A SHORT HISTORY OF…THE KANGAROOS IN CANTERBURY
With just over a fortnight until Australia’s first match in Ōtautahi Christchurch since 1989, we’re looking back at every match the green-and-golds have played in our region.
The Kangaroos take on the Kiwis at Apollo Projects Stadium on Sunday, October 27, in one half of a Pacific Championships double-header that also features the Jillaroos facing the Kiwi Ferns in their maiden visit to the South Island.
Australia’s first fixture in Canterbury was on an all-conquering tour in 1919, a nine-match jaunt in which they averaged 49 points per game with Eastern Suburbs centre Les Cubitt scoring an outrageous 24 tries in eight appearances.
But the tourists’ trip to Christchurch for the second Test against New Zealand garnered their only loss.
Australia had won the series opener 44-21 but crashed to a 26-10 defeat in front of 7,200 spectators at Sydenham Park.
Led by brilliant centre Karl Ifwersen and with forward Stan Walters scoring three tries, New Zealand benefitted from a controversial performance by referee Arthur Brundsen that left the Australians exasperated.
Winger Jim Sanders was the sole Canterbury rep in the New Zealand side that day.
Legendary winger Harold Horder scored both of Australia’s tries and finished the four-Test series with nine tries as his side went on to win the last two matches 34-23 and 32-2. Captain and halfback Arthur ‘Pony’ Halloway and champion tryscoring forward Frank Burge were among their other luminaries.
The Kangaroos’ next South Island jaunt was not for another 30 years, with the 1949 tourists playing in Greymouth for the first time – beating West Coast 39-14 – before heading to Christchurch for a clash with South Island.
Canterbury icon Pat Smith led South Island in a 38-8 loss at Athletic Park (Monica Park) as a team that included his provincial teammates Lory Blanchard, Alister Atkinson and Jimmy Haig, and West Coast greats George Menzies and Charlie McBride were comprehensively outplayed.
South Sydney stars Les ‘Chicka’ Cowie and Johnny ‘Wacka’ Graves were among Australia’s tryscorers, while captain and halfback Keith Froome of Newtown kicked seven goals.
Australia scheduled the series-opening Test in Christchurch on their next tour across the Tasman in 1953, playing at Addington Showgrounds for the first time.
The Kiwis stunned a Kangaroos line-up containing future Immortal captain Clive Churchill and fellow all-time greats Brian Carlson, Harry Wells, Keith Holman, Ken Kearney, Brian Davies, Roy Bull and Mick Crocker 25-5.
Canterbury halfback Haig skippered the triumphant New Zealanders, while Atkinson and debutant prop John Bond were also among the hometown heroes.
Australia bookended the loss in Christchurch with wins over West Coast in Greymouth and South Island in a historic visit to Dunedin but would go on to lose the Test series 2-1.
The 1961 Kangaroos’ Christchurch stop featured a hard-earned 9-4 win over the National Coaching School line-up at Addington Showgrounds.
Referee Rolly Avery caned the Aussies – who fielded the likes of Reg Gasnier, Ken Irvine, Arthur Summons, Barry Muir and Ian Walsh – 20-6 in the penalty count. Future Canterbury Kiwi Allen Amer was on the wing for the National Coaching School, a combination that also included soon-to-be Test stars Roger Bailey, Brian Reidy, Maunga Emery and Sam Edwards.
Australia’s only match against Canterbury occurred on the 1965 tour, with the Gasnier-led Kangaroos carving out a 19-4 victory at the Showgrounds.
Canterbury was captained by Marist halfback Bob Irvine and included fellow current or future Kiwis Brian Langton (Hornby), Bill Noonan (Linwood), Mita Mohi (Marist Western-Suburbs), Jim Fisher (Linwood) and Jim White (Addington). But an Australian line-up also featuring champions of the era Irvine, Les Johns, Billy Smith, Brian Hambly and two-try five-eighth Jimmy Lisle proved too classy.
The Kangaroos returned to Christchurch on their short 1969 tour, defeating South Island XIII 24-15 at the Showgrounds. The locals put up an impressive fight against an Australian side captained by John Sattler and containing Graeme Langlands and Bobby McCarthy.
