New Zealand Barbarians

The New Zealand Barbarian Rugby Club Inc., nicknamed the Barbarians, or Baa-Baas, is a rugby union club headquartered in Kingsland, Auckland. The idea came from the concept of the Barbarian F.C. The Barbarians played their home matches at Eden Park.

New Zealand Barbarian
Full nameNew Zealand Barbarian Rugby Club Inc.
UnionNew Zealand Rugby
Nickname(s)Baa-Baas
Founded1937; 87 years ago (1937)
LocationKingsland, Auckland
Ground(s)Eden Park (Capacity: 50,000)
Coach(es)Scott McLeod
Team kit
Official website
www.barbarianrugby.co.nz

They have been a part of New Zealand Rugby since the team was founded in 1937 by two ex-All Blacks, Ronald Bush and Hubert McLean, who captained their first game (against Auckland) in 1938.[1]

Tours

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Jubilee Tour Party 1987

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To mark the club's 50th Jubilee, an unbeaten five-match tour to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland was undertaken in March 1987, two months before the inaugural World Cup, where they recorded wins against Leicester (33-3), Wanderers (Dublin) (34-3), Ballymena (29-4), Cornwall (63-9). They also produced a devastating performance in Cardiff, beating the Barbarians 68-16. There were thirteen All Blacks in the party of 22 and a further six future caps, with Wayne Smith being drafted in from Italy as a replacement for one game. New Zealand were emerging from a turbulent 1986, the year of the rebel Cavaliers tour to South Africa and the "Baby Blacks" tests, the subsequent reintegration of the Cavaliers into the Bledisloe Cup games, and the infamous Battle of Nantes. Eight players who had survived November in Nantes toured, as did four Cavaliers.

  • Management staff was: Peter Murdoch (Coach), Kevin Barry (Team Manager), D.E.Kirk (Auckland) Captain, Clive Murdoch (Masseur)
  • Back Threes: G.J.L. Cooper (Auckland), C.I.Green (Canterbury), C, D.J.Halligan (Waikato), J.J.Kirwan (Auckland)
  • Centres: B.J. McCahill (Auckland), N.J.Schuster (Wellington), J.T.Stanley (Auckland)
  • Half backs: S.J.Bachop (Otago), I.B.Deans (Canterbury), W.R. Smith (Canterbury)
  • Front rows: J.A.S.Buchan (Canterbury), W.G.Bunn (Taranaki), B.T.Fitzpatrick (Auckland), S.C.McDowall (Auckland), B.McGrattan (Wellington)
  • Locks: B.L.Anderson (Wairapa-Bush), M.Weedon (Bay of Plenty), G.W.Whetton (Auckland)
  • Back rows: M.R.Brewer (Otago), M.N.Jones (Auckland), A.J.Whetton (Auckland), D.A.Williams (Wellington)

Subsequent NZ Barbarian trips to the UK were undertaken in 1996 and 2003.

1996 tour

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The November 1996 matches were part of the ERFU's 125th celebrations with a warm-up fixture against the North Of England played in the snow at Huddersfield ahead of a "test" against England the week after.John Hart's 24-man squad, captained by Sean Fitzpatrick featured 19 All Blacks and four future All Blacks and won both fixtures, an 86-0 win against the North of England for whom twelve first choice selections had withdrawn from the team on the preceding Wednesday and a 34-19 victory against England at Twickenham Stadium.

  • Back three: J.T Lomu (Counties), C.M.Cullen (Manawatu), G.M. Osborne (North Harbour), J.Vidiri (Counties)
  • Centres: N.A.Ieremia (Wellington)*, M.R.Ranby (Manawatu)F, L.Stensness (Auckland)*
  • Half-backs: J.W.Marshall (Canterbury), A.P Mehrtens (Canterbury), C.J Spencer (Auckland), M.D. Robinson (North Harbour)
  • Front Row: M.R. Allen (Taranaki), O.M.Brown (Auckland), M.Collins (Waikato), S.B.T. Fitzpatrick (Capt.) (Auckland)* A.D.Oliver (Otago)
  • Locks: R.M. Brooke (Auckland), I.D. Jones (Auckland), G.L.Taylor (Northland)
  • Back Row: A.F.Blowers (Auckland), C.S.Davis (Manawatu), M.N.Jones (Auckland), D.G.Mika (Auckland), T.C.Randell (Otago)

2003 tour

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The 2003 match played at Twickenham was viewed at the time as something of a festival affair to celebrate the home country's recent RWC success. Falling as it did during the British, Irish and European club championships, both sides struggled to assemble "full strength squads" indeed the England XV featured only five RUWC cup winners.Contractual difficulties with clubs releasing players resulted in the NZ Barbarians side being deemed - in comparison to previous touring parties - as at best only "competitive" and the England XV side ran out very comfortable winners, 42-17.

