Between July 1947 and March 1948 the

Australia national rugby union team The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the ...

– the Wallabies – conducted a world tour encompassing Ceylon, Britain, Ireland, France and the United States on which they played five Tests and thirty-six minor tour matches. It was the first such tour in twenty years, since that of the 1927–28 Waratahs, as the 1939–40 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland tour had been thwarted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. They were known as the Third Wallabies. The 1947–48 side was notable in preserving their try-line uncrossed by any of the

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

in the first four Tests played. The nine-month journey was one of the last of that era of epic tours when transport was mostly by ship and when the tourists were whole-heartedly welcomed by rugby fans and townships, civic officials and royalty. The Australians in those days were still showcasing the new running style of rugby that had not yet been fully embraced in the northern hemisphere. The legacy of Johnnie Wallace's leadership of 1927–28, of Cyril Towers and the credo of galloping rugby as played at his Randwick club in Sydney had some bearing on this but Batchelor also suggests that the everyday competition for public attention between the two rugby codes caused the Australian game (both in Sydney and Brisbane) to need to match the speed and open play of the 13-a-side code. This need was not the same in London and Cardiff where

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

as yet posed no threat to spectator numbers coming through rugby union turnstiles.Batchelor, Days Without Sunset.

The squad's leadership

A squad of thirty players was selected under tour captain Bill McLean. McLean was an experienced Wallaby and leader. His

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

and

brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

had represented as both Wallabies and

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

, with his other brother Jack also a Wallaby tourist. Bill McLean had been selected in the 1939 side who'd travelled to England under captain Vay Wilson and were promptly turned about upon the declaration of war without playing a match. He had seen action in

against the Japanese as a Captain in an AIF Commando unit in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. He had captained Australia's first post-war Wallaby sides on four occasions against the

All Blacks 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, ...

and his return to the British Isles was in some ways a completion of unfinished business. Trevor Allan was only 20 when selected as vice-captain of the squad. He had impressed in his first

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and national representative starts a year earlier but in a squad of veteran campaigners including Graeme Cooke and Phil Hardcastle his vice-captaincy was a surprise and an indication that he was being groomed for the future. The tour was only six matches old when Bill McLean fulfilled his dream of playing at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in a minor clash against Combined Services. The match was near completion when McLean was hit by three tacklers from different angles. Howell, Tressider and Shehadie all write that the snap of bone breaking was audible to onlookers. McLean suffered a serious spiral fracture of the tibia and fibula and had played his last representative match. The tour captaincy passed at that moment to Allan, now just a few days past his 21st birthday. Allan was leading a squad comprising war veterans in

Ken Kearney Kenneth Howard "Killer" Kearney (3 May 192418 August 2006) was an Australian rugby footballer – a dual-code international player – and a rugby league coach. He represented the Wallabies in seven Tests, and the Kangaroos in thirty-one Tes ...

, Col Windon,

Eddie Broad Edmund George "Eddie" Broad (3 January 1921 – c. 1993) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Broad, a fly-half, was born in Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, ...

and Neville Emery; three qualified medical practitioners in Phil Hardcastle,

Doug Keller Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...

and

Clem Windsor Dr. John Clement "Clem" Windsor (2 February 1923 – 25 January 2007) was a rugby union player who represented Australia and a surgeon. Rugby career Windsor was born in Brisbane, Queensland and played fullback in club rugby for the University ...

