1997 Wales rugby union tour of North America

The Wales national rugby union team toured North America in July 1997, playing two tests against the United States and one against Canada, as well as three tour matches across the two countries. Wales won all six matches on the tour, including a 94–3 victory over an all-star team representing USA Rugby South in the opening game. They beat the United States in both Wilmington, North Carolina, and San Francisco, California, before beating Canada by the tour's narrowest margin (three points) in Markham, Ontario.

1997 Wales rugby union tour of North America
Coach	Kevin Bowring
Tour captain	Gwyn Jones
Summary	P W D L
Total	06 06 00 00
Test match	03 03 00 00
Opponent	P W D L
United States	2 2 0 0
Canada	1 1 0 0
Tour chronology

Wales named a weakened squad as their best and more experienced players were selected in the 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa. Several uncapped players were included in the squad, and coach Kevin Bowring gave test debuts to full-back Kevin Morgan and prop Chris Anthony against the United States, and flanker Rob Appleyard and lock Steve Moore against Canada.

Squad

Head coach Kevin Bowring named a 30-man squad for Wales' tour of North America. Hooker Jonathan Humphreys, who had captained the team since September 1995, was left out of the squad, who were instead led by flanker Gwyn Jones. Several players were missing, having been called up to the British Lions squad for their tour to South Africa, including the two-time reigning Welsh Player of the Year, scrum-half Rob Howley. As a result, the Wales squad that travelled to North America had a youthful bias and featured several uncapped players, including Pontypridd full-back Kevin Morgan, who had recently received the Most Promising Player in Wales award.

Name	Position	Club	Notes
Gwyn Jones	Back row	Cardiff	Captain
Garin Jenkins	Hooker	Swansea
Robin McBryde	Hooker	Llanelli
Chris Anthony	Prop	Swansea
Ian Buckett	Prop	Swansea
Aled Griffiths	Prop	Pontypridd	Injury replacement for Christian Loader
Christian Loader	Prop	Swansea
Lyndon Mustoe	Prop	Cardiff
Gareth Llewellyn	Lock	Harlequins
Steve Moore	Lock	Swansea
Mike Voyle	Lock	Llanelli
Neil Watkins	Lock	Neath
Chris Wyatt	Lock	Llanelli
Rob Appleyard	Back row	Swansea
Andrew Gibbs	Back row	Llanelli
Nathan Thomas	Back row	Bath
Steve Williams	Back row	Neath
Paul John	Scrum-half	Pontypridd
Andy Moore	Scrum-half	Richmond
Lee Jarvis	Fly-half	Cardiff
Arwel Thomas	Fly-half	Swansea
Neil Boobyer	Centre	Llanelli
Leigh Davies	Centre	Cardiff
Jason Lewis	Centre	Pontypridd
Gareth Thomas	Centre	Bridgend
Dafydd James	Wing	Bridgend
Wayne Proctor	Wing	Llanelli
Nigel Walker	Wing	Cardiff
Gareth Wyatt	Wing	Pontypridd
Matt Back	Full-back	Swansea
Kevin Morgan	Full-back	Pontypridd

Matches

Date	Venue	Home	Score	Away
1 July 1997	Davidson College, Charlotte, North Carolina	South All Stars	3–94	Wales
5 July 1997	Brooks Field, Wilmington, North Carolina	United States	20–30	Wales
8 July 1997	Balboa Park, San Francisco, California	USA Development XV	23–55	Wales
12 July 1997	Balboa Park, San Francisco, California	United States	23–28	Wales
15 July 1997	Mohawk Sports Park, Hamilton, Ontario	Ontario	10–54	Wales
19 July 1997	Fletcher's Fields, Markham, Ontario	Canada	25–28	Wales

South All Stars vs Wales

1 July 1997 19:00

South All Stars	3–94	Wales
Drop: De Kock		Try: G. Wyatt (4) James (3) Morgan (2) Jarvis (2) Moore C. Wyatt G. Thomas Con: Jarvis (12)

Davidson College, Charlotte, North Carolina

United States vs Wales (1st test)

5 July 1997

United States	20–30	Wales
Try: Takau Anitoni Con: Alexander (2) Pen: Alexander (2)		Try: A. Thomas (2) Walker Jones Con: A. Thomas (2) Pen: A. Thomas (2)

Brooks Field, Wilmington, North Carolina Referee: Ken McCartney (Scotland)

FB 15 Chris Morrow RW 14 Vaea Anitoni OC 13 Tomasi Takau IC 12 Mark Scharrenberg LW 11 Brian Hightower FH 10 Matt Alexander SH 9 Andre Bachelet N8 8 Dan Lyle (c) OF 7 Jay Wilkerson BF 6 Jason Walker RL 5 Luke Gross LL 4 Dave Hodges TP 3 Ray Lehner HK 2 Tom Billups LP 1 Christopher Lippert Replacements: FB Kurt Shuman CE Alatini Saulala FL Mika McLeod Coach: Jack Clark

