The 1985 England rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of seven matches played by the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

in New Zealand in May and June 1985. England played seven games, including two test matches against the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

. They won four of the seven matches but lost both of the test matches as well as the fixture against the Auckland provincial team. The preliminaries to this tour were shrouded in uncertainty and selection announcements containing players whose availability had not been confirmed.

Dick Greenwood John Richard Heaton Greenwood, (born 11 September 1940) is an English former rugby union player and coach. A flanker, he played for Waterloo, Cambridge University, Lancashire and . He later coached Preston Grasshoppers and England. Biograph ...

, England's current coach, announced he was not available having just taken a new job, and eventually 2 coaches were appointed under Derek Morgan, Martin Green and Brian Ashton. The party as a whole was very short of experience,

Matches

:''Scores and results list England's points tally first.''

Touring party

*Manager: Derek Morgan *Assistant manager: Brian Ashton *Coach: Martin Green *Captain:

Paul Dodge Paul William Dodge (born 26 February 1958 in Leicester, England) is a former English rugby union international footballer who gained 32 caps for his country between 1978 and 1985. His Leicester Tigers career earned him 436 appearances. Dodg ...

(Leicester) 30 caps

Backs

* Chris Martin (Bath) 4 caps *Ian Metcalfe (Moseley) No caps *

Bryan Barley Bryan Barley was a former England international rugby union centre. He was educated at Normanton Grammar School and Leeds University where he studied economics and mathematics. He joined Wakefield RFCin 1978 converting thirteen of Wakefield' ...

(Wakefield) 4 caps *

(Leicester) 30 caps *J.M. Goodwin (Moseley) No caps * Mike Harrison (Wakefield) No caps *

Jamie Salmon James Lionel Broome Salmon (born 16 October 1959) is an English rugby union centre who uniquely appeared in international matches for both New Zealand and England. Career He became a Wellington player in 1980 and first appeared for New Zealand ...

(Harlequins) No caps * Simon Smith (Wasps) 5 caps *

Stuart Barnes Stuart Barnes (born 22 November 1962 in Grays, Essex) is a former English rugby union footballer, and now rugby commentator for Sky Sports. Barnes played fly-half for Newport RFC, Bristol, Bath; and represented England at international level ...

(Bath) 2 caps * Huw Davies (Wasps) 15 caps * Richard Hill (Bath) 2 caps *

Nigel Melville Nigel David Melville (born 6 January 1961) is a former England national rugby union team scrum half and captain and currently serves as Director of Professional Rugby for Rugby Football Union. Melville became the youngest player to captain E ...

(Wasps) 3 caps

Forwards

Steve Bainbridge Stephen Bainbridge (born 7 October 1956) is a former international rugby union player. In 1983 he toured with the British and Irish Lions on their tour to New Zealand and in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. He played amongst other teams for club rug ...

( Fylde) 11 caps *

Steve Brain Steve Brain (born ) is a retired rugby union player who played hooker for Coventry R.F.C. and represented England in over a dozen international matches, including three Five Nations, now the Six Nations Championship, between 1984 and 1986. Inte ...

(Coventry) 7 caps * David Cooke (Harlequins) 10 caps *

Wade Dooley Wade Dooley (born 2 October 1957) is a former England rugby union international who played lock forward. He played for his country 55 times and was known as the "Blackpool Tower", as a result of being 6 feet 8 inches tall and a police officer ...

(Preston Grasshoppers) 5 caps * Jon Hall (Bath) 3 caps *

Bob Hesford Robert Taylor Hesford (13 April 1916 – 15 June 1982) was an English professional footballer who played all his professional career as a goalkeeper for Huddersfield Town. Biography Hesford was born in Bolton. In 1950, Robert was teaching at ...

(Bristol) 10 caps * Paul Huntsman (Headingley) No caps * John Orwin (Gloucester) 5 caps * Gary Pearce (Northampton) 21 caps * Malcolm Preedy (Gloucester) 1 cap *

Gary Rees Gary William Rees (Born Long Eaton, ) is a former English rugby union player. He played as a flanker. Rees played his entire career at Nottingham R.F.C., from 1977/78 to 1993/94. He then started an assistant coach career at the same team. He ...

(Nottingham) 2 caps * Austin Sheppard (Bristol) 2 caps *Andy Simpson (Sale) No caps *

Mike Teague Michael Clive Teague (born 8 October 1960) is a former England and British Lions rugby union footballer. Early life Teague was born and raised on a farm a few miles outside Gloucester. He attended Churchdown School. Personal life Teague mar ...

(Gloucester) No caps {{DEFAULTSORT:1985 England Rugby Union Tour Of New Zealand England tour England national rugby union team tours of New Zealand Eng tour