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The 1995 Trans-Tasman Test series was an international rugby league, three test series played in Australia between the Australian Kangaroos and New Zealand Kiwis.〔(Rugby League Project - Australia vs New Zealand 1995 )〕 As the series was played in the middle of the 1995 ARL season and most of the Kiwis selected came from Australian Rugby League (ARL) clubs, New Zealand did not play in any tour matches while in Australia (of their first test team, only forward Brendon Tuuta (Featherstone) and reserve back Henry Paul (Wigan) were playing for non-ARL clubs), but prior to the series against Australia they had a two test home series against France. The series was shrouded in controversy due to the ARL's refusal to select Super League (SL) aligned players to play for the Kangaroos, due to the Super League war. However, ARL loyal players playing for SL aligned clubs were still eligible for selection while the ARL did not stand in the way of New Zealand selecting SL loyal players from the ARL premiership. ==Australia== The Kangaroos, coached by Bob Fulton in his 7th year in charge of the national team, and coming off their successful 1994 Kangaroo Tour, were clouded with controversy due to the ARL's stance on SL players in the wake of the Super League War. 1994 Kangaroo test players such as Brett Mullins, Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, Steve Walters and Bradley Clyde (Canberra) and Brisbane Broncos players Michael Hancock, Steve Renouf, Allan Langer, Glenn Lazarus and Kevin Walters, along with Cronulla's Andrew Ettingshausen, Manly-Warringah's Ian Roberts and Canterbury-Bankstown's Dean Pay, were ruled ineligible to play representative football (though Pay would be one of four Bulldogs players to go back on their SL contracts and re-join the ARL, thus he was eligible and selected for the World Cup at the end of the 1995 ARL season). Stuart was a central figure in the controversy, with the ARL trying to entice the test halfback to their side with a promise of the Australian captaincy should he stick with the establishment (the Kangaroos captaincy being vacant as Mal Meninga had retired at the end of the Kangaroo Tour). However, Stuart ultimately decided to stick with both Canberra and the Super League. The stance by the ARL also ruled the SL players out of the 1995 State of Origin series, won 3-0 by the underdog Queenslanders, coached by former Qld and Manly premiership winning captain, Paul "Fatty" Vautin, in his first coaching role after being part of Channel 9's league commentary team since his retirement at the end of 1991. Despite Qld's series whitewash, the make up of the Kangaroos first test team saw an even spread with eight Queenslander's and seven New South Welshmen selected. With the SL players missing, eleven players were on debut for the Kangaroos for the first test in Brisbane with only fullback Tim Brasher, winger Rod Wishart and five-eighth Brad Fittler keeping their places in the team from the one that defeated France 74-0 on the last game of the Kangaroo Tour (Wishart remained on the wing, new captain Brad Fittler moved from lock to five-eight and Brasher moved from being the utility back on the bench to starting fullback). The eleven players on test debut were - winger Brett Dallas (Canterbury-Bankstown), centres Mark Coyne (St. George) and Terry Hill (Manly-Warringah), hooker Wayne Bartrim (St. George), second-rowers Steve Menzies (Manly) and Gary Larson (North Sydney), and lock Jason Smith (Canterbury-Bankstown), plus all four reserves Trevor Gillmeister (South Queensland), Adam Muir (Newcastle), Billy Moore (North Sydney) and Robbie O'Davis (Newcastle). Of the eleven, only Hill, Menzies and Smith were members of the 1994 Kangaroo Tour. The match represented the most test debuts in one game for Australia since the mid-season series against the Kiwis in 1978. In addition, Matt Sing (Penrith), Danny Moore, (Manly-Warringah), 1994 Kangaroo tourist Jim Serdaris (Western Suburbs), Matthew Johns and Jamie Ainscough (both Newcastle), all made their test debut over the series. Reserve forward and Qld captain Trevor Gillmeister became the oldest forward to make his test debut for Australia at the age of 31 Following the retirement of Mal Meninga, Penrith's 14 test veteran and NSW captain, Brad Fittler, was installed as Australia's new test captain. At just 23 years of age, Fittler became Australia's youngest test captain since Reg Gasnier captained Australia against Great Britain in the 1962 Ashes series at the age of 22. Fittler, the youngest ever Kangaroo Tourist when chosen for the 1990 Kangaroo Tour at age 18 years and 229 days, and in his last year with Penrith before joining the Sydney City Roosters in 1996, became the first Panthers junior to ever captain his country. 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「1995 Trans-Tasman Test series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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