FB 15 Kevin Morgan RW 14 Wayne Proctor OC 13 Leigh Davies IC 12 Gareth Thomas LW 11 Nigel Walker FH 10 Arwel Thomas SH 9 Paul John N8 8 Steve Williams OF 7 Gwyn Jones (c) BF 6 Andrew Gibbs RL 5 Mike Voyle LL 4 Gareth Llewellyn TP 3 Lyndon Mustoe HK 2 Garin Jenkins LP 1 Christian Loader Replacements: PR Chris Anthony N8 Nathan Thomas Coach: Kevin Bowring

USA Development XV vs Wales

8 July 1997

USA Development XV	23–55	Wales
Try: Holtzman Shuman Con: Flecton (2) Pen: Flecton (3)		Try: Back (2) Lewis (2) Moore (2) James (2) Appleyard Con: Jarvis (5)

Balboa Park, San Francisco, California

United States vs Wales (2nd test)

12 July 1997

United States	23–28	Wales
Try: Anitoni Walker Con: Alexander (2) Pen: Alexander (3)		Try: Proctor (3) A. Thomas Con: A. Thomas Pen: A. Thomas (2)

Balboa Park, San Francisco, California Referee: Chuck Muir (Scotland)

FB 15 Chris Morrow RW 14 Vaea Anitoni OC 13 Tomasi Takau IC 12 Mark Scharrenberg LW 11 Brian Hightower FH 10 Matt Alexander SH 9 Andre Bachelet N8 8 Jason Walker OF 7 Jay Wilkerson BF 6 Dan Lyle (c) RL 5 Dave Hodges LL 4 Luke Gross TP 3 Ray Lehner HK 2 Tom Billups LP 1 Christopher Lippert Replacements: CE Alatini Saulala HK Sean Allen FL Mika McLeod FL Scott Yungling Coach: Jack Clark

FB 15 Kevin Morgan RW 14 Wayne Proctor OC 13 Leigh Davies IC 12 Gareth Thomas LW 11 Nigel Walker FH 10 Arwel Thomas SH 9 Paul John N8 8 Nathan Thomas OF 7 Gwyn Jones (c) BF 6 Andrew Gibbs RL 5 Mike Voyle LL 4 Gareth Llewellyn TP 3 Lyndon Mustoe HK 2 Robin McBryde LP 1 Ian Buckett Replacements: PR Chris Anthony FL Steve Williams Coach: Kevin Bowring

Ontario vs Wales

15 July 1997

Ontario	10–54	Wales
Try: Pagano Con: Pettigrew Pen: Pettigrew		Try: G. Wyatt (3) James (2) Jarvis (2) Appleyard Boobyer Con: Jarvis (3) Pen: Jarvis

Mohawk Sports Park, Hamilton, Ontario

Canada vs Wales

19 July 1997

Canada	25–28	Wales
Try: Schmid (2) Ross Con: Rees (2) Pen: Rees Drop: Ross	Report	Try: Proctor G. Thomas Davies Con: A. Thomas (2) Pen: A. Thomas (3)

Fletcher's Fields, Markham, Ontario Referee: Santiago Borsani (Argentina)

FB 15 Bobby Ross RW 14 Winston Stanley OC 13 Dave Lougheed IC 12 Scott Bryan LW 11 Scott Stewart FH 10 Gareth Rees SH 9 John Graf N8 8 Mike Schmid OF 7 John Hutchinson BF 6 Al Charron RL 5 John Tait LL 4 Mike James TP 3 Rod Snow HK 2 Kevin Morgan LP 1 Eddie Evans Replacements: SH 16 Rob Card WG 17 Ron Toews PR 18 Richard Bice LK 19 Tony Healy FL 20 Ian Gordon HK 21 Mark Cardinal Coach: Patrick Parfrey

FB 15 Kevin Morgan RW 14 Wayne Proctor OC 13 Leigh Davies IC 12 Gareth Thomas LW 11 Nigel Walker FH 10 Arwel Thomas SH 9 Paul John N8 8 Steve Williams OF 7 Rob Appleyard BF 6 Andrew Gibbs RL 5 Mike Voyle LL 4 Steve Moore TP 3 Lyndon Mustoe HK 2 Garin Jenkins LP 1 Ian Buckett Replacements: CE 16 Neil Boobyer FH 17 Lee Jarvis SH 18 Andy Moore N8 19 Nathan Thomas PR 20 Chris Anthony HK 21 Robin McBryde Coach: Kevin Bowring

Touch judges: Victor Rabuffetti Ganzio (Argentina) Ricardo Lanastra (Argentina)

References

General

• Cleary, Mick, ed. (1998). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1998–99. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7653-6.
• Owen, Arwyn, ed. (1997). Rugby Annual for Wales 1997–98. Cardiff: Welsh Brewers. ISBN 0-9524041-3-3.

Specific