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Thirty years ago this month, the 1986 Australian team left to tour England and France, captained by Wally Lewis and coached by Don Furner.
They were following in the footsteps of the 1982 team, who had become the first ever Australian team to go through the tour undefeated. The 1986 team repeated the feat, winning all 20 matches on the two-month tour, including three Test matches against Great Britain and two against France.
Over the years, comparisons between both teams have inevitably been made. Because they were only four years apart, it’s a fair comparison, and five players went on both tours – Brett Kenny, Wally Lewis, Mal Meninga, Gene Miles and Peter Sterling.
In 1986, 28 players were in the squad, with 20 playing in at least one of the five Test matches. A sign of the strength of the 1986 team was that Mal Meninga was a bench player in two of the three Ashes Tests against Great Britain, and was picked out of position in the second row for the third.
Below is a list of all players used across the five Test matches on both the 1986 and 1982 tours.
1986
Fullback: Garry Jack
Wingers: Michael O’Connor, Dale Shearer, Les Kiss
Centres: Brett Kenny, Gene Miles
Five-eighth: Wally Lewis
Halfback: Peter Sterling
Lock: Bob Lindner
Second rowers: Bryan Niebling, Noel Cleal, Steve Folkes
Props: Greg Dowling, Steve Roach, Paul Dunn
Hooker: Royce Simmons
Reserves: Terry Lamb, Mal Meninga (also started one Test against Great Britain in the second row), Les Davidson, Paul Sironen. Note that only two reserves were allowed in the 1980s era and once a player was replaced, that was the end of their match.
1982
In 1982, there were also 28 players in the squad, with 19 playing in at least one of the five Test matches. The team was captained by Max Krilich and coached by Frank Stanton.
Fullback: Greg Brentnall
Wingers: Eric Grothe, Kerry Boustead, John Ribot
Centres: Mal Meninga, Steve Rogers
Five-eighth: Brett Kenny
Halfback: Peter Sterling
Locks: Ray Price, Wayne Pearce (also played two Tests in the second row)
Second rowers: Rod Reddy, Paul McCabe
Props: Les Boyd, Craig Young, Rod Morris
Hooker: Max Krilich
Reserves: Wally Lewis (also started one Test against France), Ray Brown, Steve Ella
There is no doubt there were both champion teams, but for those that remember getting up in the middle of the night to watch the Tests on those legendary tours, which team would put your money on in a fantasy match up?
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