Barbarian F.C.

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Barbarians

Nickname(s)

Baa-Baas

Union

No union

Most appearances

Tony O'Reilly (30)

Top scorer

Tony O'Reilly (38 tries)





Team colours

First match

Hartlepool Rovers 4 - 9 Barbarians
(27 December 1890)

Largest win

Scotland 31 - 74 Barbarians
(24 May 2001)

Worst defeat

Scotland 66 - 19 Barbarians
(31 May 2006)

The original Barbarians

The Barbarian Football Club, typically referred to as Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team. The Barbarians play in traditional black and white hoops, though players retain the socks from their "home" club strip.

Membership is by invitation and the only qualifications considered when issuing an invitation are that the player's rugby is of a high enough standard and secondly that he should behave himself on and off the field. Being asked to become a Barbarian is an honour and not one restricted to British players. Traditionally one uncapped player is selected for each match.

As the name suggests the club philosophy is based on attack with flowing running rugby with lots of tries, particularly in contrast to early Home Nation sides dominated by forward play.^{[citation needed]}

1 History
- 1.1 That game, that try
2 Traditional matches
3 1908 Olympic rugby union centenary celebration match
4 References
5 Matches against International sides
6 See also
7 Sources
8 External links

[edit] History

The club was inspired by one man, William Percy Carpmael. He loved the culture behind rugby tours and came up with the idea of regular short tours. At the time practically every club ceased playing in early March and there were no tours and players just 'packed up' until the following season. In 1890 he took the Southern Nomads—mainly composed of players from Blackheath—on a tour to the north.

His scheme - collecting a touring side from all sources to tackle a few leading clubs in the land - instantly received support from the best. On April 9th in Leuchters Restaurant at the Alexandra hotel in Bradford, the concept of the Barbarians was agreed upon. They beat Hartlepool Rovers 9-4 on 27th December in their first fixture.

The team was given the motto by W.J. Carey (former Bishop of Bloemfontein and an original member):

Rugby Football is a game for gentlemen in all classes, but for no bad sportsman in any class

The concept took hold over the years and the nearest thing to a club home came to be the Esplanade Hotel, Penarth, where the Barbarians always stayed on their Easter tours of Wales.

After the Second World War in 1948 the Barbarians were asked by the Home Unions to raise a side to play the touring Australian side. This started the tradition of the Final Challenge – played as the last match in a tour of Britain and Ireland by Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

However, to the regret of many fans the Barbarians tradition isn't as it used to be anymore in the professional era and many see the club as an anachronism.

[edit] That game, that try

The Barbarian Final Challenge match with the All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park on January 27, 1973 is celebrated as one of the best games of rugby football ever played. It was a game of attack and counter attack with rugby the winner.

Cliff Morgan described that try by Gareth Edwards:

Kirkpatrick to Williams. This is great stuff! Phil Bennett covering chased by Alistair Scown. Brilliant, oh, that's brilliant! John Williams. Pullin. John Dawes, great dummy. To David, Tom David, the half-way line! Brilliant by Quinnell! This is Gareth Edwards! A dramatic start! What a score!!

Gareth Edwards said of the match:

People tend only to remember the first four minutes of the game because of the try, but what they forgot is the great deal of good rugby played afterwards, much of which came from the All Blacks.

For us after the success of the 1971 Lions tour, which captured the imagination of the whole country, it was an opportunity to bring a lot of that side together again.

For the Record: The All Blacks lost 23-11 to the Barbarians (this translates to 27-13 in today's scoring system), their only defeat of the tour.

Scorers:

Barbarians: Tries: G.O. Edwards, J.F. Slattery, J.C. Bevan, J.P.R. Williams; Conversions: P. Bennett (2); Penalty: P. Bennett

All Blacks: Tries: G.B. Batty (2); Penalty: J.F. Karam

[edit] Traditional matches

The Barbarians traditionally play several matches, including:

Boxing Day fixture against Leicester Tigers
Easter Saturday fixture against Cardiff RFC/Cardiff Blues.
Mobbs Memorial match – held for Edgar Mobbs who was killed in The First World War
The Final Challenge – played as the last match in a tour of the UK by Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Due to the changes in the game in recent years, long tours have effectively disappeared from the game and there is less scope for this challenge.

They typically compete against teams from the home nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) as well as international sides.

[edit] 1908 Olympic rugby union centenary celebration match

Australia have been approached by the British Olympic Association to play the Barbarians at Wembley Stadium on 6 December 2008. The proposed match would form part of the BOA's programme of events to celebrate the centenary of the first London Olympic Games where Australia defeated a Great Britain (Cornwall) side in the final 32-3.^[1]

[edit] References

^ Australia approached to mark Cornwall v Australia centenary match

[edit] Matches against International sides

Opposing Teams	For	Against	Date	Venue	City	Competition
Wales	26	10	17/04/1915			Tour Match
Australia	9	6	31/01/1948			Final Challenge
South Africa	3	17	26/01/1952			Final Challenge
New Zealand	5	19	20/02/1954	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Australia	11	6	22/02/1958			Final Challenge
East Africa	52	12	28/05/1958		Nairobi	Tour Match
South Africa	6	0	04/02/1961			Final Challenge
Canada	3	3	17/11/1962		Gosforth	Tour Match
New Zealand	3	36	15/02/1964	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Australia	11	17	28/01/1967	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
New Zealand	6	11	16/12/1967	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
South Africa	12	21	31/01/1970			Tour Match
Scotland	17	33	09/05/1970			Tour Match
Fiji	9	29	24/10/1970			Final Challenge
New Zealand	23	11	23/01/1973	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
New Zealand	13	13	30/11/1974	Twickenham	London	Final Challenge
Australia	19	7	24/01/1976	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Canada	29	4	12/06/1976			Tour Match
British and Irish Lions	14	23	10/09/1977	Twickenham	London	Silver Jubilee Match
New Zealand	16	18	16/12/1978	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Scotland	26	13	16/12/1978	Murrayfield	Edinburgh	Tour Match
Australia	30	37	15/12/1984	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Italy	23	15	26/05/1985			Tour Match
Australia	22	40	26/11/1988	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
New Zealand	10	21	25/11/1989	Twickenham	London	Silver Jubilee Match
England	16	18	29/09/1990			Tour Match
Wales	31	24	06/10/1990			Tour Match
Argentina	34	22	17/11/1990	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Scotland	16	16	07/09/1991			Tour Match
Russia	23	27	06/06/1992			Tour Match
Australia	20	30	28/11/1992			Final Challenge
New Zealand	12	25	04/12/1993			Final Challenge
Zimbabwe	21	23	04/06/1994			Tour Match
South Africa	23	15	03/12/1994	Lansdowne Road	Dublin	Final Challenge
Scotland	45	48	17/08/1996			Tour Match
Wales	31	10	24/08/1996			Tour Match
Australia	12	39	07/12/1996			Final Challenge
Scotland	45	42	31/05/2000			Tour Match
Germany	47	19	12/08/2000			Tour Match
South Africa	31	41	31/05/2000			Final Challenge
Wales	40	38	20/05/2001			Tour Match
Scotland	74	31	24/05/2001			Tour Match
England	43	29	27/05/2001			Tour Match
Australia	35	49	28/11/2001	Millennium Stadium	Cardiff	Final Challenge
Belgium	84	10	24/05/2008	Stade Roi Baudouin( trainig groung The British school of Brussels	Brussels	Tour Match
Ireland	14	39	27/05/2008	Kingsholm	Gloucester	Tour Match
England	14	17	01/06/2008	Twickenham	London	Tour Match