1975 England rugby union tour of Australia
Encyclopedia
The 1975 England rugby union tour of Australia was a series of eight matches played by the England national rugby union team
in Australia in May and June 1975. England won only four of the eight matches and lost both internationals to Australia
. In addition to the two test defeats they also lost to the Sydney and New South Wales Country representative teams.
The England selectors boldly, and in the circumstances quite rightly, chose an experimental squad for this, England's first tour of Australia
. That the experiment was not altogether successful, nor the tour the team building exercise it had been intended to be, was largely due to the extraordinary number of injuries suffered by the England squad, frequently to key players.
Replacements
Replacements
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
in Australia in May and June 1975. England won only four of the eight matches and lost both internationals to Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
. In addition to the two test defeats they also lost to the Sydney and New South Wales Country representative teams.
The England selectors boldly, and in the circumstances quite rightly, chose an experimental squad for this, England's first tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. That the experiment was not altogether successful, nor the tour the team building exercise it had been intended to be, was largely due to the extraordinary number of injuries suffered by the England squad, frequently to key players.
Matches
- Scores and results list England's points tally first.
Opposing Team For Against Date Venue Status Western Australia RugbyWARugbyWA, formerly known as the Western Australia Rugby Union, is the governing body for rugby union in the state of Western Australia, Australia. In 2004, RugbyWA successfully secured the fourth Australian Super 12 licence, entering a team in the expanded Super 14 competition from 2006, called the...
64 12 10/05/1975 Perry Lakes Stadium Perry Lakes StadiumPerry Lakes Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium adjacent to Perry Lakes in Floreat, Western Australia, Australia. It was built and funded by the State Government and the City of Perth in 1962 for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and had a nominal capacity of 30,000...
, PerthPerth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
Tour Match Sydney 10 14 13/05/1975 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Tour Match New South Wales New South Wales WaratahsThe New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...
29 24 17/05/1975 Sydney Sports Ground Sydney Sports GroundThe Sydney Sports Ground was a Stadium and Dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was surrounded by a grass covered hill, giving it a capacity of more than...
, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
Tour Match New South Wales Country XV 13 14 20/05/1975 Goulburn Goulburn, New South WalesGoulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...
Tour Match Australia Australia national rugby union teamThe Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
9 16 24/05/1975 Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
First Test Test match (rugby union)Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....Queensland Queensland RedsThe Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...
29 3 27/05/1975 Ballymore Ballymore StadiumBallymore is the name of a rugby union stadium situated in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. It was the home of Queensland Rugby Union, and used to be the home ground for the Queensland Reds and the Brisbane Strikers Football Club. The Queensland Reds have since moved to Suncorp Stadium...
, BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
Tour Match Australia Australia national rugby union teamThe Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
21 30 31/05/1975 Ballymore Ballymore StadiumBallymore is the name of a rugby union stadium situated in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. It was the home of Queensland Rugby Union, and used to be the home ground for the Queensland Reds and the Brisbane Strikers Football Club. The Queensland Reds have since moved to Suncorp Stadium...
, BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
Second Test Test match (rugby union)Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....Queensland Country 42 6 03/06/1975 Townsville Sports Reserve, Townsville Townsville, QueenslandTownsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
Tour Match
Touring party
- Manager: A.O. Lewis
- Assistant Manager: J. Burgess
- Captain: A. NearyTony NearyAnthony "Tony" Neary is a former England international rugby union player. He represented England at U18's basketball as well as rugby. He attended De La Salle College, Salford and Liverpool University before qualifying as a solicitor....
(Broughton Park) 26 Caps
Full Backs
- P.E. Butler (Gloucester) No Caps
- A.J. HignellAlastair HignellAlastair James Hignell CBE is a former English rugby union international and cricketer.Hignell is the son of a former Great Britain athlete.-Sporting career:...
(Cambridge University) No Caps
Three-Quarters
- A.W. Maxwell (New Brighton) No Caps
- A.J. MorleyAlan MorleyAlan John Morley MBE is a former English rugby union player. He played a record number of 519 times for Bristol Rugby, scoring 384 tries, between 1968 and 1986. He holds the world record for the number of tries scored in first class rugby, at 479...
