The 1929–30 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the fourth Kangaroo tour, 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 competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Com ...

all around England and also into Wales. The tour featured the ninth Ashes series which comprised four Test matches and was won by

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

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

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

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, 4 from clubs of the Toowoomba Rugby League, 3 from clubs of the Brisbane Rugby League premiership, 3 from clubs of the Ipswich Rugby League 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 Wally Lewis in 1986 ( Herb Steinohrt was to have led the 1933–34 Kangaroos but declared himself unavailable to tour). South Sydney's Arthur Hennessey joined the tour as non-playing coach, the first such appointment till Clive Churchill in 1959. The tour manager was Harry Sunderland. 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

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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 (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 biennially 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, ...

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 scrum 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.

Referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

Bob Robinson looked set to award Australia the try 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 try 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, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

.old Wembley Stadium rugby league results
/ref> Wembley Stadium interior 1956

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