1924–25 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France

1924–25 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France
Manager	S.S. Dean
Tour captain(s)	Cliff Porter
Summary	P W D L
Total	32 32 0 0
Test match	4 4 0 0
Opponent	P W D L
Ireland	1 1 0 0
Wales	1 1 0 0
England	1 1 0 0
France	1 1 0 0

The Invincibles was a nickname given to the 1924–25 New Zealand rugby union team which toured the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Canada. The team was captained by Cliff Porter, and numbered among its top players George Nepia and brothers Cyril and Maurice Brownlie.

Between September 1924 and February 1925, the team played 32 games including four test matches, one each against Ireland, England, Wales, and France. They won all 32 games, scoring 838 points and only having 116 points scored against them.

Cliff Porter was tour captain, but played only 17 of the 32 games due to injury, including just one test (against France). During the remaining games, tour vice-captain Johnstone Richardson (Jock) took over the captaincy.

Results

Scores and results list New Zealand's points tally first.

Opposing Team	For	Against	Date	Venue	Status
Devonshire	11	0	13 September 1924	Rectory Ground, Devonport	Tour match
Cornwall	29	0	18 September 1924	Recreation Ground, Camborne	Tour match
Somersetshire	6	0	20 September 1924	Weston-super-Mare Ground, Weston-super-Mare	Tour match
Gloucestershire	6	0	25 September 1924	Kingsholm, Gloucester	Tour match
Swansea	39	3	27 September 1924	St Helen's, Swansea	Tour match
Newport	13	10	2 October 1924	Athletic Ground, Newport	Tour match
Leicester	27	0	4 October 1924	Welford Road, Leicester	Tour match
North Midlands	40	3	8 October 1924	Villa Park, Birmingham	Tour match
Cheshire	18	5	11 October 1924	Birkenhead Park, Birkenhead	Tour match
Durham	43	7	15 October 1924	Roker Park, Sunderland	Tour match
Yorkshire	42	4	18 October 1924	Lidget Green, Bradford	Tour match
Lancashire	23	0	22 October 1924	Old Trafford, Manchester	Tour match
Cumberland	41	0	25 October 1924	Brunton Park, Carlisle	Tour match
Ireland	6	0	1 November 1924	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Test match
Ulster	28	6	5 November 1924	Ravenhill, Belfast	Tour match
Northumberland	27	4	8 November 1924	Gosforth	Tour match
Cambridge University	5	0	12 November 1924	Grange Road, Cambridge	Tour match
London Counties	31	6	15 November 1924	Twickenham, London	Tour match
Oxford University	33	15	20 November 1924	Iffley Road, Oxford	Tour match
Cardiff	16	8	22 November 1924	National Stadium, Cardiff	Tour match
Wales	19	0	29 November 1924	St Helen's, Swansea	Test match
Llanelli	8	3	2 December 1924	Stradey Park, Llanelli	Tour match
East Midlands	31	7	6 December 1924	Cricket Ground, Northampton	Tour match
Warwickshire	20	0	11 December 1924	Highfield Road, Coventry	Tour match
Combined Services	25	3	13 December 1924	Twickenham, London	Tour match
Hampshire	22	0	17 December 1924	Fratton Park, Portsmouth	Tour match
London Counties	28	3	27 December 1924	Rectory Field, London	Tour match
England	17	11	3 January 1925	Twickenham, London	Test match
Selection Francais	37	8	11 January 1925	Stade Olynpique, Colombes	Tour match
France	30	6	18 January 1925	Stade des Ponts Jumeaux, Toulouse	Test match
Vancouver	49	0	14 February 1925	Cricket Oval, Vancouver	Tour match
Victoria (Canada)	68	4	18 February 1925	Victoria Ground, Vancouver Island	Tour match

Touring party

Management

• Manager: S.S. Dean (Wellington)
• Captain: Cliff Porter

Full-backs

• George Nepia (Hawke's Bay)

Three-quarters

• Handley Brown (Taranaki)
• Gus Hart (Taranaki)
• Fred Lucas (Auckland)
• Alan Robilliard (Canterbury)
• Snowy Svenson (Wellington)
• Jack Steel (West Coast)

