1966–67 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and France

Leadership

Following their success on the 1963 Australia rugby union tour of South Africa, team managers Bill McLaughlin and Alan Roper, together with captain John Thornett and vice-captain Ken Catchpole 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. 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.

John Thornett 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 Ken Catchpole in all but the French Test. Catchpole is considered Australia's greatest scrumhalf.

• Manager: Bill McLaughlin
• Assistant-Manager (Coach): Alan Roper
• Captain: John Thornett
• Vice-Captain: Ken Catchpole

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, 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 Dick Marks and forward Peter Crittle.

Early setbacks

After the Oxford University 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 John Thornett contracted impetigo in a scrum, and dropped himself for the first Test.

Matches of the tour

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

Test matches

Wales

date = 3 December 1966| home = | score = 11–14 | away = | homescore = (3 – 1t) Dawes (3 – 1t) Morgan (5 – 1pg, 1g) T Price| awayscore = Cardy (3 – 1t) Lenehan (6 – 1t, 1pg) Hawthorne (5 – 1fg, 1g)| stadium = Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff | attendance = 50,000 | referee = KD Kelleher (IRFU) }}

AUSTRALIA: Jim Lenehan, Alan Cardy, Dick Marks, John Brass, Stewart Boyce, Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole (c), Jim Miller, Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, Ross Teitzel, Rob Heming, Michael Purcell, Greg Davis, John O'Gorman.

WALES: Terry Price, Stuart Watkins, John Dawes, Gerald Davies, Dewi Bebb, Barry John, Allan Lewis, Denzil Williams, Norman Gale, John Lloyd, Brian Price, Delme Thomas, Ken Braddock, Haydn Morgan, Alun Pask (c).

Scotland

date = 17 December 1966| home = | score = 11–5 | away = | homescore = (3 – 1t) Boyle (3 – 1t) Chisolm (5 – 1pg, 1g) Wilson| awayscore = Brass (3 – 1t) Lenehan (2 – 1g)|| stadium = Murrayfield, Edinburgh | attendance = 45,000 | referee = M Joseph (WRU) }}

AUSTRALIA: Jim Lenehan, Stewart Boyce, Dick Marks, John Brass, Alan Cardy, Paul Gibbs, Ken Catchpole (c), Jim Miller, Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, Ross Teitzel, Peter Crittle, Michael Purcell, Greg Davis, John O'Gorman.

SCOTLAND: Stewart Wilson, Sandy Hinshelwood, Jock Turner, Brian Simmers, David Whyte, David Chisholm, Alex Hastie, Norm Suddon, Frank Laidlaw, David Rollo, Peter Stagg, Peter Brown, James Fisher (c), Derrick Grant, Alasdair Boyle.

England

date = 7 January 1967| home = | score = 11–23 | away = | homescore = (3 – 1t) Ashby (8 – 1g, 2pg) Hosen | awayscore = Brass (3 – 1t) Catchpole (3 – 1t) Hawthorne (12 – 1pg, 3fg) Lenehan (5 – 1g,1pg)| stadium = Twickenham, London | attendance = 60,000 | referee = KD Kelleher (IRFU) }}

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: Jim Lenehan, Alan Cardy, Dick Marks, John Brass, Stewart Boyce, Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole (c), John O'Gorman, Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis, Ross Teitzel, Peter Crittle, Roy Prosser, Peter Johnson, Jim Miller

ENGLAND: Roger Hosen, Keith Savage, Colin McFadyean, Christopher Jennins, Peter Glover, Richard Sharp (c), Clive Ashby, Phil Judd, George Sherriff, Budge Rogers, Dick Greenwood, Peter Larter, Mike Davis, Steve Richards, Mike Coulman

Ireland

date = 21 January 1967| home = | score = 15–8 | away = | homescore = (3 – 1t) Duggan (3 – 1t) Duggan (3 – 1pg) Kiernan (6 – 2fg) Gibson | awayscore = Boyce (3 – 1t) Lenehan (3 – 1g) Hawthorne (3 – 1fg) | stadium = Lansdowne Road, Dublin | attendance = 54,000 | referee = M Joseph (WRU) }}

