__FORCETOC__ The 1972 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand and Fiji was a series of thirteen rugby union matches, including three tests, played by the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

in New Zealand, plus a one-off test match played by the

against the

Fijians Fijians ( fj, iTaukei, lit=Owners (of the land)) are a nation and ethnic group native to Fiji, who speak Fijian and share a common history and culture. Fijians, or ''iTaukei'', are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live i ...

in Fiji. The tour took place in August and September 1972. The test series in New Zealand was won by 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, ...

with three wins from three matches. The test match in Fiji was won by the

Results

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

Squad leadership

The Wallaby squad was captained by Greg Davis described by Howell as ''"a leader of men who believed a leader should lead....a single minded flanker who gave no quarter and asked for none"''.Howell p189 Davis was making his seventh and final overseas tour with the Wallabies, his third as captain. Howell writes that for Davis at 33 years and the end of a magnificent career, the seven loss & five win result of the tour was "a disaster and occasioned Davis' retirement".Howell p192 An injury picked up in New Zealand prevented Davis from leading the side in the Test match in Fiji on the way home. Peter Sullivan led the Wallabies to a narrow 21-19 victory against Fiji. He had already captained Australia in two mid-week games during the New Zealand leg. The third Test in New Zealand, a 38-3 romp by the

was Greg Davis' last match. Joe French was the Tour Manager. Bob Templeton was the team's coach who carried the traditional touring title of Assistant Manager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand and Fiji

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Australia national rugby union team tours Australia national rugby union team tours of New Zealand Australia national rugby union team tours of Fiji tour tour 1972 in Fijian rugby union