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1955–56 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain and France
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| tour | 1955-56 |
| team | New Zealand |
| yearstart | 1955 |
| yearfinish | 1956 |
| destination | England and France |
| manager | Colin Siddle |
| coach | Harold Tetley |
| captain | Tommy Baxter |
| top point scorer | Dick Haggie 155 |
| top try scorer | Vern Bakalich 26 |
| top test point scorer | Dick Haggie 23 |
| top test try scorer | Henry Maxwell 4 |
| GB Mick Sullivan 6 | |
| matchplayed | 37 |
| matchwon | 18 |
| matchdraw | 3 |
| matchlost | 16 |
| testplayed | 6 |
| testwon | 2 |
| testdraw | 0 |
| testlost | 4 |
| opponent1 | |
| played1 | 3 |
| won1 | 1 |
| draw1 | 0 |
| lost1 | 2 |
| opponent2 | |
| played2 | 3 |
| won2 | 1 |
| draw2 | 0 |
| lost2 | 2 |
| previous | 1951-52 by |
| 1952-53 by | |
| 1954 RLWC in FRA | |
| next | 1956 to |
| 1956-57 by | |
| 1961 by |
| top test point scorer = Dick Haggie 23
| top test try scorer = Henry Maxwell 4
GB Mick Sullivan 6
1952-53 by
1954 RLWC in FRA
1956-57 by
1961 by
The 1955–1956 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. New Zealand lost both test series 1–2.
Squad
The team was coached by Harold Tetley and managed by Colin Siddle. Cliff Johnson was originally selected but withdrew and was replaced by Maxwell.
Vern Bakalich scored a then record twenty six tries while on tour.
Match Results and Players' Records (appearances, tries and goals) were printed in the 1956 edition of the Sydney-based publication, E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook.
| Player | Position | Age | Club | Tests | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| on | |||||||||
| Tour | Games | Tries | Goals | FG | Points | ||||
| Alister Atkinson | 30 | Canterbury | 3 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |
| Vern Bakalich | 26 | Auckland | 6 | 28 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 78 | |
| Tommy Baxter | Auckland | 6 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | ||
| Sel Belsham | 24 | Auckland | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Lory Blanchard | , | 31 | Canterbury | 4 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| John Bond | Canterbury | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| Jock Butterfield | , | 23 | Canterbury | 4 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Pat Creedy | 27 | Canterbury | 3 | 24 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 30 | |
| Neville Denton | 21 | Auckland | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Ian Grey | 24 | Auckland | 2 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Dick Haggie | , | 21 | Auckland | 4 | 27 | 11 | 61 | 0 | 155 |
| Robert Hawes | West Coast | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| Trevor Kilkelly | Canterbury | 2 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| Henry Maxwell | Auckland | 6 | 27 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | ||
| George McDonald | South Auckland | 3 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ron McKay | Auckland | 5 | 24 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 31 | ||
| Bill McLennan | West Coast | 5 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 14 | ||
| Les McNicol | , | 23 | West Coast | 1 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| George Menzies | 24 | West Coast | 2 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Roy Moore | Auckland | 3 | 13 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 47 | ||
| Rex Percy | 21 | Auckland | 4 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 38 | |
| Jim Riddell | Auckland | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Keith Roberts | 23 | Canterbury | 2 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Bruce Robertson | Auckland | 1 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Bill Sorensen | , | Auckland | 5 | 33 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 24 | |
| John Yates | , | Auckland | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Fixtures
A full list of fixtures is available at the Rugby League Project website.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Attendance | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 October 1955 | Great Britain | Station Road, Swinton | Loss | 6-25 | 21,937 | ||
| 12 November 1955 | Great Britain | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | Loss | 12-27 | 24,443 | ||
| 17 December 1955 | Great Britain | Headingley, Leeds | Win | 28-13 | 10,438 | ||
| 8 January 1956 | France | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse | Loss | 7-24 | 10,184 | ||
| 15 January 1956 | France | Stade de Gerland, Lyon | Win | 22-13 | 7,051 | ||
| 31 January 1956 | France | Parc des Princes, Paris | Loss | 24-3 | 7,051 |
The Kiwis were so ravaged by injuries that they only had twelve fully fit players available for the final Test against France.
References
References
- (1920). "N.Z. Picks Strong Side". N.S.W. Rugby Football League.
- [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/great-britain-vs-new-zealand-1955/game-1/great-britain-vs-new-zealand.html Great Britain 25 def. New Zealand 6] ''rugbyleagueproject.org''
- [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/great-britain-vs-new-zealand-1955/game-2/great-britain-vs-new-zealand.html Great Britain 27 def. New Zealand 12] ''rugbyleagueproject.org''
- [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/great-britain-vs-new-zealand-1955/game-3/great-britain-vs-new-zealand.html Great Britain 13 lost to New Zealand 28] ''rugbyleagueproject.org''
- [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/france-vs-new-zealand-1956/game-1/france-vs-new-zealand.html France 24 def. New Zealand 7] ''rugbyleagueproject.org''
- [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/france-vs-new-zealand-1956/game-2/france-vs-new-zealand.html France 22 lost to New Zealand 31] ''rugbyleagueproject.org''
- [http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/france-vs-new-zealand-1956/game-3/france-vs-new-zealand.html France 24 def. New Zealand 3] ''rugbyleagueproject.org''
- Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. {{ISBN. 978-1-86969-366-4.
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