; and a mixture of new and experienced Wallabies. The tradition on earlier Australian tours had been that the manager took care of arrangements and the Asst-Manager fulfilled the coaching duties. Shehadie reports that

Arnold Tancred Arnold Joseph Tancred (30 October 1904 – 22 September 1963) was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative flanker. He was prominent in the meat industry in Australia with significant family business interests in ...

and McLean coached and trained the 1947–48 side with vigour while Jeff Noseda took care of tour administration. Journalist Phil Tressider accompanied the touring party and wrote of Tancred ''"I remember Tancred as a grim, brooding man who not only managed the team but coached it and was sole selector. He would brook no interference and he kept the press at arm's length. He was fortified by his experiences as a player with the 1927–28 Waratahs and he had an aching ambition for victory"'',Phil Tressider reproduced in ''Spirit of Rugby'' p43-46 (1st published Sydney Daily Telegraph 1988 Shehadie wrote of Tancred. '' " ewas a very strict disciplinarian who was determined that we would win as many matches as possible. He would constantly remind us that we would only be remembered for the number of matches we won"''Shehadie, ''A Life Worth Living'' p54 and goes on to quote Jack Pollard: ''"The only criticism of Tancred was that relied perhaps too heavily on the team's proven stars and did not give newcomers many opportunities. He barred sportswriters travelling with the team from staying in the same hotel, was uncooperative with the press, and the team did not enjoy very sympathetic media coverage".

Tour itinerary

The squad sailed southwards from Sydney Harbour in July 1947 aboard the passenger liner ''Orion''. They departed Australia from Fremantle after crossing the Great Australian Bight, next docking in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, Ceylon where they were welcomed and entertained by the expatriate community like the 1927–28 Waratahs before them. From there they sailed to Aden in Yemen, then Port Said, Egypt before arriving in England in the port town of

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

. After seeing the sights of a London still scarred from wartime devastation, the party left by train for Penzance in Cornwall where their on-land training would pick up ahead of the first tour match against Combined Cornwall and Devon at Camborne won by the Wallabies. The minor matches would have an exacting toll with firstly

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...

's injury in the sixth game and then the loss of champion Manly winger Charlie Eastes in the match against Newport to a broken arm which also spelled the end of his tour participation. Rugged matches in Cardiff and Llanelly followed before the Wallabies returned to London where they visited the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

and the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

and met Clement Attlee at 10 Downing St. Later at St James's Palace they were received by the Duke of Gloucester, a former Governor-General of Australia and met his young son

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educa ...

. A tour highlight was a royal reception at Buckingham Palace where the squad met the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and the Princesses

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

and Margaret. When the squad travelled to Ireland for the second Test they met the President

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

. Back in Britain after the France Test, the Wallabies met the British Barbarians in their inaugural match against an international team – such fixtures would thereafter become a regular event against touring national southern-hemisphere sides. The fixture was arranged during the tour as an extra match to raise funds for the Australians' journey home via Canada. The Barbarians fielded six internationals from England, five from Wales, two from Scotland, one from Ireland. A Barbarian tradition is to select one uncapped player and on this occasion it was

Blackheath F.C. Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London. The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Dublin University Fo ...

winger Martin Turner. The Barbarians won 9–6 and at the after match function tour captain

was given honorary Barbarian membership. After the Barbarians match the team sailed for New York aboard the ''Queen Mary''. From there they travelled across the Rockies by train, playing a number of fixtures against sides comprising expatriates and American footballers. The final tour match was against a

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

team in Los Angeles. The homeward legs were taken by air – Australian National Airlines flew a Skymaster from Los Angeles to Hawaii (an overnight stop), to Canton Island, to Fiji (another overnight) before arriving in Sydney on 28 March 1948. Two years later that very same plane – the ''Amana'' – would crash on a scheduled flight from Melbourne to Perth killing all 29 on board.

Test matches

AUSTRALIA: Brian Piper, Arthur Tonkin, Trevor Allan, Max Howell, John MacBride, Neville Emery, Cyril Burke, Eric Davis,

, Eric Tweedale, Joe Kraefft, Graeme Cooke, Douglas Keller, Arthur Buchan, Colin Windon SCOTLAND: Ian Lumsden, Thomas Jackson, John Innes, Thomas Wright, Charles McDonald, Derek Hepburn, Dallas Allardice, Robert Bruce, Dod Lyall, Ian Henderson, Leslie Currie, Hamish Dawson, Doug Elliot, Alexander Watt, Jimmy Lees AUSTRALIA: Brian Piper, Arthur Tonkin, Max Howell, Trevor Allan, John MacBride, Neville Emery, Cyril Burke,

Bob McMaster Robert Esmond McMaster (15 January 1921 – 1 August 2003), also known by the nickname of "Wallaby Bob", was an Australian wrestler, rugby union and professional rugby league footballer. He played in the 1940s and 1950s, and was a wrestling ref ...

