Victory Internationals Revisited
With Friday's (8 May) 75th anniversary of VE Day, Twickenham Stadium is acting as a testing centre in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rewind the clock to a chilly Saturday in November 1945, when 15 Englishmen in white long-sleeved jerseys lined up on the stadium pitch.
Facing them stood a team of New Zealanders, in black jerseys bearing the silver fern. They certainly looked like the All Blacks but they weren’t, and this did look like an international fixture but it wasn’t—at least not officially. This was the first match in a celebratory post-war series known as the Victory Internationals.
'The Victory Internationals'
Official international rugby was put on hold in 1939 and, once the war ended in 1945, there was one interim season before fixtures officially resumed in 1947. The Victory Internationals filled the void after seven long years but that November match saw no caps awarded.
The crowd of 30,000 didn’t care, roaring the players on as the England XV lost to the Khaki All Blacks, 3-18. A disappointed, England looked to restore their fortunes with matches against Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in the coming months.
The series marked the beginning of the U.K.’s journey towards rebuilding and healing after years of devastation. International rugby during the wartime years had seen national teams drawn from the different Allied services, with no caps awarded as so many international players were stationed overseas.
The Victory Internationals, despite being uncapped, featured some serious talent. The Khaki All Blacks team made up of soldiers from the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force was captained by All Black Charlie Saxton and included 16 players who went on to become All Blacks, such as future legendary coach Fred Allen. This team of soldiers only lost two matches in their 33 match tour of the U.K. and Europe, which in 1997 earned them a place in the New Zealand Sporting Hall of Fame.
The Home Nation teams featured talented players, as well. England was captained by center Jack Heaton, a pre-war cap and star of Waterloo and Lancashire. He was joined in the backline by his cousin and speedy winger Dickie Guest, prodigious kicker Nim Hall, and scrum-half Gordon Rimmer; the English pack included future RFU and Barbarians president Micky Steele-Bodger and future England captain Joe Mycock.
Scotland, the strongest side of the series included 6’3” flanker Doug Elliot, who went on to earn 29 caps and also included future SRU presidents Charlie Drummond and Frank Coutts, as well as scrum-half Gus Black, a future Lions player. Scotland was one of the only two teams to beat the Khaki All Blacks, and finished the Victory Internationals with the best record among the Home Nations, losing just once to England.
The Victory Internationals earned television and newspaper coverage, and substantial crowds - tens of thousands of spectators turned out at Murrayfield, Lansdowne Road, Cardiff Arms Park, and of course Twickenham.
The series ended in April 1946 and selection trials were held as usual that autumn, with international rugby officially resumed on January 1, 1947.