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: Jim Lenehan, Alan Cardy, Dick Marks, John Brass, Stewart Boyce, Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole (c), John O'Gorman, Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis, Ross Teitzel, Peter Crittle, Roy Prosser, Peter Johnson, Tony Miller

IRELAND: Tom Kiernan, Alan Duggan, Barry Bresnihan, Harry Rea, Paddy McGrath, Mike Gibson, Brendan Sherry, Phil O'Callaghan, Ken Kennedy, Al Moroney, Willie John McBride, Mick Molloy, Mick Doyle, Noel Murphy (c), Ken Goodall

France

date = 11 February 1967| home = | score = 20–14 | away = | homescore = (3 – 1t) L Camberabero (17 – 4pg, 1fg, 1g) G Camberabero| awayscore = Davis (3 – 1t) Johnson (3 – 1t) Hawthorne (8 – 1pg, 1fg, 1g) | stadium = Stade Colombes, Paris | attendance = 26,475 | referee = RW Gilliland (IRFU) }}

AUSTRALIA: Jim Lenehan, Stewart Boyce, Dick Marks, John Brass, Alan Cardy, Phil Hawthorne, Ken Catchpole, John Thornett (c), Peter Johnson, Tony Miller, Ross Teitzel, Rob Heming, Jules Guerassimoff, Greg Davis, 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: John Thornett
• Vice-captain : Ken Catchpole

Squad

Published sources

• Howell, Max (2005) Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains, Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ

References

References

1. Meares and Howell; Wallaby Legends; Lothian Books, 2005
2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yruVBWzL2E&feature=youtu.be Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies]; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
3. "Scrum.com October on this day". Scrum.com.
4. [http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/08/10/a-look-at-wallabies-coaches-since-1962-part-1/ Roper at The Roar]
5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yruVBWzL2E&feature=youtu.be Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies]; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
6. ''Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies''; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
7. [https://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_/id/21381677/will-genia-evokes-memories-ken-catchpole-wallabies-win-wales Will Genia evokes memories of Ken Catchpole in Wallabies' win over Wales]; Greg Growden; www.espn.com.au; 12 Nov 2017
8. ''Sometimes the Best Ever: The Story of the 1966/7 Wallabies''; documentary by Theo Clark Media, 2017
9. [https://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_/id/21381677/will-genia-evokes-memories-ken-catchpole-wallabies-win-wales Will Genia evokes memories of Ken Catchpole in Wallabies' win over Wales]; Greg Growden; www.espn.com.au; 12 Nov 2017
10. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/66-Mid-Counties.jpg Midland Counties program]
11. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/95.jpg Neath-Aberavon program]
12. "Ebbw Vale program".
13. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/66-Cardiff.jpg Cardiff program]
14. "Scrum.com November on this day". Scrum.com.
15. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/aaaaa/lx/38.jpg Glasgow program]
16. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/aaaaa/qi/84.jpg Sth Scotland program]
17. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/66-Newport.jpg Newport program]
18. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/94.jpg Swansea program]
19. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/66-pontypool-ck-nb.jpg Pontypool program]
20. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/66-Leintser.jpg Leinster program]
21. Midlands First and Last. John Methven. H.B. Rutherford publishers. 1989.
22. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/aaaaa/lx/41.jpg Nth West Counties program]
23. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/aaaaa/lx/42.jpg Cornwall/Devon program]
24. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/66-Mid-count-west.jpg Midland Counties program]
25. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/67-WesternC.jpg Western Counties program]
26. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/96.jpg Llanelli program]
27. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/tour/aus2/67-Munster.jpg Munster program]
28. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Programmes/Barbarians/Int/A-67.jpg Barbarians program]
29. [http://www.rugbyrelics.com/images/Australia/Australia%20v%20University%20of%20B%20.jpg Vancouver program]
30. Howell pp. 179–181