The 1956–57 Kangaroo tour was the ninth

Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia 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 too ...

, in which the

Australian 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 Comm ...

travelled to Great Britain and France and played twenty-eight matches, including the

Ashes series 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, i ...

of three

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

against

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 ...

and three Test matches against the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. It followed the tour of 1952–53 and the next was staged in 1959–60.

The squad's leadership

The team was captained by

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 ...

with

Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill Order of Australia, AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australians, Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian Kangaroos, Australian international and Ne ...

as vice-captain. Tour co-managers were Clarrie Fahy and Cyril Connell Sr. The latter's son,

Cyril Connell Jr. Cyril Connell (born 4 May 1928 in Rockhampton, Queensland, died 9 June 2009 in Brisbane, Queensland) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. An Australian international and Queensland Maroons representative ...

was a playing member of the touring party.
In the three matches in which neither Kearney nor Churchill played, the Kangaroos were captained by

Touring squad

The ''Rugby League News'' published
photo
and details of the touring team including the players' ages and weights. Various newspapers published the names of the touring squad when it was selected in September 1956.
Match details - listing surnames of both teams and the point scorers - were included in ''E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook'', as was a summary of the players' point-scoring.
Banks, Connell, Davies, Doyle, Flannery, Furner, McGovern, Payne, Tyquin and Watson were selected from Queensland clubs. Adams and Marsh were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney-based clubs during the 1956 season.

Test Venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.

Match Results

The tour began in Great Britain with a series a matches, but the first Test Match of the tour was played against France in Paris. The tourists returned to Great Britain for more matches against English clubs and a three Test Match series against Great Britain. The team then returned to France to play a Second and Third Test against France (the fifth and sixth Tests of the tour), plus matches against club and other representative teams. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

1st Test vs France

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1st Test vs Great Britain

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2nd Test vs Great Britain

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3rd Test vs Great Britain

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2nd Test vs France

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3rd Test vs France

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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1956-57 Kangaroo tour Australia national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Rugby league tours of France