1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France
1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France | |||||
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Manager | Bill McLaughlin | ||||
Tour captain(s) | John Thornett | ||||
Summary |
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Total |
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Test match |
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Opponent |
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Wales |
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Scotland |
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England |
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Ireland |
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France |
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Between October 1966 and March 1967 the
Leadership
Following their success on the
John Thornett an exceptional leader of men, was the squad captain.[5] Thornett had at the tour's beginning already made 36 Test appearances for Australia, 15 as captain. He had been entrenched as Wallaby captain since 1962, leading the side more times than any player to that point in Australia's rugby history. He was making his eight Wallaby tour, his fourth as the team leader. With Thornett sidelined by illness early in the tour, the Wallabies were captained by half back Ken Catchpole in all but the French Test.[6] Catchpole is considered Australia's greatest scrumhalf.[7]
- Manager: Bill McLaughlin
- Assistant-Manager (Coach): Alan Roper
- Captain: John Thornett
- Vice-Captain: Ken Catchpole
Players
31 players toured with the 5th Wallaby squad. The team set out with 30 players, however, hooker Ross Cullen was sent home after the third tour match and was replaced by Dick Taylor. The squad had three veterans of the 4th Wallaby Tour - fullback Jim Lenehan, forward Tony Miller and skipper John Thornett - and comprised the strong nucleus of players of the Thornett Era who had taken Australia to great heights, including scrumhalf Ken Catchpole, hooker Peter Johnson, lineout specialist Rob Heming and breakaways Jules Guerassimoff and Greg Davis. Young rising stars included John Brass and John Hipwell. A number of the players would continue on to influential roles in rugby administration, including centre Dick Marks and forward Peter Crittle.[8]
Early setbacks
After the Oxford University match – the 2nd match of the tour – Queensland hooker Ross Cullen was accused of biting the ear of Oxford front-rower Ollie Waldron. Waldron's ear needed treatment and McLaughlin acted to ban Cullen from the tour as punishment. Cullen was put on the next flight to Sydney and never played for his country again.[3] The side was further rocked when skipper John Thornett contracted impetigo in a scrum, and dropped himself for the first Test.[9]
Matches of the tour
- Scores and results list Australia's points tally first.
Date | Opponent | Location | Result | Score | |
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1 | 19 October | North-Eastern Counties[3] | Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne | Lost | 14–17 |
2 | 22 October | Midland Counties East[10] | Leicester | Lost | 9–17 |
3 | 26 October | Oxford University RFC[3] | Iffley Road, Oxford | Won | 11–9 |
4 | 29 October | Neath & Aberavon[11] | The Gnoll, Neath | Won | 9–3 |
Match | 2 November | Ebbw Vale & Abertillery[12] | Ebbw Vale | Won | 25–6 |
Match | 5 November | Cardiff[13] | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | Lost | 8–14 |
Match | 12 November | London Counties[14] | Twickenham Stadium, London | Lost | 9–14 |
Match | 16 November | Glasgow - Edinburgh[15] | Hughenden Stadium , Glasgow
|
Won | 18–11 |
Match | 19 November | South of Scotland[16]
|
Mansfield Park, Hawick | Lost | 0–13 |
Match | 23 November | Newport[17] | Rodney Parade, Newport | Drew | 3–3 |
Match | 26 November | Swansea[18] | St Helens Ground , Swansea
|
Lost | 8–9 |
Match | 29 November | Pontypool, Cross Keys & Newbridge[19] | Pontypool Park, Pontypool | Lost | 3–12 |
Test | 3 December | Wales | Cardiff Arms Park | Won | 14–11 |
Match | 7 December | Leinster Rugby[20] | Lansdowne Road, Dublin | Won | 9–3 |
Match[1] | 13 December | The North[21] | Linksfield Stadium, Aberdeen | Won | 6–3 |
Test | 17 December | Scotland | Murrayfield Stadium | Lost | 5–11 |
Match | 21 December | North Western Counties[22] | White City Stadium, Manchester | Lost | 3–8 |
Match | 31 December | Southern Counties | Iffley Road , Oxford
|
Won | 27–6 |
Match | 3 January | Cornwall & Devon[23] | Camborne, Cornwall | Won | 11–6 |
Test | 7 January | England | Twickenham Stadium | Won | 23–11 |
match | 11 January | Midland Counties West[24] | Moseley, Birmingham | Lost | 9–17 |
match | 14 January | Western Counties[25] | Memorial Stadium, Bristol | Lost | 0–9 |
Match | 17 January | Llanelli[26]
|
Stradey Park, Llanelli | Lost | 11–0 |
Test | 21 January | Ireland | Lansdowne Road | Lost | 8–15 |
Match | 25 January | Munster[27] | Musgrave Park, Cork | Lost | 8–11 |
Match | 28 January | Barbarians[28] | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | Won | 17–11 |
Test | 11 February | France | Stade de Columbes
|
Lost | 14–20 |
Match | 16 February | University of B.C[29] | Varsity Stadium, Vancouver | Won | 11–6 |
Match | 18 February | British Columbia[29] | Empire Stadium , Vancouver
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Won | 24–11 |
Test matches
Wales
3 December 1966 |
Wales | 11–14 | Australia |
(3 – 1t) Dawes (3 – 1t) Morgan (5 – 1pg, 1g) T Price | Cardy (3 – 1t) Lenehan (6 – 1t, 1pg) Hawthorne (5 – 1fg, 1g) |
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 50,000 Referee: KD Kelleher (IRFU) |
AUSTRALIA:
WALES: (c).