, Eric Tweedale, Joe Kraefft, Graeme Cooke, Douglas Keller, Arthur Buchan, Colin Windon IRELAND: Dudley Higgins, William McKee, Kevin Quinn,

Paddy Reid Patrick Joseph Reid (17 March 1923 – 8 January 2016) was an Irish dual-code rugby centre. Reid played club rugby under the rugby union code for Garryowen, and played international rugby for Ireland, and was part of the Grand Slam winning team ...

Kevin O'Flanagan Kevin Patrick O'Flanagan (10 June 1919 – 26 May 2006) was an Irish sportsman, physician and sports administrator. An outstanding all-rounder, he represented his country at both soccer and rugby union. He was also a noted sprinter and long jum ...

Jack Kyle John Wilson Kyle, (10 February 1926 – 27 November 2014), commonly referred to as Jack Kyle or Jackie Kyle, was a rugby union player who played for Ireland, the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians during the 1940s and 1950s. Kyle is bes ...

, Ernest Strathdee, Jimmy Corcoran,

Karl Mullen Dr Karl Daniel Mullen (26 November 1926 – 27 April 2009) was an Irish rugby union player and consultant gynaecologist who captained the Irish rugby team and captained the British Lions on their 1950 tour to Australia and New Zealand. Mulle ...

, Albert McConnell, Richard Wilkinson, Jimmy Nelson, Bill McKay, Ernie Keeffe, Desmond McCourt AUSTRALIA: Brian Piper, Arthur Tonkin, Trevor Allan, Max Howell, John MacBride, Neville Emery, Cyril Burke,

, Eric Davis, Joe Kraefft, Graeme Cooke, Douglas Keller, Arthur Buchan, Colin Windon WALES: Billy Cleaver, Ken Jones,

Bleddyn Williams Bleddyn Llewellyn Williams MBE (22 February 1923 – 6 July 2009), was a Welsh rugby union centre. He played in 22 internationals for Wales, captaining them five times, winning each time, and captained the British Lions in 1950 for some of the ...

, Jack Matthews, Leslie Williams, Glyn Davies, Handel Greville,

Emlyn Davies Emlyn Price Davies (15 January 1922 – 6 September 2016) was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Swansea and Aberavon and county rugby for Glamorgan. He was capped for Wales national rugby union team on two occas ...

, Mal James, Cliff Davies, John Gwilliam, Bill Tamplin, Ossie Williams, Les Manfield, Gwyn Evans Australia were beaten squarely in a dull, forwards based game with neither side penetrating to score a try. The Wallabies enjoyed a feast of possession in the first half with their locks Cooke and Kraefft dominating the line-outs and their forwards ahead in the scrums three to one. The match was played at a furious pace and at the twenty-minute mark suddenly for the first time in four Tests the Australian goal line was threatened when the English centre Bennett put Swarbrick into open space.Shehadie, A Life Worth Living p59 ''Swarbrick licked up the pass like a sprinter head down for the finish. Sheer pace carried him on. Tonkin could not get to him. He swerved out, his flying feet not brushing the chalk from the touch line. Piper's dash to the corner was too late. Swarbrick pounced forward – he was clear ! The 70,000 crowd were on their toes. Wild arms waved to high heaven. The Twickenham Valley, pinched between the canyon grandstands, reverberated with thundering clanging to a crescendo. He was not only clear – he was through ! He was indeed over the line, safely, marvellously home. He had but to fall on his face and England would be a try up. A dead man must have scored us three points. And then, as Swarbrick hurled himself down, a pin-pointed rocket caught him, swept him through mid-air, ball and all, into the no-man's land of touch in goal. It was Trevor Allan, the forlorn hope, saving his side after all was lost. The sides were evenly matched thereafter with both sets of backs depriving the other of a scoring opportunity. Then right before half-time a kick by Newman failed to find touch and landed in the Australian pack for

