Sporting & General Medals, Badges & Awards - Rugby &

Lot 3255    SESSION 12 (4.30PM WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER)    Sporting & General Medals, Badges & Awards - Rugby & Ru

Estimate $5,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au

ALL BLACKS, Not Beaten, 1924-25, fob medal, struck in gold (9ct, 10.8g, 26mm), by G. & S.Co. Ltd. (The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, London), hallmark for Birmingham 1924, scroll and ring top suspension, reverse inscribed 'L.F.Cupples/Presented/By/Hon.Sir Arthur Meyers'. Uncirculated, in a fitted case of Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, 112 Regent St., London, W., an excessively rare presentation medal from the famous 'Invincibles' tour to the British Isles in 1924-25.

Leslie Frank Cupples (8 February 1898 - 10 August 1972).

Born and educated in Otautau, Cupples, who had won the Military Medal in World War I, was a farmer at Tokaanu from where he won selection for the East Taupo sub-union and Bay of Plenty from 1920-23. He came to national prominence with his game for Bay of Plenty against the 1921 Springboks, some South Africans describing him as "the best forward in New Zealand".

Les Cupples was rewarded the following season with selection for the North Island and then in the All Blacks side that played three games in New Zealand and five in Australia.

The following season he played against the visiting New South Wales side and a year later was chosen for the 1924/5 tour of the United Kingdom, France and Canada after an impressive final trial. Though his selection was not universally popular Cupples had a successful tour, playing in 18 of the 32 matches. On tour he played in the tests against Ireland and Wales, won 6-0 and 19-0 respectively, and scored his only try against Leicester.

A very strong and fit loose forward Cupples, remembered by players of his day as a dedicated footballer who did his training before breakfast, stood 6" 3" (1.91m) with a playing weight of about 14 stone (89kg).

On returning to New Zealand he played out the 1925 season for his club and sub union before retiring.

In all he played 29 games for New Zealand but a mere 6 for Bay of Plenty, a reflection of the limited programme undertaken by rural unions at that time.

His most memorable provincial game was the 1922 Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawkes Bay, lost 16-17 after the Bay of Plenty halfback missed a conversion from in front of the posts right on full time.
(Courtesy Bob Luxford and the New Zealand Rugby Museum).

1924-25 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France (Courtesy Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia):

The Invincibles was a nickname given to the 1924-25 New Zealand rugby union team which toured the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Canada. The team was captained by Cliff Porter, and numbered among its top players George Nepia and brothers Cyril and Maurice Brownlie. During the test against England Cyril Brownlie was sent off by the Welsh referee Albert Freethy, the first player to be sent off from a test.

Between September 1924 and February 1925, the team played 32 games including four test matches, one each against Ireland, England, Wales, and France. They won all 32 games, scoring 838 points and only having 116 points scored against them.

Cliff Porter was tour captain, but played only 17 of the 32 games due to injury, including just one test (against France). During the remaining games, tour vice-captain Johnstone Richardson (Jock) took over the captaincy.
With research.