Wellington victorious and thrashed
Both teams have acquired the Lions tag. The touring team from the Four Home Unions did so originally as a nickname. Later the provincial team of the Wellington RFU took the tag. The teams have met down the years, before either was called or called itself Lions.
The mammoth cats of prehistoric Britain were well and truly dead when rugby came along, and the big cats have never roamed New Zealand. But both sides like the pride and regal power associated with the name.
The rugby union based in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, was nine years old when the first team came from Britain, back in 1888. They played Wellington at the Basin Reserve, Wellington even then in black jerseys. The tourists scored a try and converted it, which meant it was a goal. Thomson dropped a goal for Wellington, which meant that the match was drawn.
Great Britain came again in 1904 but did not play Wellington though it played New Zealand in the capital.
The 1908 team was called the Anglo-Welsh. They played Wellington at Athletic Park. Wellington won 19-13, scoring five tries to three.
In 1930 the tourists were nicknamed the Lions. They won their first four matches before Wellington jolted them and beat them 12-8 in a thriller at Athletic Park. The Lions put their strongest team into the field.
The ground was packed on a cold day when, inevitably, the wind blew. Wellington played in black and gold hoops instead of their usual jerseys and played with the wind in the first half.
The Lions scored first when flyhalf Roger Spong broke and Jack Morley scored. But a drop, a penalty by red-headed fullback Heazlewood and a converted try gave Wellington a lead of 12-5 at half-time. Cliff Porter, the Wellington captain, dropped the goal which was then worth four points. The backs and forwards combined to give McPherson a try which Heazlewood converted.
The second half belonged to the touring Lions but time and again they were frustrated, sometimes by the defence, sometimes by their own bungling, and it as just before the end that they scored at all when Frank Prentice kicked a penalty goal.
The crowd rushed onto the field to carry off their heroes and in a gesture of rare magnanimity the Union allowed the players to keep their jerseys.
The Lions of the Fifties were adventurous, expansive and popular, They came to Wellington in 1959 and gave the home side a hiding , winning 21-6, scoring five tries to nil. One of the try-scorers was a prop - Syd Millar of Ballymena, now the chairman of the International Rugby Board. What is more he had to run a long way to score it as he picked up a loose ball.
Wellington were having a good season, and again the Lions fielded a strong side. The weather was good, and the Lions ran Wellington ragged. Malcolm Price scored first - the first of his two tries - but two penalty goals by Russell Watt gave the home side a 6-3 lead at the break. In the second half the Lions played with what Wellingtonians call a breeze, and ran away with the game.
The 1966 Lions had played four and lost two by the time they came to windy Wellington. It was a good day, "breeze" notwithstanding, and again the ground was packed, the Millard Stad rising precariously. This time they went home happier as the home side won comfortably - 20-6. They were simply better at all facets of the game. It was one of eight matches the Lions lost on the tour.
1971 was the Year of the Lion - in rugby if not in China, and they thrashed Wellington. The Lions scored nine tries in winning 47-9. The day was dull and got duller and duller for the home side who were down 18-3 by the break. But then they were the Lions of JPR Williams, Barry John, Mike Gibson, David Duckham, Gareth Edwards and the hero of the day, Welsh wing John Bevan who scored four tries.
Phil Bennett's Lions of 1977 also won at Athletic Park but more modestly - 13-6 with a sole try by busy Terry Cobner, who charged down a clearing kick, footed ahead and scored an unconverted try.. But then it was a miserable day - cold, wet and inevitably windy, bad enough to keep the crowd down. The players sought to break out of the cold with heated exchanges early on.
In 1983 the teams met in a mid-week match on a drab day. Wellington led for much of the match but the Lions came back, scored three tries to two and won 27-19.
Playing for Wellington that day was Murray Mexted who will, undoubtedly, be commentating on Wednesday's match this year.
In 1993, when the tour was shorter than before, the Lions did not play Wellington at all - unthinkable as that may seem.