The 1926–27 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain was a tour by the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team ( Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

. The team lost a series 0–3 against the Lions and also lost a test match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The toured was marred by player dissatisfaction and a strike involving seven players.

Squad

The touring party was;John Coffey ''Strike! The Tour That Died of Shame'', Scratching Shed Publishing 2012. *Fullbacks: Charles Gregory and

Craddock Dufty Calvin Thomas Craddock Dufty (10 March 1900 – 1 August 1955) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand. Early life Dufty had sisters; Louisa Esther (1901-26), Annie Elizabeth (1902-62), Jessie May (1909-37), and Gwendol ...

*Wing three-quarters:

Lou Brown Lou Brown (born 1978) is an English singer-songwriter who received the 2003 Southwest's Young Achiever of the Year Award and took part in the Prince's Trust's "Soundlive" programme, where she was offered the opportunity to learn skills from prof ...

, George Gardiner, Jim Parkes and Jim Sanders. *Centre three-quarters: Ben Davidson and

Wally Desmond Walter Leslie Desmond (born 6 January 1906) was a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played at representative level for New Zealand ( Heritage № 184), and Wellington, and at club level for Le ...

. *Five-eighths: Hec Brisbane,

Hector Cole Hector Stanley Esmond Cole was a New Zealand rugby league player who played for the New Zealand in 1926 and 1927. He made 14 appearances for them and was Kiwi number 183. He also played several times for Auckland and represented the Ponsonby U ...

, Jack Kirwan and Stan Webb. *Halfbacks: Frank Delgrosso and Wilson Hall. *Forwards:

Bert Avery Herbert "Bert" Avery (1895–1966) was a New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played representative rugby league (RL) for New Zealand. Early years Born in 1895 in Whakapirau Northland, Avery originally played r ...

(c), Alphonsus Carroll, Bill Devine,

Frank Henry Frank Sherman Henry (December 15, 1909 – August 25, 1989) was an American equestrian. He competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in team eventing and silver medals in individual eventing and team dressage, becoming t ...

, Ernie Herring, Len Mason, Neil Mouat, Lou Petersen, Arthur Singe, Harry Thomas, Jack Wright and Joe Menzies. Henry Vivan was originally named in the forwards but had to withdrew because of a family bereavement. He was replaced by Joe Menzies. Vivian never played for the New Zealand side.

The strike

The 1926–27 New Zealand tour of Britain involved several skirmishes within the Kiwi party. Problems began on the boat journey over, with disputes developing about aspects of the trip and a rift developed between tour manager and coach, Australian Ernest Mair, and seven forwards. The disputes continued once the party arrived in Britain, with one of the rebels being involved in a street fight with another member of the tour party after the opening match. In mid-November, following further disturbances which almost led to the tour party being evicted from their

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

hotel, it was decided that coach Mair would withdraw from team selection and match tactics for a period of four weeks. The tour, and the costly disputes, continued with the rebels eventually setting sail for home a week earlier than their colleagues. Three months later all seven players were banned for life by the New Zealand authorities. New Zealand did not visit Europe again until 1939. The seven suspended were Singe, Mouat, Wright, Carroll, Devine, Petersen and English-born Henry, who remained in England after the tour and was allowed to play on by the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

Fixtures

The New Zealand side played a total of five test matches while on their European tour and one test in New Zealand before leaving.

Aftermath

The "Auckland All Blacks" lost to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

24-21 at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 1 ...

in April after the teams return.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1926-1927 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain New Zealand national rugby league team tours

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

New Zealand rugby league tour New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain

New Zealand rugby league tour New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain Rugby league tours of Great Britain