The 1994 Kangaroo Tour was the 18th and last Kangaroo Tour played in the conventional format, where the Australia national rugby league team (known as the XXXX Kangaroos due to sponsorship reasons) played a number of matches against British and French clubs or provincial outfits, in additions to the Test matches. The outbreak of the Super League war in early 1995 meant that the next Kangaroo tour, set for 1998, never eventuated; although shortened, test only tours were staged in 2001 and 2003.
Australia continued its dominance, winning both Test series against Great Britain and France, suffering only one loss (against Great Britain in the First Test at Wembley, just as they had done in 1990), and remained undefeated against British club outfits in a streak stretching back to the 1978 tour.
The team was coached by Bob Fulton who was making his fourth Kangaroo tour (1973 and 1978 as a player, the latter as captain, and 1990 as coach). Team captain Mal Meninga created history by becoming the first and so far only player to make four tours as a player. He also became the first player to captain consecutive tours. His four tours included being a member of two undefeated teams, first as a member of "The Invincibles" in 1982, and the second with "The Unbeatables" in 1986. Meninga also had the remarkable record of playing in every test match during each of his 4 tours meaning that 21 of his eventual 46 tests for Australia were playing on a Kangaroo Tour of Great Britain and France. Fulton and Meninga also became the first pair to be the coach and captain on consecutive Kangaroo tours. Laurie Daley, the New South WalesState of Origin captain who had captained the Australian team to a 14–all draw with New Zealand in Auckland in 1993 with Meninga missing due to suspension, was named as the tour's vice-captain.
Balmain TigersSecond-rowerPaul Sironen became just the fourth forward to be selected for three Kangaroo tours, having previously toured in 1986 and 1990.
This was the last full strength Australian side to take the field until after the resolution of the Super League war (1998) with all Australian teams from 1995–1997 being made up exclusively of either Australian Rugby League (ARL) loyal or Super League (SL) aligned players.
The Kangaroo tour was televised back to Australia on the Nine Network with commentary provided by Nine's rugby league commentary team of Ray Warren (making a rare appearance overseas due to a fear of flying),[1] 1982 and 1986 Kangaroo tourist Peter Sterling, and 13 test veteran for Australia Paul Vautin. Following the second test Vautin was forced to return to Australia for medical reasons.[citation needed] He was replaced in the commentary box by former Great Britain halfback Alex Murphy who had provided sideline comments for Nine during the first two tests.
The touring side was represented by 20 New South Welshmen (N) and 8 Queenslanders (Q).
With captain Mal Meninga and vice-captain Laurie Daley both coming from the Canberra Raiders, this was the first time the Kangaroos captain and vice-captain had come from the same club since Reg Gasnier had captain-coached the 1967–68 Kangaroo tour with his St George teammate Johnny Raper as the vice-captain.
Canberra Raiders (7): Mal Meninga (captain) (Q), Laurie Daley (N) (vice-captain), Bradley Clyde (N), David Furner (N), Brett Mullins (N), Ricky Stuart (N), Steve Walters (Q)
Brisbane Broncos (6): Michael Hancock (Q), Allan Langer (Q), Glenn Lazarus (N), Steve Renouf, (Q), Wendell Sailor (Q), Kevin Walters (Q)
The 1994 Ashes series again broke the record aggregate crowd for the series in Great Britain with 140,430 attending the three Tests, beating the record of 133,684 set on the 1990 Kangaroo Tour. As with the 1982, 1986 and 1990 tours, the game against Wigan at Central Park drew the biggest club game attendance of the Kangaroo Tour attracting 20,057 fans. The larger test attendances had been made possible by the use of England's 82,000 capacity national stadium (Wembley) as well as the use of larger capacity soccer stadiums Old Trafford and Elland Road rather than the traditional use of the larger club grounds such as Central Park, Headingley (Leeds) and Odsal Stadium (Bradford).
The Kangaroos played an international tour match against Wales at Ninian Park in Cardiff on 30 October wearing their non-Test Australian jumpers for the game (for the first time in Kangaroo Tour history, the Kangaroos non-Test jumpers included yellow hoops around the waist leaving the traditional jumper to be used only in the Tests). In the first meeting of the two nations since the 1982 Kangaroo tour, the Australians ran in eight tries to one in a 46–4 win, played on a heavy ground and in driving rain before 8,729 fans. The match proved to be spiteful and produced two dark spots. Welsh dual international John Devereux suffered a badly broken jaw after he accidentally collided with Mal Meninga's left shoulder when attempting to tackle the Australian captain. Later an all-in-brawl erupted after Kangaroos second-rower Paul Sironen reacted to a high tackle from Welsh halfback Kevin Ellis on Kangaroo halfback Allan Langer.
