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Between July 1947 and March 1948 the Australia national rugby union team – the Wallabies – conducted a world tour encompassing Ceylon, Britain, Ireland, France and the United States on which they played five Tests and thirty-six minor tour matches. It was the first such tour in twenty years, since that of the 1927–28 Waratahs, as the 1939 Wallaby tour had been thwarted by World War II. The 1947–48 side was notable in preserving their try-line uncrossed by any of the Home Nations in the first four Tests played. The nine-month journey was one of the last of that era of epic tours when transport was mostly by ship and when the tourists were whole-heartedly welcomed by rugby fans and townships, civic officials and royalty. The Australians in those days were still showcasing the new running style of rugby that had not yet been fully embraced in the northern hemisphere. The legacy of Johnnie Wallace's leadership of 1927–28, of Cyril Towers and the credo of galloping rugby as played at his Randwick club in Sydney had some bearing on this. But Batchelor also suggests that the everyday competition for public attention between the two rugby codes caused the Australian game (both in Sydney and Brisbane) to need to match the speed and open play of the 13-a-side code. This need was not the same in London and Cardiff where rugby league as yet posed no threat to spectator numbers coming through rugby union turnstiles.〔Batchelor, Days Without Sunset.〕 ==The squad's leadership== A squad of thirty players was selected under tour captain Bill McLean. McLean was an experienced Wallaby and leader of men. His father and brother had represented as both Wallabies and Kangaroos, with his other brother Jack also a Wallaby tourist. Bill he had been selected in the 1939 side that had travelled to England under captain Vay Wilson and were promptly turned about upon the declaration of war without playing a match. He had seen action in World War II against the Japanese as a Captain in an AIF Commando unit in Borneo. He had captained Australia's first post-war Wallaby sides on four occasions against the All Blacks. His return to the British Isles was in some ways a completion of unfinished business. Trevor Allan was only 20 when selected as vice-captain of the squad. He had impressed in his first state and national representative starts a year earlier but in a squad of veteran campaigners including Graeme Cooke and Phil Hardcastle his vice-captaincy was a surprise and an indication that he was being groomed for the future. The tour was only six matches old when Bill McLean fulfilled his dream of playing at Twickenham in a minor clash against Combined Services. The match was near completion when McLean was hit by three tacklers from different angles. Howell, Tressider and Shehadie all write that the snap of bone breaking was audible to onlookers. McLean suffered a serious spiral fracture of the tibia and fibula and had played his last representative match. The tour captaincy passed at that moment to Allan, now just a few days past his 21st birthday. Allan was leading a squad comprising war veterans in Ken Kearney, Col Windon, Eddie Broad and Neville Emery; three qualified medical practitioners in Phil Hardcastle, Doug Keller and Clem Windsor; and a mixture of new and experienced Wallabies. The tradition on earlier Australian tours had been that the manager took care of arrangements and the Asst-Manager fulfilled the coaching duties. Shehadie reports that Arnold Tancred and McLean coached and trained the 1947–48 side with vigour while Jeff Noseda took care of tour administration.〔Shehadie, A Life Worth Living p 227〕 Journalist Phil Tressider accompanied the touring party and wrote of Tancred "I remember Tancred as a grim, brooding man who not only managed the team but coached it and was sole selector. He would brook no interference and he kept the press at arm's length. He was fortified by his experiences as a player with the 1927–28 Waratahs and he had an aching ambition for victory",〔Phil Tressider reproduced in ''Spirit of Rugby'' p43-46 (1st published Sydney Daily Telegraph 1988〕 Shehadie wrote of Tancred. "() was a very strict disciplinarian who was determined that we would win as many matches as possible. He would constantly remind us that we would only be remembered for the number of matches we won"〔Shehadie, ''A Life Worth Living'' p54〕 and goes on to quote Jack Pollard: "The only criticism of Tancred was that relied perhaps too heavily on the team's proven stars and did not give newcomers many opportunities. He barred sportswriters travelling with the team from staying in the same hotel, was uncooperative with the Press, and the team did not enjoy very sympathetic media coverage".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1947–48 Australia rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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