1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France

1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France
Manager	Bill McLaughlin
Tour captain(s)	John Thornett
Summary	P W D L
Total	36 19 03 14
Test match	05 02 00 03
Opponent	P W D L
Wales	1 1 0 0
Scotland	1 0 0 1
England	1 1 0 0
Ireland	1 0 0 1
France	1 0 0 1

Between October 1966 and March 1967 the Australia national rugby union team – the Wallabies – conducted a world tour on which they played five Tests and thirty-one minor tour matches. Under the captaincy of John Thornett they toured UK, Ireland, France and Canada winning nineteen matches, losing fourteen and drawing three. At one stage they failed to win in four successive matches although in the Test match against England they gave the home side its heaviest defeat in 16 years. The tour marked the climax of the successful "Thornett Era" of Australian Rugby, buoyed by the leadership skills of skipper John Thornett and the outstanding abilities of greats of the game like Ken Catchpole, Peter Johnson and Rob Heming. Dick Marks and Peter Crittle also toured and would later become among the most influential administrators of Australian rugby.^[1]

Leadership[]

Following their success on the 1963 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa, team managers Bill McLaughlin and Alan Roper, together with captain John Thornett and vice-captain Ken Catchpole again led the Wallaby tour squad.^[2] Manager Bill McLaughlin was a 1936 two Test cap Wallaby, who would later serve a term a President of the Australian Rugby Union.^[3] Alan Roper was the Assistant Manager, the traditional coaching role of the touring party. Roper had been a schoolboy coach at Riverview in Sydney in the 1950s but had coached at the top-level in Australia since at least 1962 having success with the 1963 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa and again against the Springboks in a two Test domestic series in 1965.^[4]

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 - 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 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
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	Won	24–11

Test matches[]

Wales[]

AUSTRALIA: Jim Lenehan, Alan Cardy, Dick Marks, John Brass, , Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole (c), , Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, , Rob Heming, Michael Purcell, Greg Davis, .

WALES: Terry Price, Stuart Watkins, John Dawes, Gerald Davies, Dewi Bebb, Barry John, Allan Lewis, Denzil Williams, Norman Gale, John Lloyd, Brian Price, Delme Thomas, , Haydn Morgan, Alun Pask (c).

Scotland[]

AUSTRALIA: Jim Lenehan, , Dick Marks, John Brass, Alan Cardy, Paul Gibbs, Ken Catchpole (c), , Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, , Peter Crittle, Michael Purcell, Greg Davis, .

SCOTLAND: Stewart Wilson, Sandy Hinshelwood, Jock Turner, Brian Simmers, David Whyte, David Chisolm, ALex Hastie, Norm Suddon, Frank Laidlaw, David Rollo, Peter Stagg, Peter Brown, James Fisher (c), Derrick Grant, Alasdair Boyle.

England[]

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: Jim Lenehan, Alan Cardy, Dick Marks, John Brass, , Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole (c), , Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis, , Peter Crittle, Roy Prosser, Peter Johnson,

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[]

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: Jim Lenehan, Alan Cardy, Dick Marks, John Brass, , Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole (c), , Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis, , Peter Crittle, Roy Prosser, Peter Johnson, Tony Miller

IRELAND: Tom Kiernan, Alan Duggan, Barry Bresnihan, Harold Rea, Paddy McGrath, Mike Gibson, Brendan Sherry, Philip O'Callaghan, Ken Kennedy, Thomas Moroney, Willie-John McBride, Mick Molloy, Mick Doyle, Noel Murphy (c), Ken Goodall

France[]

AUSTRALIA: Jim Lenehan, , Dick Marks, John Brass, Alan Cardy, Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole, John Thornett (c), Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, , Rob Heming, Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis, .

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[]

Name	Tests	Club	Career caps	Tour Apps	Position	Pts
Jim Lenehan	5	Wagga Wagga	24	23.[30]	Full-back	74[30]
J Francis	0
Alan Cardy	5	Drummoyne DRFC	9		Three-quarter
	5		13		Three-quarter
Dick Marks	5		17		Three-quarter
A Moore	0				Three-quarter
John Brass	5	Randwick DRUFC	12		Three-quarter
Ken Catchpole	5	Randwick DRUFC	27		Half-back
Phil Hawthorne	4	Wanderers Newcastle	21		Half-back
Paul Gibbs	1		1		Half-back
John Hipwell	0		36		Half-back
John Thornett (c)	1	Northern Suburbs Rugby Club	37		Forward
Greg Davis	5	Drummoyne DRFC	39		Forward
Peter Johnson	5	Sydney University	42		Forward
	5		18		Forward
	0				Forward
R Taylor	0				Forward
R Tulloch	0				Forward
Peter Ryan					Forward
Phil Smith					Forward
Rob Heming	2	Manly RUFC	21		Forward
Peter Crittle		Sydney University			Forward
Tony Miller	4	Manly RUFC	41		Forward
Roy Prosser	2	Northern Suburbs Rugby Club	25		Forward
	0				Forward
Michael Purcell	3		3		Forward
	3		7		Forward
D O'Callaghan	0				Forward
Jules Guerassimoff	3	University of Queensland	12		Forward
Ross Cullen	0		1		Forward
	5	University of Queensland	7		Forward

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[]