The 1994 Kangaroos scored 535 points on the British leg of the tour (96 tries, 75 goals, 1 field goal), while conceding only 108 points (17 tries, 20 goals).
Test venuesedit
The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.
With the NSWRL Grand Final having been played only a week earlier, Kangaroos coach Bob Fulton rested the Canberra and Canterbury-Bankstown players for what would be Australia's only tour match against a full English county side. Making their debuts in Australian colours were Wendell Sailor, Terry Hill, Greg Florimo, Jim Serdaris and Steve Menzies who was awarded the Man of the Match. Second rower Paul Sironen and making his 3rd Kangaroo Tour as a player (the record for a forward), captained the Kangaroos in the absence of Mal Meninga and Laurie Daley.
The Kangaroos produced a powerhouse performance against Leeds with a 48–6 win at Headingley. As he had done against them on the 1990 Kangaroo tour, former Leeds player Andrew Ettingshausen crossed for a hat trick of tries, as did Allan Langer. Dean Pay, David Furner and Jason Smith made their green and gold debuts.[5]
The Kangaroos controlled the first half against Wigan, leading 26–6 at half time with tries to Clyde, Pay, Daley (off what looked to be a forward pass from former Wigan import Ian Roberts), Renouf (a dazzling 52 metre run with neither Robinson nor Gary Connolly making any ground) and Hancock with only Jason Robinson scoring for the cherry and whites. Great Britain prop Kelvin Skerrett was sin-binned midway through the half for backchat after the use of a forearm on Paul Sironen who was attempting to tackle him. Following the restart after Hancock's try, Sironen, taking the hit up, was felled by an elbow to the head from Barrie McDermott who was put on report (and later suspended). Due to stoppages, the first half went almost 10 minutes longer than the regulation 40 minutes.
Former All Black Va'aiga Tuigamala scored a brilliant solo try soon after half time that brought the 20,057 crowd to its feet when he beat Meninga's attempted tackle and chipped ahead along the sideline and beat Sailor, Clyde and Mullins to the ball, but the Kangaroos hit straight back with a solo try to Brett Mullins from a poor Henry Paul kick and poor defence which allowed him to race 75 metres to score next to the posts and take the score to 30–10. But from there Wigan fought back with a try to Gary Connolly from a quick penalty tap and a late try to Martin Offiah to bring some respectability for the home side. After receiving a cut to the head in the first half fans were treated to the rare sight of Australian captain Mal Meninga wearing headgear for most of the game.[7]
With 38 points, the Kangaroos put on their biggest score against Castleford since defeating them 39–6 on the 1929–30 Kangaroo tour. Playing in the unfamiliar position of lock forward, Greg Florimo was judged as the Man of the Match.
With Kangaroos hooker Steve Walters being rested before the first test due to a back injury and his understudy Jim Serdaris unavailable due to a cracked rib suffered 4 days earlier against Castleford that sidelined him for two weeks, coach Bob Fulton had Ricky Stuart and Allan Langer playing halfback and hooker respectively in the first half before having them swap positions in the second.
Australia led Halifax 10–6 at half time thanks to tries from Wendell Sailor and Bradley Clyde and a Tim Brasher goal with Halifax's only score coming from a John Bentley try which was converted from the sideline by former All Blacks and Newcastle Knights centre John Schuster. However, second half tries to Greg Florimo, Andrew Ettingshausen and a second to Sailor saw the score blow out to 26–6 before a late try to replacement winger Richard Smith (converted by Schuster) saw the final score read 26–12 in Australia's favour.
The day prior to the game, the Kangaroos had a training session at Thrum Hall to get used to the ground which had a distinctive 3.6 metre slope from the grandstand wing to the outer side of the ground due to being built on the side of a hill. During this session Michael Hancock suffered an AC joint injury which would keep him out of action for 3 weeks and effectively end his test career. He was replaced in the run-on side by Tim Brasher who had originally been named on the bench. Coming into the side on the bench was Greg Florimo.[10] Hancock's injury opened the door for his Brisbane Broncos teammate Wendell Sailor to make his test debut at Wembley 6 days later.