Five-eighths

• Ces Badeley (Auckland)
• Bert Cooke (Auckland)
• Neil McGregor (Canterbury)
• Mark Nicholls (Wellington)
• Lui Paewai (Hawke's Bay)

Half-backs

• Bill Dalley (Canterbury)
• Jimmy Mill (Hawke's Bay)

Wing forwards

• Jim Parker (Canterbury)
• Cliff Porter (Wellington)

Forwards

• Cyril Brownlie (Hawke's Bay)
• Maurice Brownlie (Hawke's Bay)
• Leslie Cupples (Bay of Plenty)
• Quentin Donald (Wairarapa)
• Ian Harvey (Wairarapa)
• Bill Irvine (Hawke's Bay)
• Read Masters (Canterbury)
• Brian McCleary (Canterbury)
• Abe Munro (Otago)
• Jock Richardson (Southland)
• Ron Stewart (South Canterbury)
• Alf West (Taranaki)
• Son White (Southland)

The test-matches

Ireland

1 November 1924

Ireland	0–6	New Zealand
		Try: Snowy Svenson Pen: Nicholls

Lansdowne Road Attendance: 25,000 Referee: AE Freethy (Wales)

Ireland: 15.William Crawford, 14.Henry Stephenson, 13.George Stephenson, 12.James Gardiner, 11.Tom Hewitt, 10.Frank Hewitt, 9.John McDowell, 8.James Clinch, 7.Robert Crichton, 6.Norman Brand, 5.William Collis, 4.Alex Spain, 3.Dick Collopy, 2.Thomas McClelland, 1.Jim McVicker

New Zealand: 15.George Nepia, 14.Snowy Svenson, 13.Frederick Lucas, 12.Bert Cooke, 11.Augustine Hart, 10.Marcus Nicholls, 9.Bill Dalley, 8.Les Cupples, 7.Son White, 6.Jock Richardson (c), 5.Read Masters, 4.Maurice Brownlie, 3.Bull Irvine, 2.Quentin Donald, 1.James Parker

Wales

29 November 1924

Wales	0–19	New Zealand
		Try: Irvine (2) M Brownlie Svenson Con: Nicholls Pen: Nicholls

St Helens Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Col. JS Brunton (England)

Wales: Tom Johnson (Cardiff), Ernie Finch (Llanelli), Albert Jenkins (Llanelli), Albert Stock (Newport), Rowe Harding (Swansea), Jack Wetter (Newport) capt., Eddie Williams (Neath), Bobby Delahay (Cardiff), Dai Parker (Swansea), Jack Gore, (Blaina), Charlie Pugh (Maesteg), Steve Morris (Cross Keys), Cliff Williams (Llanelli), Douglas Marsden-Jones (London Welsh), Dai Hiddlestone (Neath)

New Zealand: G Nepia, J Steel, AE Cooke, KS Svenson, NP McGregor, MF Nicholls, J Mill, JH Parker, WR Irvine, Q Donald, RR Masters, LF Cupples, CJ Brownlie, MJ Brownlie, J Richardson (capt.)

England

3 January 1925

England	11–17	New Zealand
Try: Cove-Smith, Kittermaster Con: Conway Pen: Corbett		Try: Steel, Svenson MJ Brownlie, Parker, Con: Nicholls Pen: Nicholls

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Albert Freethy

England:15.Jim Brough, 14.Richard Hamilton-Wickes, 13.Vivian Davies, 12.Leonard Corbett, 11.John Gibbs, 10.Harold Kittermaster, 9.Arthur Young, 8.Tom Voyce, 7.Geoffrey Conway, 6.Freddie Blakiston, 5.Ron Cove-Smith, 4.Wavell Wakefield (cap.), 3.Ronald Hillard, 2.Sam Tucker, 1.Reg Edwards
New Zealand:15.George Nepia, 14.John Steel, 13.Bert Cooke, 12.Marcus Nicholls, 11.Snowy Svenson, 10.Neil McGregor, 9.Jimmy Mill, 8.Jock Richardson (cap.), 7.Son White, 6.Cyril Brownlie , 5.Read Masters, 4.Maurice Brownlie, 3.Bull Irvine, 2.Quentin Donald, 1.James Parker,

References

• Chester, R., Palenski, R., and McMillan, N. (1998) The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Rugby. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett.