A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tour match photo taken at Barrow | |||||
| Date | 17 September 1921 – 21 January 1922 | ||||
| Manager | Billy Cann and George Ball | ||||
| Coach(es) | Arthur Hennessy | ||||
| Tour captain(s) | Les Cubitt | ||||
| Summary |
| ||||
| Total |
| ||||
| Test match |
| ||||
| Opponent |
| ||||
 Great Britain |
| ||||
| Tour chronology | |||||
| Previous tour | 1911–12 | ||||
| Next tour | 1929–30 | ||||
The 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain was the third ever Kangaroo tour. Again an Australasian side rather than an Australian team alone (although the 28-man squad featured only one New Zealander) travelled to Great Britain to contest the Ashes.[1] Coached by Arthur Hennessy and captained by Les Cubitt, the Kangaroos travelled on the RMS Tahiti to England for best-of-three series of Test matches against Great Britain for the Ashes. The tour took place during the 1921–22 Northern Rugby Football Union season and also featured matches against several of the clubs in that competition as well as other representative teams. The tour also involved some degree of player misbehaviour, with one young footballer almost sent home from San Francisco because of all the broken glasses following a drinking session on board the team's ship.[2]
Touring squad
During 1921, the New Zealand side toured Australia, playing matches against New South Wales and Queensland, which served as selection trials for the upcoming 'Australasian' team's tour, for which only one New Zealander, Bert Laing, selected.[3] The team wore the sky blue jersey of New South Wales and the only non-New South Welsh player to appear in a test was Queenslander Billy Richards in the third.[4]
Billy Cann was co-manager of the Australasian touring squad along with Souths' secretary, George Ball. Secretary of the Queensland Rugby League, and football journalist Harry Sunderland also accompanied the team.[5]
On this tour Sandy Pearce at 38 years of age became the oldest Australian international player.[6]
New South Wales
Early in the 1921 NSWRFL season, players who were selected had to leave their clubs for the tour. All but one of the League's nine teams (University) were represented in the touring squad:
|
|
Queensland
|
|
New Zealand
The sole New Zealand player that accompanied the Australians on tour has been listed in the Australian Rugby League's Kangaroos players register.[8]
|
|
Matches
Before sailing for England the team stopped in New Zealand for an exhibition match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.[9] Also during the tour, the Northern Rugby Football Union tried to arrange a match in Paris, but opposition from the RFU-aligned French Rugby Federation made it impossible.[10]
After arriving in England, the Kangaroos played four matches against local clubs before the first Ashes test, winning all of them with dominant margins:
| 17 September 1921 | Salford | 3–48 | Australasia | The Willows, Salford | |
| Tries: 1 | Tries: 12 Goals: 6 |
Attendance: 9,000 |
| 20 September 1921 | Keighley | 0–29 | Australasia | Lawkholme Lane, Keighley | |
| Tries: 7 Goals: 4 |
Attendance: 5,500 |
| 24 September 1921 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 6–26 | Australasia | Craven Street, Hull | |
| Goals: 3 | Tries: 6 Goals: 4 |
Attendance: 13,000 |
| 28 September 1921 | Bradford Northern | 3–53 | Australasia | Birch Lane, Bradford | |
| Tries: 1 | Tries: 15 Goals: 4 |
Attendance: 3,000 |
First Ashes test
1 October 1921
|
| Great Britain
|
6–5 |  Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Squire Stockwell Billy Stone Goals: |
[11] |
Tries: Cec Blinkhorn Goals: Jim Craig (1) |
The Kangaroos' winning streak came to an end when they played against England. Australasia led 5–3 at the break and the match seemed to be theirs when Frank Burge scored a late try, but it was disallowed by referee Frank Renton. Thus, a sole second-half try from the British close to full-time was enough for them to win it.
| 6 October 1921 | Widnes | 4–28 | Australasia | Lowerhouse Lane, Widnes | |
| Goals: 2 | Tries: 6 Goals: 5 |
Attendance: 11,000 |
| 8 October 1921 | Broughton Rangers | 6–18 | Australasia | The Cliff, Broughton, Salford | |
| Goals: 3 | Tries: 4 Goals: 3 |
Attendance: 17,000 |
| 10 October 1921 | England 
|
5–4 | Australasia | Highbury, London | |
| Tries: Frank Todd Goals: Tom Clarkson (1) |
[12] | Goals: Goals: Bert Gray (1) Duncan Thompson (1) |
Attendance: 12,000 |
| 15 October 1921 | Wigan | 6–14 | Australasia | Central Park,[13] Wigan | |
| 3:30[14] |
Goals: J Sullivan 3 | Tries: 2 Goals: 4 |
Attendance: 24,308 |
| 19 October 1921 | Leeds | 5–11 | Australasia | Headingley, Leeds | |
| Tries: 1 Goals: 1 |
Tries: 3 Goals: 1 |
Attendance: 14,000 |
| 22 October 1921 | Wakefield Trinity | 3–29 | Australasia | Belle Vue, Wakefield | |
| Tries: 1 | Tries: 7 Goals: 4 |
Attendance: 6,000 |
| 26 October 1921 | Batley | 7–33 | Australasia | Mount Pleasant, Batley | |
| Tries: 1 Goals: 2 |
Tries: 7 Goals: 6 |
Attendance: 6,000 |
| 29 October 1921 | Warrington | 8–5 | Australasia | Wilderspool, Warrington | |
| Goals: 4 | Tries: 1 Goals: 1 |
Attendance: 16,000 |
| 2 November 1921 | York | 9–3 | Australasia | Clarence Street, York | |
| Tries: Farrar 1 Goals: Corsi 2 Field goals: McEwan 1 |
Tries: Reg Latta 1 |
Attendance: 3,000 |
At halftime York led 4–3 in a game that "was characterised by rough and scrambling play, minor injuries being numerous."[15]
Second Ashes test
5 November 1921
|
| Great Britain
|
2–16 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Goals: Johnny Rogers Goals: |
[16] |
Tries: Cec Blinkhorn (2) Harold Horder Dick Vest Goals: Duncan Thompson (2) |
In the second Test the scores were 2-all at half-time, but after that the Australian backline of Horder, Carstairs, Vest and Blinkhorn cut loose. The Kangaroos scored 4 tries to nil, the win setting up the third and final Test as the Ashes decider. This was also the last Test in the international career of Sandy Pearce and made him the oldest ever Kangaroo.
The Kangaroos played sixteen more tour matches between the second and third Tests:
| 9 November 1921 | Bramley | 7–92 | Australasia | Barley Mow, Bramley | |
| Tries: 1 Goals: 2 |
Tries: 24 Goals: 10 |
Attendance: 1,500 |
Up to and including the final Kangaroo Tour which included matches against English club sides in 1994, this would be the highest ever score by the Kangaroos. The closest The Kangaroos ever came to this score was an 80–2 win over the Sheffield Eagles in 1994.