Scotland
17 December 1966 |
Scotland | 11–5 | Australia |
(3 – 1t) Boyle (3 – 1t) Chisolm (5 – 1pg, 1g) Wilson | Brass (3 – 1t) Lenehan (2 – 1g) |
Murrayfield, Edinburgh Attendance: 45,000 Referee: M Joseph (WRU) |
AUSTRALIA:
SCOTLAND: Stewart Wilson, Sandy Hinshelwood, Jock Turner, Brian Simmers, David Whyte, David Chisholm, Alex Hastie, Norm Suddon, Frank Laidlaw, David Rollo, Peter Stagg, Peter Brown, James Fisher (c), Derrick Grant, Alasdair Boyle.
England
7 January 1967 |
England | 11–23 | Australia |
(3 – 1t) Ashby (8 – 1g, 2pg) Hosen | Brass (3 – 1t) Catchpole (3 – 1t) Hawthorne (12 – 1pg, 3fg) Lenehan (5 – 1g,1pg) |
Twickenham, London Attendance: 60,000 Referee: KD Kelleher (IRFU) |
The Test marked Australia's best performance of the tour. With their halves Phil Hawthorne and Ken Catchpole in control the Wallabies gave England its heaviest defeat in 16 years.
AUSTRALIA:
ENGLAND: Roger Hosen, Keith Savage, Colin McFadyean, Christopher Jennins, Peter Glover, Richard Sharp (c), Clive Ashby, Phil Judd, George Sherriff, Budge Rogers, Dick Greenwood, Peter Larter, Mike Davis, Stephen Richards, Mike Coulman
Ireland
21 January 1967 |
Ireland | 15–8 | Australia |
(3 – 1t) Duggan (3 – 1t) Duggan (3 – 1pg) Kiernan (6 – 2fg) Gibson | Boyce (3 – 1t) Lenehan (3 – 1g) Hawthorne (3 – 1fg) |
Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 54,000 Referee: M Joseph (WRU) |
Ireland's first try was scored by Alan Duggan from a crossfield kick by Rea. A drop-goal followed by Ireland's Gibson from broken play deep in Australia's territory. Kiernan soon after kicked a penalty from out wide following an Australian infringement. Gibson followed with another drop-goal after a scrum close to the Australian line. Five minutes before half-time Hawthorne responded in kind and put the Wallabies on the board. The 3–9 scoreline at the break reflected Ireland's first-half dominance.
Australia pressed Ireland for a period after the break but a defensive lapse saw Gibson swoop for Ireland. Then the Australian back-line chimed and Boyce scored in the corner. Jim Lenehan kicked a tremendous conversion from the sideline putting Australia back in the match with the score 8–12. Ireland withstood the Australian effort in the final minutes before Gibson again showed coolness under pressure kicking another dropped goal for a 15–8 victory to Ireland.
AUSTRALIA:
IRELAND: Tom Kiernan, Alan Duggan, Barry Bresnihan, Harry Rea, Paddy McGrath, Mike Gibson, Brendan Sherry, Phil O'Callaghan, Ken Kennedy, Al Moroney, Willie John McBride, Mick Molloy, Mick Doyle, Noel Murphy (c), Ken Goodall
France
11 February 1967 |
) |
AUSTRALIA:
FRANCE: Jean Gachassin, Bernard Duprat, Jean-Pierre Mir, Claude Dourthe, Christian Darrouy (c), Guy Camberabero, Lilian Camberabero, Jean-Claude Berejnoi, Jean-Michael Cabanier, Arnaldo Gruarin, Benoît Dauga, Walter Spanghero, Michel Sitjar, Christian Carrère, André Herrero
Touring party
- Tour Manager: Bill McLaughlin
- Assistant Manager : Alan Roper
- Captain: John Thornett
- Vice-captain : Ken Catchpole
Squad
Published sources
- Howell, Max (2005) Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains, Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ
External links
- Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies (Part 1) documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017 (YouTube)
- Randwick and the 1966/7 Wallaby Tour documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017 (YouTube)
References
- ^ Meares and Howell; Wallaby Legends; Lothian Books, 2005
- ^ Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
- ^ a b c d "Scrum.com October on this day". Scrum.com. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ Roper at The Roar
- ^ Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
- ^ Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
- ^ Will Genia evokes memories of Ken Catchpole in Wallabies' win over Wales; Greg Growden; www.espn.com.au; 12 Nov 2017
- ^ Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
- ^ Will Genia evokes memories of Ken Catchpole in Wallabies' win over Wales; Greg Growden; www.espn.com.au; 12 Nov 2017
- ^ Midland Counties program
- ^ Neath-Aberavon program
- ^ "Ebbw Vale program". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ Cardiff program
- ^ "Scrum.com November on this day". Scrum.com. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ Glasgow program
- ^ Sth Scotland program
- ^ Newport program
- ^ Swansea program
- ^ Pontypool program
- ^ Leinster program
- ^ Midlands First and Last. John Methven. H.B. Rutherford publishers. 1989.
- ^ Nth West Counties program
- ^ Cornwall/Devon program
- ^ Midland Counties program
- ^ Western Counties program
- ^ Llanelli program
- ^ Munster program
- ^ Barbarians program
- ^ a b Vancouver program
- ^ a b Howell pp. 179–181