The 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fourth

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australian national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours to ...

, and took the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of Rugby league in Australia, the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Admin ...

all around England and also into Wales. The tour featured the ninth

Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

which comprised four

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es and was won by

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. The team sailed on the '' SS Orsova'' via the

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and played an exhibition game in New York before arriving in England.

Touring squad

A total of 28 footballers were selected to go on the tour: 13 from clubs of Sydney's

NSWRFL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

, 4 from clubs of the

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, 3 from clubs of the

Brisbane Rugby League premiership The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Quee ...

, 3 from clubs of the

Ipswich Rugby League The Rugby League Ipswich is a rugby league football competition based in Ipswich, Queensland. It is under the administration of the Queensland Rugby League through the South East Queensland Division, which also administers the Brisbane and Gold ...

and 5 from elsewhere in country New South Wales and Queensland. In Sydney on 24 July 1929, the day before the Kangaroos were to sail to England, Queensland's Tom Gorman was named captain of the squad. He was the first Queenslander to captain a touring Kangaroos side and would be the last until

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1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. South Sydney's Arthur Hennessey joined the tour as non-playing coach, the first such appointment till

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian international and New South Wales and Queensland interstate representative ...

in 1959. The tour manager was

Harry Sunderland Harry Sunderland (23 November 1889 – 15 January 1964) was an Australian rugby league football administrator and journalist. Sunderland was born in Gympie, Queensland in 1889. From 1913 to 1922, Sunderland was the Queensland Rugby League's ...

. The players were paid £4 10s per week from the time they left Sydney till they returned. The English and Australian Leagues agreed on strict rules prohibiting English clubs from signing the Australian players during the tour.

Matches

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

1st Test

In the tour matches leading up to the first Test, the Australian team had won 7 of their 8 games. The English team was weakened by the absence of their usual captain,

Jonty Parkin Jonathan "Jonty" Parkin (1894–1972) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. One of the nine inaugural inductees of the Rugby Football League Hall of Fame, he toured Australia three times, tw ...

(who was suffering from lower back pain), as well as Brough and Ellaby Australia had scored four tries by half time. England's first try came 14 minutes into the second half. This was England captain Les Fairclough's last match against the Australians. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

2nd Test

In response to their loss to the Australians in the previous Test, the British made several changes to their side for the 2nd Test. England, with the help of Parkin closed the gap between themselves and the Australians, with Sullivan's goal kicking giving the home team a winning margin of 9–3. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

3rd Test

England had held

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

for almost 20 years, and this match would decide whether they were to continue doing so. It was a freezing afternoon for the deciding test, which Australia dominated yet was still unable to put points on the board. With only a few minutes remaining and the scores locked at nil-all in the third and deciding test, Australian halfback Joe "Chimpy" Busch collected the ball from a

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win 30 metres out and scooted down the sideline. He crashed over the try-line in the corner with England's loose forward Fred Butters on his back making a last-ditch attempt to stop him. As the corner post went flying the crowd spilled onto the field in excitement.

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Bob Robinson looked set to award Australia the

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and the game (and with it the Ashes) when the touch-judge Albert Webster emerged through the crowd (which was overflowing and allowed on the pitch to avoid crowding) claiming Busch had taken out the corner post before grounding the ball. Even though Robinson believed it was a fair try he had no option other than to rule 'no try'. The referee was reported to have said to the Kangaroos "fair try Australia, but I am overruled", while England's captain Jonty Parkin shook Busch's hand and congratulated him before the touch-judge intervened. The match finished as a 0–0 draw, leaving the series tied at one match apiece. For the remainder of his life (he died on 29 May 1999 at the age of 91), Busch insisted he scored the try, quoted as saying "I got it down all right…it was a fair try." The corner where Busch scored the disallowed try in Swinton, was in the following decades still officially known as Busch's Corner. ----

4th Test

After much deliberation the controversial decision was made to play a fourth Test a week later. This was the first and only time that a fourth test has been played on any Kangaroo tour. In this match Cec Fifield broke his ankle and was unable to play the remainder of the tour. In an enthralling and especially brutal match, the deadlock was only broken by Stan Smith's solitary unconverted

so England won 3–0, to retain the Ashes.

Wales

This was the first rugby league international to be played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1929-30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Australia national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain Kangaroo tour of Great Britain