Rugby Throwbacks: 1954 All Blacks Touch Down on the Mardyke

By Student Contributor Arnaud Hug

Very few are the teams that can claim a victory against the mythical All Blacks. Since 1903, only eight countries have achieved such a feat (Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, South Africa, Wales, and Zimbabwe). Munster, though a provincial team, can boast of holding Ireland’s first win against New Zealand, thanks to their 1978 victory. This high-profile success however hides a history of confrontations between the two teams. Among them was a game at Mardyke on 13 January 1954, at a time when the Mardyke Arena did not even exist.

1954 Munster V. New Zealand Programme

Last time Munster crossed swords with the All Blacks was in 1905, when the “Originals”, the first New Zealand team to tour outside Oceania, played in Limerick.

The All Blacks vs Munster confrontation took place at Mardyke Ground in the early afternoon, with trains from Cobh or Limerick chartered for the occasion. Nearly 7,000 spectators braved snow and cold, gathering in flimsy stands to watch their local team face the antipodean visitors. The weather was even more unfavourable for the players as the heavy rain from the day before had made the pitch nearly unusable.

This game was part of the 1953-54 New Zealand Tour in the British Isles, France, and North America, a five-months journey from Hove to San Francisco by way of Edinburgh and Bordeaux. The All Blacks played 36 games from late October 1953 to March 1954, in other words, a game every four days on average! This would be unimaginable nowadays given the increasing concern for players’ health. Be that as it may, New Zealand concluded their tour with an astonishing record of 30 wins, 4 losses, and 2 draws.

The All Blacks started off their stay in Ireland in early 1954 with a draw against Ulster at Belfast (5-5) on 2 January and a win against Ireland on 9 January at Lansdowne Road (14-3). Two Munster players, Tom Reid (lock, 13 caps) and Cork-born Johnny O’Meara (scrumhalf, 22 caps) were also part of the Irish national team that had faced New Zealand a few days before. The Cork Examiner logically did not give much for Munster’s chances against the visiting team. And yet, the outsiders gave the New Zealanders quite a hard time, although eventually bowing by an honourable score of 6-3. The only two tries of the game were scored by All Blacks Doug Wilson and John Tanner, the latter ensuring his team victory in extra time.

The game has clearly not made a lasting impression. It is however nice to note that Mardyke used to host rugby union international games before losing its status as the main rugby venue in Cork to the advantage of Musgrave Park, the current home of Munster Rugby.