to bring the ball forward. It went through many hands before Colin Windon scored in the corner to give the Wallabies a 3–0 lead at the break. With the game three-quarters over England's full-back Syd Newman hit the post with a penalty attempt that would have kept them in the match. Then with ten minutes to go, the game opened up in Australia's favour. Alan Walker chip-kicked ahead, regathered in spectacular fashion and scored. Then Col Windon's punishing defence on English pivot Tommy Kemp saw Kemp spill the ball and Windon set off like "the Breeze" he was affectionately known as, and outpaced all to the try-line. AUSTRALIA: Brian Piper, Arthur Tonkin, Trevor Allan (c), Alan Walker, John MacBride, Neville Emery, Cyril Burke, Nicholas Shehadie,

, Eric Tweedale, Joe Kraefft, Graeme Cooke, Douglas Keller, Arthur Buchan, Colin Windon ENGLAND: Syd Newman, Dickie Guest, Billy Bennett, Edward Scott, David Swarbrick,

Tommy Kemp Tommy Kemp (12 August 191526 November 2004) was a rugby union international who represented England from 1937 to 1948. He also captained his country. Early life Tommy Kemp was born on 12 August 1915 in Bolton. Rugby union career Kemp made his ...

(c), Richard Madge, Eric Evans, John Keeling,

Harry Walker Harry William Walker (October 22, 1918 – August 8, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. Known by the nickname "Harry the Hat", he played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball between 1940 and 1955, ...

, Joe Mycock, Samuel Victor Perry, Micky Steele-Bodger, Douglas Vaughan, Jika Travers AUSTRALIA: Brian Piper, Arthur Tonkin, Trevor Allan, Alan Walker, John MacBride, Neville Emery, Cyril Burke, Nicholas Shehadie,

, Eric Tweedale, Joe Kraefft, Graeme Cooke, Douglas Keller, Arthur Buchan, Colin Windon FRANCE: Andre Alvarez, Michel Pomathios, Pierre Dizabo, Maurice Terreau, Roger Lacaussade, Leon Bordenave, Gerard Dufau, Lucien Caron, Lucien Martin, Eugene Buzy, Alban Moga, Robert Soro, Jean Prat, Guy Basquet, Jean Matheu-Cambas

Touring party

*Manager:

*Tour secretary: Jeff Noseda *Captain: Bill McLean *Vice-captain: Trevor Allan

Squad

Matches of the tour

The "Exhibition Matches" are not classed as important as the "Tour matches", they are listed on the tour although the starting line-ups are not counted in the players stats.

Footnotes

References

* Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', Harper Collins Publishers Sydney – (Essay specific to this article Phil Tressider's ''The Class of '47–48'' 1st published Sydney's ''Daily Telegraph'' 1987) * Max Howell (educator), Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ * Shehadie, Nicholas (2003) ''A Life Worth Living'', Simon & Schuster Australia * Batchelor, Denzil (1949) ''Days Without Sunset'', Eyre and Spottiswoode London * Pollard, Jack (1994) ''Australian Rugby – The Game and the Players'' Jack Pollard Sydney {{DEFAULTSORT:Australia 1947 rugby union tours 1948 rugby union tours 1947 in Australian rugby union 1948 in Australian rugby union 1947–48 in English rugby union 1947–48 in Welsh rugby union 1947–48 in Scottish rugby union 1947–48 in French rugby union 1947–48 in Irish rugby union 1947-48 1947-48 1947-48 1947-48 1947-48 1947-48 1947-48 1947-48 1948 in American rugby union