British Lions v The Rest was a 1986 rugby union match that saw the British Lions play against 'The Rest' to celebrate the centenary of the International Rugby Football Board. The Rest consisted of players from Australia, France, New Zealand and South Africa. At the time, there were only eight unions affiliated to the Board, thus only players from those countries were chosen. The Rest beat the Lions 15–7 in April 1986 in the match played at Cardiff Arms Park.
British & Irish Lions selection The Lions team was selected by the Four Home Unions committee which organises Lions tours. The Lions would have toured South Africa in 1986 if the regular schedule had been followed, but in December 1985 the South African Rugby Board announced they would not be inviting the Lions side to tour South Africa the following year. Political objections to South Africa's apartheid policies including a potential boycott of the 1986 Commonwealth Games and state of emergency in South Africa at the time lay behind this decision. The Lions squad was managed by Clive Rowlands and coached by Mick Doyle. The 21 players selected were issued with Lions' blazers and ties and considered to be official British Lions.
The match The match was a midweek game in Cardiff. The wet weather marred the game, in marked contrast to the Overseas Unions match three days later played in ideal conditions at Twickenham.Scrum.com match summary
FB 15 Gavin HastingsRW 14 Trevor RinglandOC 13 Brendan MullinIC 12 John DevereuxLW 11 Rory UnderwoodFH 10 John Rutherford SH 9 Robert JonesN8 8 John BeattieOF 7 Nigel CarrBF 6 John JeffreyRL 5 Donal LenihanLL 4 Wade Dooley TP 3 Des FitzgeraldHK 2 Colin Deans (c)LP 1 Jeff WhitefootReplacements:CE 16 Mike KiernanSH 17 Richard HillFH 18 Malcolm Dacey PR 19 Iain MilneHK 20 Steve BrainLK 21 Iain Paxton Coach: Mick Doyle FB 15 Serge BlancoRW 14 Patrick EstèveOC 13 Andrew Slack (c)IC 12 Michael LynaghLW 11 John KirwanFH 10 Wayne SmithSH 9 Nick Farr-JonesN8 8 Murray MextedBF 7 Simon PoidevinOF 6 Mark ShawRL 5 Schalk BurgerLL 4 Steve CutlerTP 3 Gary KnightHK 2 Tom LawtonLP 1 Enrique RodriguezReplacements:HK 16PR 17 Danie GerberPR 18 Naas BothaLK 19 Andy DaltonLK 20 Flippie van der MerweFL 21 Steve TuynmanCoach:
See also Five Nations XV v Overseas Unions XV World XV
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