The Ashes seriesedit
1st Testedit
The first Test of the 1994 Kangaroo Tour was again played at London's Wembley Stadium, and attracted 57,034 fans, a record Test Match crowd in England breaking the previous record of 54,569 who had attended the opening Ashes test at Wembley in 1990.[11] As of 2017 this remains England's largest non-World Cup international rugby league attendance.
New Lions coach Ellery Hanley, who had captained the team in the 1988 and 1990 Ashes series under the coach he replaced Mal Reilly, and was at the time still playing for Leeds, became the first black person to coach or manage a major national team of any sport in Great Britain.[citation needed] Australian coach Bob Fulton was in charge for his 25th test with a prior record of 21 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. Five of the Australians (Mullins, Sailor, Daley, Roberts and Harragon) plus Pay and Furner on the bench had not previously played at Wembley.
Despite Great Britain captain and halfback Shaun Edwards being sent off after 25 minutes for a high tackle on Australian second rower Bradley Clyde, the Lions put in another brilliant performance at Wembley and, as they had done in the first Test of the 1990 Kangaroo Tour, defeated the Kangaroos 8–4. Lions fullback Jonathan Davies put in a Man of the Match performance, including a 50-metre solo try in the first half after being put into a gap by Denis Betts then outpacing Australian fullback Brett Mullins to score in the corner. Davies was also a solid last line of defence, repelling many breaks by the Kangaroos, until he dived on a loose ball close to his line and was fallen on by teammate Barrie McDermott, resulting a dislocated shoulder midway through the second half. This saw him leave the field and later be ruled out for the rest of the series as well as Wales' game against the Kangaroos before the second Ashes test.
Typical of Davies' play on the day, midway through the second half Kangaroos lock Brad Fittler made a break down the middle of the field only 25 metres out with Allan Langer in support and only the Lions fullback to beat. Fittler passed to Langer who should have had a clear 15 metre run to the line, however Davies had anticipated that Fittler would pass and made the decision to go for Langer, bringing the Australian halfback down in a try saving tackle. As Langer was tackled, Fittler threw his arms up in disbelief, realising that if he had thrown a dummy he would likely have scored untouched under the posts with the closest defender being Chris Joynt who was over 3 metres behind. Davies wasn't the only star defender for the Lions though as the entire team made up for only having 12 players and repelled all but one of the Kangaroos many attacking raids. Most of the play in the second half saw Australia virtually camped inside the Lions 30 metre zone, but the commitment on the day shown by the 12 man line was what won the day for the home side.
As he did at Wembley in the 1992 World Cup final, Steve Renouf crossed for Australia's only try of the game late in the second half. Replacement forward David Furner, making his test debut, had a sideline conversion to tie the game at 6–all but his kick sailed wide of the posts. Replacement halfback Bobbie Goulding, who had come on to replace Andy Farrell after Edwards' send-off, then kicked penalty goal in injury time to give the Lions a well deserved 8–4 win.[13]
After coming off following the hit by Edwards, Bradley Clyde returned to the game in the first half, but did not return to the game in the second half. While walking with Canberra Raiders teammate Ricky Stuart in the Wembley tunnel to the change rooms at half time, Clyde collapsed and was taken to hospital for a precautionary CT scan. He was given the all-clear by the doctors but required a second scan the next morning after waking up still slightly dazed.[14]
The Kangaroos took out their frustration at having lost the first test at Wembley on the hapless Sheffield Eagles at the Don Valley Stadium. In their highest score since defeating Bramley 92–7 at the Barley Mow ground during the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour, the Aussies ran in 14 tries to nil in humiliating the home side 80–2.[16] Sheffield's only score came early in the first half from a penalty goal by David Mycoe. Australian centre Paul McGregor suffered a hamstring injury unfortunately which ended his tour. His replacement Andrew Ettingshausen would cross for 3 of Australia's 14 tries, his last being a 90-metre run where Eagles winger Lynton Stott failed to make any ground on him.[17]
After having defeated the Eagles 52–22 at Don Valley during their mini 1992 Rugby League World Cup final tour, this gave Australia a 132–24 for and against record in the only 2 games they would ever play against Sheffield.
Walesedit
The Kangaroos played a non-test international against Wales at Ninian Park in Cardiff in what was the first meeting of the two countries since the 1982 Kangaroo tour when Australia won 37–7 at the same venue.
Although the Kangaroos were facing another country in Wales, the match was not given test status. Indeed, the Kangaroos wore their tour jumpers for the game and not their test jumpers.