  • Back three: G.P."Jorrie" Muller (Lions & South Africa), R.L Gear (North Harbour), E.Taione (Newcastle Falcons & Tonga), Diego Albanese (Leeds Tykes & Argentina)
  • Centres: D.L Gibson (Leicester & NZ), K.R.Lowren (Waikato), T.A. Vili (Border Reivers & Samoa)
  • Half backs: D.D. Lee (Otago), G.W. Jackson (Bay of Plenty), B.Willis (Harlequins)
  • Front rows: A.K.Hore (Taranaki), M.R.Hurter (Newcastle Falcons & South Africa), D.T Manu (Waikato), S.A.A."Ace" Tiatia (Harlequins & Samoa), T.D.Woodcock (North Harbour)
  • Locks: T.V.Flavell (North Harbour), T.S. Mailing (Otago), N.M.C. Maxwell (Canterbury)
  • Back row: J.Blackie (Otago), S.Harding (Otago), T.C. Randell (Saracens & NZ) (Capt), X.J.Rush (Auckland)

The New Zealand Barbarians were also selected for the All Blacks trial replacing the 'Possibles XV' and in 2009 a New Zealand Barbarians under 85 kg Team toured Australia winning both of their games. The team played against the Māori All Blacks in 2010 at Okara Park, losing 31 – 37 before a crowd of 9,000. A Middleweight Barbarian side was also selected in 2011 to play four games. In 2015, the New Zealand Barbarians won over the Māori All Blacks 17–34.

Other squads

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Provincial Barbarians squad to play the British and Irish Lions on 3 June 2017,[2] during the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand:

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Club/province Union
Sam Anderson-Heather Hooker (1988-02-15) 15 February 1988 (age 36)   Otago   New Zealand
Andrew Makalio Hooker (1992-01-22) 22 January 1992 (age 32)   Tasman / Crusaders   New Zealand
Tolu Fahamokioa Prop (1991-05-05) 5 May 1991 (age 33)   Wellington   Tonga
Oliver Jager Prop (1995-06-05) 5 June 1995 (age 29)   Canterbury / Crusaders   Ireland
Marcel Renata Prop (1994-01-24) 24 January 1994 (age 30)   Auckland   New Zealand
Aidan Ross Prop (1995-10-25) 25 October 1995 (age 29)   Bay of Plenty   New Zealand
Josh Goodhue Lock (1995-06-13) 13 June 1995 (age 29)   Northland / Blues   New Zealand
Keepa Mewett Lock (1987-05-10) 10 May 1987 (age 37)   Bay of Plenty   New Zealand
James Tucker Lock (1991-08-05) 5 August 1991 (age 33)   Waikato / Chiefs   New Zealand
Lachlan Boshier Flanker (1994-11-16) 16 November 1994 (age 30)   Taranaki / Chiefs   New Zealand
Mitchell Dunshea Flanker (1995-11-18) 18 November 1995 (age 29)   Canterbury / Crusaders   New Zealand
Matt Matich Flanker (1991-07-10) 10 July 1991 (age 33)   Northland   New Zealand
Peter Rowe Number 8 (1981-12-07) 7 December 1981 (age 42)   Wanganui   New Zealand
Jack Stratton Scrum-half (1994-08-21) 21 August 1994 (age 30)   Canterbury   New Zealand
Richard Judd Scrum-half (1992-05-18) 18 May 1992 (age 32)   Bay of Plenty   New Zealand
Bryn Gatland Fly-half (1995-05-10) 10 May 1995 (age 29)   North Harbour   New Zealand
Dwayne Sweeney Centre (1984-08-08) 8 August 1984 (age 40)   Waikato   New Zealand
Inga Finau Centre (1994-08-21) 21 August 1994 (age 30)   Taranaki   New Zealand
Jonah Lowe Wing (1996-05-09) 9 May 1996 (age 28)   Hawke's Bay   New Zealand
Sevu Reece Wing (1997-02-13) 13 February 1997 (age 27)   Waikato   Fiji
Sam Vaka Wing (1992-10-26) 26 October 1992 (age 32)   Counties Manukau   New Zealand
Luteru Laulala Fullback (1995-05-30) 30 May 1995 (age 29)   Counties Manukau   New Zealand
Junior Ngaluafe Fullback (1991-11-24) 24 November 1991 (age 32)   Southland   New Zealand

Representatives

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Playing kit and symbol

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The New Zealand Barbarians wear scarlet red jerseys with white shorts. The symbol of the team is a white leaping lamb.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ron Palenski; Rod Chester; Neville McMillan (2005). The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand Rugby (4th ed.). Hodder Moa, Auckland. p. 138. ISBN 1 86971 026 6.
  2. ^ Provincial Barbarians squad confirmed
  3. ^ "All Blacks website". stats.allblacks.com. All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby. 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
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