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

Tour:	1955-56
Team:	New Zealand
Yearstart:	1955
Yearfinish:	1956
Destination:	England and France
Manager:	Colin Siddle
Coach:	Harold Tetley
Captain:	Tommy Baxter
Top Point Scorer:	Dick Haggie 155
Top Try Scorer:	Vern Bakalich 26
Top Test Point Scorer:	Dick Haggie 23
Top Test Try Scorer:	Henry Maxwell 4 Mick Sullivan 6
Matchplayed:	37
Matchwon:	18
Matchdraw:	3
Matchlost:	16
Testplayed:	6
Testwon:	2
Testdraw:	0
Testlost:	4
Played1:	3
Won1:	1
Draw1:	0
Lost1:	2
Played2:	3
Won2:	1
Draw2:	0
Lost2:	2
Previous:	1951-52 by 1952-53 by 1954 RLWC in
Next:	1956 to 1956-57 by 1961 by

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 managed by Colin Siddle.^[1] Cliff Johnson was originally selected but withdrew and was replaced by Maxwell.

Vern Bakalich scored a then record twenty six tries while on tour.

Match Results and Players' Records (appearances, tries and goals) were printed in the 1956 edition of the Sydney-based publication, E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook.

Player		Age	Club	Tests on Tour	Games	Tries	Goals	FG	Points
align=left			30	align=left		3	22	10	0	0	align=right	30
align=left			26	align=left		6	28	26	0	0	align=right	78
align=left				align=left		6	32	5	0	0	align=right	15
align=left			24	align=left		3	10	2	0	0	align=right	6
align=left		,	31	align=left		4	22	2	0	0	align=right	6
align=left				align=left		1	9	3	0	0	align=right	9
align=left		,	23	align=left		4	21	4	0	0	align=right	12
align=left			27	align=left		3	24	2	12	0	align=right	30
align=left			21	align=left		0	6	3	0	0	align=right	9
align=left			24	align=left		2	11	5	0	0	align=right	15
align=left		,	21	align=left		4	27	11	61	0	align=right	155
align=left	Robert Hawes			align=left		1	9	3	0	0	align=right	9
align=left				align=left		2	15	1	0	0	align=right	3
align=left				align=left		6	27	7	0	0	align=right	21
align=left				align=left		3	22	0	0	0	align=right	0
align=left				align=left		5	24	5	8	0	align=right	31
align=left				align=left		5	28	2	4	0	align=right	14
align=left		,	23	align=left		1	13	6	0	0	align=right	18
align=left			24	align=left		2	14	3	0	0	align=right	9
align=left				align=left		3	13	3	19	0	align=right	47
align=left			21	align=left		4	23	12	1	0	align=right	38
align=left				align=left		2	12	0	0	0	align=right	0
align=left			23	align=left		2	14	5	0	0	align=right	15
align=left	Bruce Robertson			align=left		1	9	4	0	0	align=right	12
align=left		,		align=left		5	33	8	0	0	align=right	24
align=left		,		align=left		0	11	2	0	0	align=right	6

Fixtures

A full list of fixtures is available at the Rugby League Project website.

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 Rugby 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.^[8]

Notes and References

1. New South Wales Rugby Football League. . The Rugby League News. Sydney . N.S.W. Rugby Football League . Trove . 1920. N.Z. Picks Strong Side. 36. 34 (1 October 1955). nla.obj-642190288. 21 Jan 2020.
2. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/great-britain-vs-new-zealand-1955/game-1/great-britain-vs-new-zealand.html Great Britain 25 def. New Zealand 6
3. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/great-britain-vs-new-zealand-1955/game-2/great-britain-vs-new-zealand.html Great Britain 27 def. New Zealand 12
4. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/great-britain-vs-new-zealand-1955/game-3/great-britain-vs-new-zealand.html Great Britain 13 lost to New Zealand 28
5. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/france-vs-new-zealand-1956/game-1/france-vs-new-zealand.html France 24 def. New Zealand 7
6. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/france-vs-new-zealand-1956/game-2/france-vs-new-zealand.html France 22 lost to New Zealand 31
7. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/matches/france-vs-new-zealand-1956/game-3/france-vs-new-zealand.html France 24 def. New Zealand 3
8. Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. .