1955–56 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain and France

The 1955–1956 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. New Zealand lost both test series 1-2.

Squad

The team was coached by Harold Tetley and included; Roy Moore, captain Tommy Baxter, Bruce Robertson, Bill Sorensen, Vern Bakalich, Pat Creedy, vice-captain Bill McLennan, Trevor Kilkelly, Henry Maxwell, Ian Grey, Alister Atkinson, George McDonald, Dick Haggie, Bob Hawes, Ron McKay, Keith Roberts, Les McNicol, Lory Blanchard, John Bond, Jock Butterfield, Sel Belsham, Rex Percy, Jim Riddell and George Menzies. Cliff Johnson was originally selected but withdrew and was replaced by Maxwell.

Vern Bakalich scored a then record twenty six tries while on tour.^[1]

Fixtures

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Score	Attendance	Report
8 October 1955	Great Britain	Station Road, Swinton	Loss	6-25	21,937	[2]
12 November 1955	Great Britain	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	Loss	12-27	24,443	[3]
17 December 1955	Great Britain	Headingley Stadium, Leeds	Win	28-13	10,438	[4]
8 January 1956	France	Stadium Municipal, Toulouse	Loss	7-24	10,184	[5]
15 January 1956	France	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	Win	22-13	7,051	[6]
31 January 1956	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	Loss	24-3	7,051	[7]

The Kiwis were so ravaged by injuries that they only had twelve fully fit players available for the final Test against France.^[1]

References

1. Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4.
2. Great Britain 25 def. New Zealand 6 rugbyleagueproject.org
3. Great Britain 27 def. New Zealand 12 rugbyleagueproject.org
4. Great Britain 13 lost to New Zealand 28 rugbyleagueproject.org
5. France 24 def. New Zealand 7 rugbyleagueproject.org
6. France 22 lost to New Zealand 31 rugbyleagueproject.org
7. France 24 def. New Zealand 3 rugbyleagueproject.org