Barbarian F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Barbarians | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Baa-Baas | |||||||||||||||||
| Union | No union | |||||||||||||||||
| Most appearances |  Tony O'Reilly (30) |
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| Top scorer | Tony O'Reilly (38 tries) |
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| First match | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hartlepool Rovers 4 - 9 Barbarians (27 December 1890) |
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| Largest win | ||||||||||||||||||
| Scotland 31 - 74 Barbarians (24 May 2001) |
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| Worst defeat | ||||||||||||||||||
| Barbarians 0 - 42 Wales (26 May 2004) |
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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.
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[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 for 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
- 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] See also
- New Zealand Barbarians
- French Barbarians
- Australian Barbarians
[edit] Sources
- Barbarians history from the BBC
- Barbarians history from scrum.com
- Video clip of "that try" on the Barbarian F.C. website
