It is one hundred years since the great All Blacks side, the 'Invincibles' of 1924-25. Heroes and household names for a generation of New Zealanders, forever to be remembered as the team that beat them all. But did they beat them all and why didn't they play Scotland?
In November 1923 , ten months before the tour, terms were agreed between the Rugby Football Union (England Rugby) and the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZ Rugby).
In an era of strict amateurism, it was agreed that England Rugby would finance the whole tour, paying for the travel and accommodation of thirty people. They wished the tour to be 36 matches and that no allowance be paid to players. NZ Rugby had appointed an executive committee and instructed them to negotiate and accept the terms of the tour. NZ Rugby responded to England Rugby and asked for a four shillings allowance per day per player, a shorter tour of 28 games, a rest week before the Test matches (no mid-week game), and the Test matches to be earlier in the tour (they recalled that the All Blacks of 1905 had become stale and tired by the end).
The no-allowance issue caused much debate in New Zealand with several unions asking for this to be reviewed. The previous 1905 tour had paid the players 3 shillings per day as had one of the British Isles tours to New Zealand.
In the end it was agreed that the tour would be 28 games with no allowance paid. There was a rest week before the Test matches but the England Test would be the last game of the UK tour.
It was the refusal of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) to host New Zealand that became the next talking point. Rumours circulated that the SRU thought that NZ Rugby allowed player payments-the 4 shillings per day position-was against their amateur ethos. There was a persistent rumour that because NZ Rugby had accepted hundreds of pounds in profit in 1905, at the Scot's own Inverleith Ground, the Scots were still miffed. (Scotland Rugby had at the time refused to guarantee the costs of hosting the 'Originals' and instead offered them the gate takings. When the All Blacks had proved a major attraction and sold out the ground, NZ Rugby had walked away with a pocket full of cash.)
The SRU did go on record to object to the tour being organised by England Rugby. They believed that the International Rugby Football Board should be the body in charge. A further issue expressed was that the Scottish rugby season would have barely kicked off and the selecting of a team would be difficult in the short time span available. (This didn't appear to be a problem with any other Union. Indeed the New Zealand trials were held at the beginning of May, with no First-Class matches having been played at all).
The reason was likely to be a combination of all of the above and Scotland Rugby's steadfast refusal to reconsider their decision showed their stubborn tenacity. Some of the New Zealanders had Scottish ancestry, for example All Blacks captain Cliff Porter was born in Glasgow, and no doubt felt a strong connection. At the end of the tour in one of his last speeches, All Blacks manager Stan Dean expressed his continued bemusement with Scotland Rugby.
At the end of the tour, New Zealand had played 32 and won 32. Would they have beaten Scotland too? We will never know but Scotland did record their first Grand Slam in 1925 in the new Murrayfield Stadium.
About the Author - Stephen Berg is the Curator of the New Zealand Rugby Museum. The museum, based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, was founded in 1969. It launched it's 'Invincibles All Blacks Exhibition' earlier this year.
