Eighties and Nineties
Rugby league was taken into a new dimension by the 1982 Kangaroos side, also known as 'the Invincibles'. The Australian tourists became the first team to win every game of the tour (fifteen games) including the first test by 40–4 at Hull in front of 26,771 spectators.
In 1985, Australia made a six-match tour of New Zealand, with Wally Lewis the first Queenslander since Tom Gorman in 1929 to be named as captain. The Kangaroos won five of those matches, and the Test series 2–1. Australia won the first Test in Brisbane 26–20. On Sunday 30 June 1985, Australia met New Zealand in the second Test at Carlaw Park, Auckland. The Test was a 20,000 sell-out, with all tickets accounted for weeks before the match. The Kiwis dominated long periods of the game but ninety seconds from time the Kiwis lost possession close to half way. John Ribot scored a try and Australia won 10–6.
During the 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France a then record northern hemisphere crowd of 50,383 attended the first test of the Ashes series at Old Trafford. The Australians won 38–16. On 16 December 1986 the Kangaroos set a new record for largest-ever winning margin in a Test match at 52 - 0 against France. In their two Tests against France, the Australians ran in 96 points and conceded just a single penalty. After suffering such heavy losses, France decided to call off their proposed tour of Australia. This became the second consecutive tour of Europe in which Australia had won all their games. By the end of the tour, Terry Lamb had become the only player to appear in every match on a Kangaroo Tour.
Australia crashed to a defeat on Tuesday 21 July 1987, when the Kangaroo dominance of the international game suffered a setback. New Zealand were their opponents in a match which had been arranged to fill the gap created by the non-appearance of France. New Zealand won the game 13–6. The next four internationals between Australia and New Zealand were all staged in New Zealand, and all were won by the Kangaroos.
On 9 July 1988, Great Britain beat Australia 26–12 in Sydney to win the third test, though the series had already been lost. In 1989 the Kangaroos toured New Zealand, taking a record-breaking twelve Queenslanders in the squad. Great Britain defeated Australia 19–12 in the first test at Wembley in 1990 in front of a new record home crowd of 54,567. However, the next two tests were narrowly lost, 14–10 and 14–0.
In 1992 Great Britain lost the first test 22–6 in Sydney, won the 2nd Ashes test 33–10 in Melbourne, but lost the 3rd test 16–10 in Brisbane. The 1992 World Cup final at Wembley set a record attendance for a rugby league international that still stands today: a crowd of 73,631 saw Australia defeat Great Britain 10–6.
The 1994 Kangaroo Tour was the last time the Australian national team played matches against British provincial teams, in addition to the Tests. Australia continued its dominance, winning both Test series against Great Britain and France, suffering only one loss (against Great Britain in the First Test), and remained undefeated against British club outfits in a streak stretching back to 1978. Australia adopted the name 'Kangaroos' for 4 July 1994 test against France, since then the team has been known by this name.
The Australian team that contested and won the 1995 Rugby League World Cup consisted only of players from clubs that remained loyal to the Australian Rugby League during the Super League war. This meant several players from Super League-aligned clubs that were already well-established internationals were not selected for the World Cup squad. In 1997 also, due to the Super League war, Australian rugby league was split down the middle by two competitions: the ARL's Optus Cup and Super League's Telstra Cup. As a result, that season there were also two Australian sides:
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Australian Rugby League Australia v Rest of the World – 11 July 1997 |
Super League Australia v Great Britain – 16 November 1997 |
Great Britain played a home three-Test series against the Australian Super League Test team in 1997 and lost 2–1. The three matches played have been given test status by the UK's Rugby Football League. The Australian Rugby League has decided not to recognise the matches of its rival as tests since the Super League war ended and does not consider the series to be a genuine Ashes contest.
The 1998 Kangaroo Tour was cancelled because of the Super League war. With the Super League war finally over in 1998, Great Britain travelled to the Southern Hemisphere for the first Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament with Australia and New Zealand in 1999.
Chris Anderson took over from Wayne Bennett as coach of the team in March 1999.
Read more about this topic: Australia National Rugby League Team, History
Famous quotes containing the words eighties and/or nineties:
“...the shiny-cheeked merchant bankers from London with eighties striped blue ties and white collars and double-barreled names and double chins and double-breasted suits, who said “ears” when they meant “yes” and “hice” when they meant “house” and “school” when they meant “Eton”...”
—John le Carré (b. 1931)
“All through the nineties I met people. Crowds of people. Met and met and met, until it seemed that people were born and hastily grew up, just to be met.”
—Carolyn Wells (1862–1942)