Between October 1966 and March 1967 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 on which they played five Tests and thirty-one minor tour matches. Under the captaincy of

John Thornett John Edward Thornett, MBE (30 March 1935 – 4 January 2019) was an Australian rugby union player, who played 37 Tests for Australia between 1955 and 1967 and made an additional 77 representative match appearances. He captained Australia in 16 ...

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 Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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

and the outstanding abilities of greats of the game like

Ken Catchpole Kenneth William Catchpole (21 June 1939 – 21 December 2017) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matches for Australia, thirteen as captain. Catchpole rose through t ...

, Peter Johnson and Rob Heming.

Dick Marks Richard James Pickett Marks, (born 6 September 1942) is an Australian former rugby union footballer and noted administrator.Jack Pollard; ''Australian Rugby: The Game and the Players''; Ironbark; 1994 He played 17 Tests for Australia between 19 ...

and

Peter Crittle Charles Peter Crittle AO (born 21 July 1939) is an Australian former barrister, rugby union player and official. The majority of his secondary education was at Sydney Boys High School where he played in the First XV. Before then he was briefly at ...

also toured and would later become among the most influential administrators of Australian rugby.

Leadership

Following their success on the 1963 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa, team managers Bill McLaughlin and Alan Roper, together with captain

and vice-captain

again led the Wallaby tour squad. Manager Bill McLaughlin was a 1936 two Test cap Wallaby, who would later serve a term a President of the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...

. 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.

an exceptional leader of men, was the squad captain. 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

in all but the French Test. Catchpole is considered Australia's greatest scrumhalf. *Manager: Bill McLaughlin *Assistant-Manager (Coach): Alan Roper *Captain:

*Vice-Captain:

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 4th Wallaby Tour - fullback

Jim Lenehan James Kenneth Michael Lenehan (29 April 1938 – 26 August 2022) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative versatile back, he played twenty-four Test matches for Australia, once as captain. His national repres ...

, 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

and forward

Early setbacks

After the

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

match – the 2nd match of the tour – Queensland hooker Ross Cullen 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. The side was further rocked when skipper

contracted impetigo in a scrum, and dropped himself for the first Test.Will Genia evokes memories of Ken Catchpole in Wallabies' win over Wales
Greg Growden; www.espn.com.au; 12 Nov 2017

Matches of the Tour

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

Test matches

Wales

AUSTRALIA:

Alan Cardy Alan Cardy (19 September 1945 – 19 December 2021) was a representative of in rugby union. As a young man he concentrated on track and field, winning the Australian Junior Championships discus throw in 1963, aged just seventeen. In 1965, he r ...

, John Brass,

Stewart Boyce Edward Stewart Boyce (born 14 December 1941) is an Australian former rugby union international. A native of Sydney, Boyce is the twin brother of Wallabies winger Jim Boyce (rugby union), Jim Boyce and attended Scots College (Sydney), Scots Coll ...

Phil Hawthorne Phillip Francis Hawthorne (24 October 1943 – 18 September 1994) was an Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer – a dual-code international. He represented the Wallabies in twenty-one Tests and the Kangaroos in three Tests. He c ...

(c), Jim Miller, Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, Ross Teitzel, Rob Heming, Michael Purcell, Greg Davis (rugby), Greg Davis, John O'Gorman (rugby union), John O'Gorman. WALES: Terry Price (rugby), Terry Price, Stuart Watkins, John Dawes, Gerald Davies, Dewi Bebb, Barry John, Allan Lewis (rugby union), Allan Lewis, Denzil Williams, Norman Gale (rugby player), Norman Gale, John Lloyd (rugby coach), John Lloyd, Brian Price (rugby union), Brian Price, Delme Thomas, Ken Braddock, Haydn Morgan, Alun Pask (c).

Scotland

AUSTRALIA:

, John Brass,

, Paul Gibbs (rugby union), Paul Gibbs,

(c), Jim Miller, Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, Ross Teitzel,

, Michael Purcell, Greg Davis (rugby), Greg Davis, John O'Gorman (rugby union), John O'Gorman. 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:

, John Brass,

(c), John O'Gorman (rugby union), John O'Gorman, Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis (rugby), Greg Davis, Ross Teitzel,

, Roy Prosser, Peter Johnson, Jim Miller (rugby), Jim Miller ENGLAND: Roger Hosen, Keith Savage (rugby union), Keith Savage, Colin McFadyean, Christopher Jennins, Peter Glover, Richard Sharp (rugby union), Richard Sharp (c), Clive Ashby, Phil Judd (rugby union), Phil Judd, George Sherriff, Budge Rogers, Dick Greenwood, Peter Larter, Mike Davis (rugby union), 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:

, John Brass,

(c), John O'Gorman (rugby union), John O'Gorman, Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis (rugby), Greg Davis, Ross Teitzel,

, 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:

, John Brass,

(c), Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, Ross Teitzel, Rob Heming, Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis (rugby), Greg Davis, John O'Gorman (rugby union), John O'Gorman. 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:

*Vice-captain :

Squad

Published sources

* Max Howell (educator), 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia Australia national rugby union team tours of Europe, 1966-67 Rugby union tours of England, 1966-67 Rugby union tours of Ireland, 1966-67 Rugby union tours of Scotland, 1966-67 Rugby union tours of Wales, 1966-67 Rugby union tours of France, 1966-67 1966–67 in European rugby union 1966–67 in English rugby union 1966–67 in Welsh rugby union 1966–67 in Scottish rugby union 1966–67 in French rugby union 1966 in Australian rugby union 1967 in Australian rugby union 1966–67 in Irish rugby union