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Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 086: Brian Lloyd

Hooker and prop Brian Lloyd was a stalwart of Wellington Axemen club teams and Wellington representative sides for several years in the period from the late 1940s to the early 1950s.

Lloyd was a playing member of the 1947 Wellington Axemen side that won the Jubilee Cup and was later captain of his club as they competed hard for more titles in the following years.

He was also captain of the Wellington representative side – most notably in 1953 when Wellington beat Waikato 9-6 for the Ranfurly Shield and then defended it five times in one of the most electric seven-week spells ever in Wellington rugby.

He played 72 first-class matches for Wellington A between 1947-53.

In many local quarters, Lloyd was considered unlucky not to receive an All Black call-up, trialling for the national team during his career and considered for All Blacks tours to South Africa in 1949 and the U.K. in 1953/54 but not selected.

Brian John Lloyd was born on 16 April 1923 in Dannevirke.

His first-class rugby career started in 1942 when he played for the 7th Brigade Group.

He was in Wellington after the war and joined the Wellington Axemen club in 1946 and played for Wellington B that same season.

In 1947 The Axemen won their first Jubilee Cup in almost two decades. The strength of the 1947 Axemen was a superior pack and a positive attitude to play attractive rugby. Lloyd was hooker in the team that also included All Black and captain Ray Dalton and former Cantabrian and 1946 All Black Pat Rhind.

Wellington beat Onslow in the first match of the second round to open up a three-point lead on the field. They then went beast mode to beat Petone and the 1947 was as good as won.

Lloyd became a regular in the Wellington representative A team this same year, and played the first nine games of his career for his province. He scored his first try for Wellington in the last match of the 1947 season, a 29-8 win over the New Zealand Māori side.

He would go on and 11 matches in 1948, four in 1949, 10 in 1950, 13 in 1951, 13 in 1952 and 12 in 1053. He also played for the Barbarians club in 1950 and gained NZ trials in 1948 and 1953 (two), for a total of 86 first-class games.

A few highlights in games these seasons included the 39-20 win over Canterbury (he scored his first try against provincial opposition in this match) and 37-14 win over Hawke’s Bay in 1948, the 14-9 win over Auckland in 1949, 25-8 over Canterbury (Lloyd again a try-scorer) in 1950, 14-9 again over Auckland in 1951 (Lloyd a try-scorer) and twin wins over Taranaki in 1952.

Then came 1953. The Ranfurly Shield was the most sought-after trophy in New Zealand rugby. Wellington had last held it in 1931.Holders Waikato were on a 14-match winning run as defenders.

Wellington had won six from eight matches thus far, their losses were to Taranaki (6-9) and Canterbury (8-9). Their form was solid but not remarkable. In the lead-up to the Ranfurly Shield challenge, local media reported that Wellington captain Lloyd had been abused and heckled and told his team were not worthy of challenging Waikato for the Shield. He would go on to be one of Wellington’s best players on the day.

Wellington won 9-6. Lloyd had a direct hand in Wellington’s only try of the match and winning score late in the first half, after fullback Ray O’Callaghan ran back a kick and linked with support players including Lloyd, freeing up Ron Jarden for the runaway try.

Brian Lloyd being carried off the field by teammates after leading Wellington to their Ranfurly Shield win over Waikato. Photo: Evening Post.

Returning home, Lloyd’s Wellington side defended the Log o’ Wood against Southland (22-6), East Coast (42-0), Otago (9-3), Taranaki (26-3) and Auckland (23-6) – all matches capturing the joyous mood of the sporting public, with pre-match parades and big crowds at Athletic Park.

But it ended when Canterbury came to town on 19 September and took it all away. Canterbury effectively starved the Wellington backs of ball and ran in five unanswered tries to win 24-3. A magical 50 days for Wellington’s rugby and sporting fans was over.

Wellington had three more matches to complete the 1953 season, for wins over Hawke’s Bay (18-16) and Manawatu (29-8) and a defeat to Auckland (16-24).

Lloyd hung up his boots at the end of the 1953 season, aged 30.

At the time he was the second most capped Wellington player, behind Arthur Ranji Wilson. Lloyd had played 72 games for the Wellington A side, behind Wilson’s 75. Lloyd is listed in Wellington rugby history lists as having played 79 games for Wellington, but the extra seven were for the Wellington B side in games listed as fist-class fixtures.

Lloyd passed away young. He died on 30 March 1977 in Palmerston North, aged just 53.

References:

  • Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
  • Dominion and Evening Post newspaper reports – August and September 1953.
  • Swan, Arthur C.; Jackson, Gordon F. W. (1952). Wellington’s Rugby History 1870 – 1950. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed.
  • Swan, A.C. History of New Zealand Rugby Football. Vol. 2 1946-1957. Whitcombe & Tombs, Wellington 1958.
  • Palenski/Chester/McMillan. The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Rugby. Hodder Moa, Auckland 2005.
  • Quinn, Keith. Give ‘Em the Axe. 150 years of the Wellington Football Club. Wakefields Digital, Wellington 2020.
  • Swan, Arthur C.; Jackson, Gordon F. W. (1952). Wellington’s Rugby History 1870 – 1950. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed.
  • Swan, A.C. History of New Zealand Rugby Football. Vol. 2 1946-1957. Whitcombe & Tombs, Wellington 1958
  • WRFU. Wellington’s Rugby History Part 2 1951-79. WRFU publication, 1979.

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