South Africa Plays Its Second Rugby Test in Kimberley – 1891

On 29 August 1891, Kimberley hosted South Africa's second international rugby match. The match was played against the touring British Isles team — the forerunner of today’s British & Irish Lions — on the Eclectic Cricket Club grounds in Kimberley. The British Isles won the closely contested match 3–0, the only score coming from a dropped goal. South Africa failed to score, but neither side crossed the other’s try line. The Kimberley match was part of the first British rugby tour of South Africa and took place when organised rugby in the country was still in its infancy.

The setting would look very different to a modern international rugby stadium. The Eclectic Cricket Club ground had no grass and one visitor described it as a particularly hard and unpleasant playing surface. The ground was situated approximately where the Kimberley Regiment parade ground and Karen Muir Swimming Pool are found today. South Africa played in dark blue jerseys bearing a diamond on the front — an especially appropriate emblem for a team playing in the Diamond City.

Kimberley and the wider Griqualand West region were strongly represented in the South African side. Contemporary rugby pioneer Barry “Fairy” Heatlie later recalled that as many as ten local players appeared in the team. The match became even more difficult for South Africa after Kimberley player Wilfred Trenery was injured and carried from the field early in the second half. With substitutions not permitted, South Africa completed much of the match with only 14 players. Despite the disadvantage, the home side conceded only the single dropped goal.

Did You Know?

South Africa did not yet play in the familiar Springbok green jersey in 1891. During the Kimberley Test, the South African players wore navy blue jerseys with a diamond emblem on the chest. The famous Springbok identity developed later as South African rugby became more formally organised. The referee for the Kimberley match was Paul Ross-Frames, president of the Griqualand West Rugby Union. He would later become the first president of the South African Rugby Board and also served as a director of De Beers.

Kimberley and the Birth of South African Rugby

The 1891 match shows how important Kimberley had become in South African sporting life, just two decades after the discovery of diamonds transformed the region. The city’s rapidly growing population, wealth and strong sporting clubs allowed Kimberley to host an international fixture at a time when very few South African towns possessed the facilities or sporting organisations capable of doing so. The first Test of the 1891 series had been played at Port Elizabeth. Kimberley hosted the second, and Cape Town the third. South Africa lost all three matches, but the tour helped establish international rugby in the country. Within a generation, South African teams would become among the strongest in world rugby.

Kimberley’s Story Continues

The international rugby match played in Kimberley on 29 August 1891 is another reminder that the Diamond City’s influence extended far beyond mining. As Kimberley grew during the diamond era, it became an important centre of South African sport, culture, politics and innovation. Hosting one of the country's very first international rugby matches is part of that wider story.