |
| Waiparapa Bush | 27 | 13 | 14 June 1950 | Masterton | Tour Match |
| Hawke's Bay | 20 | 0 | 17 June 1950 | Napier | Tour Match |
| East Coast–Poverty Bay–Bay of Plenty | 27 | 3 | 21 June 1950 | Gisborne | Tour Match |
| Wellington | 12 | 6 | 24 June 1950 | Athletic Park, Wellington, | Tour Match |
| New Zealand | 3 | 6 | 1 July 1950 | Athletic Park, Wellington | Test Match |
| Wanganui | 31 | 3 | 5 July 1950 | Wanganui | Tour Match |
| Taranaki | 25 | 3 | 8 July 1950 | New Plymouth | Tour Match |
| Manawatu–Horowhenua | 13 | 8 | 12 July 1950 | Palmerston North | Tour Match |
| Waikato- Thames Valley-King Country | 30 | 0 | 15 July 1950 | Hamilton | Tour Match |
| North Auckland | 8 | 6 | 19 July 1950 | Whangarei | Tour Match |
| Auckland | 32 | 9 | 22 July 1950 | Auckland | Tour Match |
| New Zealand | 8 | 11 | 29 July 1950 | Eden Park, Auckland | Test Match |
| New Zealand Māori | 14 | 9 | 2 August 1950 | Athletic Park, Wellington | Tour Match |
| Combined Country | 47 | 3 | 9 August 1950 | | Tour Match |
| New South Wales | 22 | 6 | 12 August 1950 | Cricket Ground, Sydney | Tour Match |
| Australia | 19 | 6 | 19 August 1950 | The Gabba, Brisbane | Test Match |
| Australia | 24 | 3 | 26 August 1950 | Cricket Ground, Sydney | Test Match |
| Metropolitan Union | 26 | 17 | 29 August 1950 | Cricket Ground, Sydney | Tour Match |
| New South Wales | 12 | 17 | 2 September 1950 | Newcastle | Tour Match |
| Ceylon | 44 | 6 | 18 September 1950 | Colombo | Tour Match |
* 10 May 1950 14:45
| Combined XV (Nelson, Marlborough, Golden Bay & Motueka) | 3–24 | British Lions |
| Try: Kingi | | Try: I.Preece M.C.Thomas Pen: M.C.Thomas (6/6) |
* Nelson Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Mr E Tindill
* 13 May 1950 15:00
| Buller | 9–24 | British Lions |
| Pen: F.Neighbours 3 | | Try: M.C.Thomas K.J.Jones R.MacDonald J.W.McKay J.Matthews Con: G.W.Norton 3 Pen: G.W.Norton |
* Westport Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Mr E D Hill