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1971 England rugby union tour of Far East

Carl Mullen signs rugby ball for small boy

The 1971 England rugby union tour of Far East was a series of matches played between September and October by an English national selection in Asia, as part of the RFU’s centenary celebrations. None of the six international matches on this tour were given official Test status, with England playing as England XV, No 'caps' were awarded to the English players who took part on the tour.

The first match against Japan was played at the Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium, in Osaka, on the Friday, 24 September 1971, (Vernal Equinox Day, a public holiday in Japan), in front of a crowd of 13,000. The Japanese side was captained by 30 year old Akira Yokoi and coached by Tetsunosuke Onishi. England struggled to overcome Japan in the match, despite outscoring the home side five tries to two (tries were still worth four points). The match was level at 19-19 with three minutes to go before tries from right wing Peter Glover in the 37th minute and centre Jeremy Janion in the 38th minute gave the English XV a 27-19 victory.

The second match of the series held under lights at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on Tuesday, 28 September 1971, before 25,000 people, was even closer than the previous game. At halftime neither side had scored a try, but England crept out to a halftime lead of 6-0, with two penalties scored by fullback Peter Rossborough. Japan then came back hard in the second half, getting three points of their own, with a penalty scored by flanker Yoshiharu Yamaguchi. One of the Japanese centres, Koji Miyata, was tackled just three yards from the try line but the visitors eventually held out for a 6-3 win.

Results

Scores and results list England's points tally first.

Opposing Team For Against Date Venue Status
All Waseda University 56 4 21 September 1971 Chichibu, Tokyo Tour match
Japan 27 19 24 September 1971 Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka Tour match
Japan 6 3 28 September 1971 Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo Tour match
Hong Kong 26 0 30 September 1971 Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong Tour match
Singapore 39 9 3 October 1971 Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore Tour match
Sri Lanka 40 11 6 October 1971 Longden Place, Colombo Tour match
Sri Lanka 34 6 8 October 1971 Longden Place, Colombo Tour match

 

 

 

 

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