Gary Clarke captained the South Island side and was partnered in the halves by fellow Kiwi Irvine, while Hornby winger Brian Jager scored their only try.
During the 1977 World Cup competition, Australia warmed up for their Carlaw Park clash with New Zealand by demolishing a South Island combination 68-5 at Lancaster Park.
Cronulla superstar Steve Rogers scored four tries, Wests halfback Tommy Raudonikis bagged a double and Manly fullback Graham Eadie racked up 27 points from a try and 12 goals.
Linwood centre Lewis Hudson scored the only try for the South Island side captained by ‘Mocky’ Brereton and containing the likes of Langton, John Greengrass, Barry Edkins and Mike Godinet.
But South Island turned the tables in spectacular fashion just three years later.
The 1980 Kangaroos played two matches at Addington Showgrounds, obliterating a New Zealand XIII 51-7 with Greg Brentnall, Chris Close and Rod Reddy scoring two tries each and Mick Cronin slotting nine goals. Tony Coll captained a New Zealand XIII line-up boasting locals Hudson and Alan Rushton, and Kiwis Gary Kemble, Graeme West and Gary Prohm.
West Coast great Coll, who had a brief spell in Canterbury with Marist Western-Suburbs a decade earlier, fronted up three days later to lead South Island to a famous 12-11 upset over Australia.
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: SOUTH ISLAND STUNS AUSTRALIA AT THE SHOWGROUNDS
The home side – featuring Edkins, Rushton, Mark Broadhurst, Michael O’Donnell and Bruce Dickison – fought back from a six-point halftime deficit to pull off one of the great tour match boilovers.
The Australians meted out some Christchurch-based revenge on South Island in 1985, winning 56-0 in front of a 6,800-strong Showgrounds crowd.
Mal Meninga was unstoppable with three tries and six goals, while Des Hasler and John Ribot notched doubles, and Wally Lewis, Garry Jack, Michael O’Connor and John ‘Chicka’ Ferguson also got on the scoresheet.
Coached by Ray Haffenden and skippered by Sydenham stalwart David Field, the South Island side also included Kiwis Edkins, Marty Crequer and Robin Alfeld, future internationals Wayne Wallace, Adrian Shelford, Ross Taylor and Brent Stuart, and local club stars Paul Truscott, Mike Kerrigan and Lance Setu.
The rampant Kangaroos played the first Test against the Kiwis at QEII Stadium in 1989 – their last full-scale tour of New Zealand – just nine months after the trans-Tasman rivals’ World Cup final fizzer at Eden Park.
Australia backed up their world champion status with a 26-6 win in front of 17,000 fans at the venue of the 1974 Commonwealth Games, with the match largely overshadowed by a hot-headed debut from Western Suburbs Magpies debutant lock Brendon Tuuta, a former Halswell and Hornby star.
Tony Currie, Wally Lewis, Paul Sironen and Kerrod Walters scored the Bob Fulton-coached Kangaroos’ tries, while Meninga kicked five-from-five and 19-year-old back-rower Bradley Clyde was named man of the match on Test debut.
‘Tank’ Gordon’s Kiwis managed just one try – to winger Mark Elia – with a side fielding Canberra and former Linwood prop Brent Todd, Wigan-based brothers Kevin and Tony Iro, premiership-winning Manly fullback Darrell Williams, North Sydney half Clayton Friend and led back Easts second-rower Hugh McGahan struggling to fire a shot.
Meninga returns as coach as the Kangaroos end a 35-year hiatus from the Garden City in a match that doubles as the opening assignment of the Kiwis’ Pacific Championships title defence. Canterbury junior players Jamayne Isaako, Jordan Riki, Griffin Neame and Kodi Nikorima have been named in New Zealand’s tournament squad ahead of the historic encounter.
Meanwhile, Meninga and Kiwis counterpart Stacey Jones, along with Jillaroos coach Brad Donald and Kiwi Ferns coach Ricky Henry, will be the esteemed guests at high performance leadership and coaching breakfast, hosted by Canterbury Rugby League with support from NZRL on Friday, October 25 at the Commodore Hotel – email info@crfl.co.nz to secure your tickets.
