1985 New Zealand rugby league tour

1985 Kiwis tour
Date	6 October 1985 – 12 December 1985
Manager	Jim Campbell Tom McKeown
Coach	Graham Lowe
Tour captain	Mark Graham
Summary	P W D L
Total	19 15 01 03
Test match	05 03 01 01
Opponent	P W D L
Great Britain	3 1 1 1
France	2 2 0 0
Tour chronology
←  1980 1989  →

The 1985 New Zealand rugby league tour was a series of matches played between October and December by the New Zealand national rugby league team in England and France. The team played a three-game series against Great Britain, named the Whitbread Trophy Bitter Tests for sponsorship reasons, and the tied the series 1–1. The team also defeated France 2–0.

Background

New Zealand last toured Great Britain in 1980.

Despite tense relations between France and New Zealand over the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, the team went ahead with the French leg of the tour as planned. ^[1]

Touring party

A 24-man touring squad was selected in August 1985, with Mark Graham named as captain. The squad included six players who played in the Australian Winfield Cup competition. New Zealand players contracted to British clubs were not included in the squad, but could still be considered for selection in Test matches. ^[2]

Graham Lowe was the coach, and Jim Campbell was the team manager. ^[3]

Prior to the tour, Marty Crequer withdrew from the squad due to injury, and was replaced by Shane Horo. ^[4] Crequer was later called up as a replacement during the tour for the injured Joe Ropati. ^{[5] [6]} Ross Taylor also suffered an injury on tour, and was replaced by Brent Todd. ^[7]

Name	Club/District
Dean Bell	Eastern Suburbs
Mark Bourneville	Auckland
Shane Cooper	Auckland
Ricky Cowan	Auckland
Marty Crequer	Canterbury
Mark Elia	Auckland
Olsen Filipaina	Eastern Suburbs
Clayton Friend	Auckland
Glen Gibb	West Coast
James Goulding	Auckland
Mark Graham (c)	North Sydney
Shane Horo	Waikato
Hugh McGahan	Eastern Suburbs
Vaun O'Callaghan	Waikato
Ron O'Regan	Auckland
Joe Ropati	Auckland
Adrian Shelford	Canterbury
Dane Sorensen	Cronulla-Sutherland
Kurt Sorensen	Cronulla-Sutherland
Sam Stewart	Wellington
Howie Tamati	Taranaki
Ross Taylor	Canterbury
Brent Todd	Canterbury
Wayne Wallace	Canterbury
Darrell Williams	Auckland
Owen Wright	Auckland

Schedule and results

Date	Opponents	Score (NZ first)	Venue	Attendance	Notes
6 October	Wigan	8–14	Wigan	13,009
9 October	Great Britain under-21	16–12	Bradford	2,285
13 October	Hull Kingston Rovers	20–10	Hull	6,585
15 October	Cumbria	32–6	Whitehaven	5,500
19 October	Great Britain	24–22	Leeds	12,591
23 October	Yorkshire	8–18	Bradford	3,745
27 October	St Helens	46–8	St Helens	7,897
29 October	Leeds	16–10	Leeds	4,713
2 November	Great Britain	8–25	Wigan	15,506
4 November	Widnes	32–12	Widnes	5,200
9 November	Great Britain	6–6	Leeds	22,209	This match counted towards the 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
13 November	Lancashire	—N/a	Oldham		Postponed due to a frozen pitch
17 November	Hull	33–10	Hull	8,500
20 November	Invitational XIII	20–8	Paris	1,500
24 November	France	22–0	Marseille	1,492
28 November	Midi-Pyrenees XIII	18–12	Toulouse	3,000
1 December	Languedoc/Roussillon XIII	66–1	Carcassonne	5,000
7 December	France	22–0	Perpignan	5,000	This match counted towards the 1985–1988 Rugby League World Cup
10 December	Rest of the World	22–10	Narbonne	700
12 December	Aquitane/Côte d'Azur	22–10	Bordeaux	1,930

Aftermath

For the series against Great Britain, the Man of the Series was awarded to Great Britain's John Fieldhouse and Dane Sorensen for New Zealand. ^[8]

Notes

1. "France tour will go ahead". The Press . Christchurch. 26 September 1985. p. 34.
2. "Youth blended with experience". The Press . Christchurch. 16 August 1985. p. 32.
3. "Kiwis' coach unshaken by opposition". The Press . Christchurch. 4 October 1985. p. 30.
4. "Crequer out of Kiwis tour". The Press . Christchurch. 5 September 1985. p. 4.
5. "Marty Crequer called into Kiwi team". The Press . Christchurch. 11 November 1985. p. 23.
6. "Snags hit side to play Kiwis". The Press . Christchurch. 13 November 1985. p. 80.
7. "Todd in for Taylor". The Press . Christchurch. 30 October 1985. p. 64.
8. Fletcher & Howes (1986), p. 232.

References

• "Kiwis Tour 1985". Rugby League Project.
• Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1986). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1986-87. London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN   978-0-356-12417-9.