Rugby Tourists, 1956 Style!

摘要

Today, we are used to several international rugby teams visiting our country each year. They usually stay for a few weeks, play a few test matches, and sometimes one or two lesser games, and are then gone. It was not always like that. In earlier days international teams did not come our way with such frequency, and seldom did more than one team visit in one year. When a team did visit, it usually stayed for several months, thoroughly touring the country and playing both mid-week and Saturday games against provincial sides, with international test matches against the All Blacks being played on Saturdays, usually towards the end of the tour. One such tour was that of the 1956 Springboks from South Africa. The team arrived in New Zealand in early June, and did not leave our shores until late-August. During that time they toured the country, and for a significant portion of that visit they travelled by special railcar. In the North Island "Standard" railcar RM33 was used, and in the South Island "Vulcan" railcar RM52. Both railcars had been freshly overhauled and, amongst other things, had been fitted with internal public address systems.