The match, played in wet and muddy conditions in Cardiff, saw the Kangaroos lead by 30–0 at half time which virtually destroyed the match as a contest.[19] In the second half the game descended into a spiteful affair with several all-in brawls. For Welsh dual rugby international centre John Devereux the match was largely forgettable. Nine minutes into the game he attempted to tackle Australian captain Mal Meninga but unfortunately came into contact with Meninga's shoulder. All agreed that the contact was accidental, but the impact broke Devereux's jaw in two places.[20]
Although they were also without their superstar and inspirational captain Jonathan Davies who had dislocated his right shoulder in the first Ashes Test just 8 days earlier at Wembley, the Welsh team still boasted plenty of international rugby league experience with players like Phil Ford, Anthony Sullivan, John Devereux, Kevin Ellis, Jonathan Griffiths, Paul Moriarty and Rowland Phillips. In Davies' absence, the Dragons were captained by front row forward Dai Young. For the Australian's, only Greg Florimo had yet to play test football.
Although Kevin Walters captained the Kangaroos against St Helens, tour captain Mal Meninga (a former St Helens player) was part of Australia's bench for the game, though both he and Ricky Stuart were not used by coach Fulton.[22]
2nd Testedit
With Lions captain Shaun Edwards out suspended for his high tackle on Bradley Clyde in the first Test, the captaincy was handed to his Wigan teammate Phil Clarke. On the morning of the match, reserve Australian forward David Fairleigh was forced to withdraw from the team with a virus that had swept through the Kangaroos squad in the days leading up to the game. He was replaced on the bench by veteran Paul Sironen in what would prove to be his 20th test for Australia and his 8th and last against Great Britain.
In defense of The Ashes, the Kangaroos came out firing, scoring seven tries to one, kick-started by captain Mal Meninga's 70 metre intercept run off a Bobby Goulding pass. Meninga put Andrew Ettingshausen, who beat the cover of Denis Betts and Graham Steadman, in for his 10th try of the tour with a perfectly timed pass just as flying Lions winger Martin Offiah was about to tackle him. From there, the floodgates opened and the only question was how much would the Kangaroos win by. Rod Wishart made a welcome return to the Test team for the first time since the 10–33 loss to the Lions in Melbourne in the 2nd Test of the 1992 Lions tour. Wishart's goal kicking proving invaluable and he booted seven goals from nine attempts while also making a number of line breaks.
Kangaroos front row forward Ian Roberts was forced from the field midway through the first half with a deep gash above his right eye. Roberts had gone low to tackle Denis Betts who in the process of trying to break the tackle, accidentally stepped on Roberts' head.
Before Ettingshausen's opening try, Goulding and Wishart (2 each) traded penalty goals. Following the try, the Kangaroos began to cut loose in defence of The Ashes. Bradley Clyde powered his way over after a Ricky Stuart mid-field bomb had been left alone by the Lions defence with some quick hands keeping the ball alive before Clyde powered over despite the attentions of Chris Joynt and Gary Connolly on the line. And minutes later a 60-metre break by Wishart before being brought down by a desperate Connolly had the British defence in tatters allowing Stuart and Man of the Match Brad Fittler to combine to send Brett Mullins under the posts for his first try and give Australia a match winning 18–4 half time lead. Great Britain's only score in the first half came from those two penalty goals by Bobbie Goulding.
Soon after half time and with Australia attacking the Great Britain line, Laurie Daley raced through a huge gap between Lee Jackson and Karl Harrison to score next to the posts and give Australia a 24–4 lead. The Lions then began to come alive thanks to enterprising play by veteran replacement pivot Garry Schofield who sent fellow replacement back Paul Newlove over for the Lions only try of the game. However, the fightback was short-lived as 10 minutes later Connolly sprinted out of the Lions defensive line trying to shut down Daley but only created a gap exploited by an on debut Greg Florimo who sent the ball back inside to Steve Renouf who jogged in for an easy try. Wishart's conversion, his 5th goal of the game, brought up his 100th point on tour in just his 6th game. Daley then put a scare in the Australian camp when he hurt his knee sliding over an exposed sprinkler head behind the dead ball line while attempting to score at the Stretford End of Old Trafford (the injury prompted questions over his decision to slide as he was almost 5 metres behind the ball and no chance of scoring), but just moments later Mal Meninga capped off a welcome return to form after a poor game at Wembley with a perfectly placed over the shoulder pass that sent Brett Mullins on a 65-metre run to score his second try of the game under the posts giving Australia a comprehensive 38–8 win and keeping the series alive going to Elland Road in Leeds for the deciding test.[24]