(Bristol) 5 Caps - P.S. PreecePeter PreecePeter Preece is a former rugby union international who represented England from 1972 to 1976.-Early life:Peter Preece was born on 15 November 1949 in Meriden...
(Coventry) 10 Caps - K. Smith (Roundhay) 4 Caps
- P.J. SquiresPeter SquiresPeter John Squires is an English former rugby union player and a first-class cricketer, who played in forty nine first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1972 and 1976....
(Harrogate) 12 Caps - D.M. WyattDerek WyattDerek Murray Wyatt FRSA is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey from 1997 to 2010, having previously been a councillor in the London Borough of Haringey.-Early life:...
(Bedford) No Caps
Half-Backs
- W.B. AshtonBrian Ashton (rugby player)William Brian Ashton MBE is a former rugby union player and the former Head Coach of the England and Ireland national rugby union teams.-Biography:...
(Orrell) No Caps - W.N. BennettNeil Bennett (Rugby player)Neil Bennett is a rugby union player who played at Fly Half for England between 1975 and 1979.During his career at international level he won 7 England caps and scored 2 tries and 23 test points....
(Bedford) 1 Cap - P Kingston (Gloucester) No Caps
- A.J. Wordsworth (Cambridge University) No Caps
Replacements
- J.P.A.G. Janion (Richmond) 10 Caps
- A.G.B. OldAlan OldAlan Gerald Bernard Old is an English Rugby Union player who had 16 caps for England.Old made his debut for England against Wales in 1972 and made a further 15 appearances with his final one being against France in 1978. His 16 caps included only 4 wins, but these were against New Zealand, South...
(Middlesbrough) 12 Caps - I.N. Orum (Roundhay) No Caps
Forwards
- W.B. BeaumontBill BeaumontWilliam "Bill" Blackledge Beaumont CBE was captain of the England rugby union team at a time when they struggled to win games. His greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand Slam. He played as a lock...
(Fylde) 1 Cap - P.J. BlakewayPhil BlakewayPhilip John "Phil" Blakeway is a former international rugby union player. He toured South Africa in 1980 with the British and Irish Lions and at the time played club rugby for Gloucester Rugby.-Notes:...
(Gloucester) No Caps - M.A. Burton (Gloucester) 8 Caps
- S.A. Callum (Upper Clapton) No Caps
- F.E. CottonFran CottonFrancis Edward Cotton is a former English rugby union prop forward who played for England and the British Lions. His clubs included Coventry R.F.C. and Sale. After retiring, he remained in rugby administration and founded a clothing company...
(Coventry) 14 Caps - N.D. Mantell (Rosslyn Park) No Caps
- A. NearyTony NearyAnthony "Tony" Neary is a former England international rugby union player. He represented England at U18's basketball as well as rugby. He attended De La Salle College, Salford and Liverpool University before qualifying as a solicitor....
(Broughton Park) 26 Caps - J.V. PullinJohn PullinJohn Vivian Pullin is a former England international rugby union player. A hooker, he played club rugby for Bristol RFC and captained the England national rugby union team for which he played 42 times between 1966 and 1976...
(Bristol) 39 Caps - J.A.G.D. Raphael (Northampton) No Caps
- A.G. RipleyAndy RipleyAndrew George Ripley, OBE was an English rugby union international, who represented England from 1972 to 1976, and the British Lions on their unbeaten 1974 tour of South Africa.-Early life:...
(Rosslyn Park) 19 Caps - D.M. Rollitt (Bristol) 9 Caps
- R.M. UttleyRoger UttleyRoger Miles Uttley OBE MA is a former English rugby union player.- Career :He played 23 games for England both in the second row and the back row, 5 times as captain, 4 tests in the Lions back row on the undefeated 1974 tour to South Africa.Roger was born in Blackpool, and played first for...
(Gosforth) 11 Caps - R.M. Wilkinson (Bedford) No Caps
Replacements
- P.J. DixonPeter DixonPeter John Dixon is a former England international rugby union player. He toured New Zealand in 1971 with the British and Irish Lions and at the time played club rugby for Harlequins. He played for Oxford University RFC in four consecutive Varsity Matches from 1967 to 1970...
(Gosforth) 13 Caps - B.G. Nelmes (Cardiff) No Caps