As a big rugby shirt collector it was disappointing not to find much information on this game, particularly as I had just obtained a Europe shirt from the game.
After only finding a sentence in the Rothmans Yearbook and having to hunt around the internet without much reward, I have decided to bring all the information on this game into one place from the details I found
To mark French Rugby League’s 50th anniversary in 1984, a combined European team took on a southern hemisphere ‘Oceania’ team in Paris. The game was played on Saturday April 14th 1984 at the Stade de la Cipalle Velodrome in Paris and attracted a paltry crowd of around 2,000.
Picture below of the Oceania squad who were captained by Wally Lewis
The match day line ups were as follows:
Europe
1 Patrick Wosniak
2 Patrick Solal
3 Philippe Fourquet
4 Ellery Hanley
5 Des Drummond
6 Andre Perez
7 Ray Ashton
8 Max Chantal
9 Thierry Bernabe
10 Dominic Baloup
11 Mick Worrall
12 Guy Laforgue
13 Joel Roosebrouck (captain)
BENCH
14 Des Foy
15
16 Patrick Trinque
17 Steve Fenwick
COACH Louis Bonnery
The number 15 was to be Tommy David. He was named for Europe on the bench, but had to withdraw after suffering an injury while training. He was not replaced.
Europe played in a white shirt made by O’Neills
This shirt was worn by Steve Fenwick in the game
OCEANIA
1 Robin Alsfeld
2 Kerry Boustead
3 Mal Meninga
4 Gene Miles
5 Dean Bell
6 Wally Lewis (captain)
7 Steve Mortimer
8 Kevin Tamati
9 Howie Tamati
10 Brad Tessmann
11 Wayne Pearce
12 Mark Graham
13 Ray Price
SUBS
14 Shane Varley
15 Hugh McGahan
16 David Noifa
17 Ekon Togili
COACH Graham Lowe
The Oceania team wore a royal blue shirt with the southern cross in yellow. Craig Young withdrew the day before the game after learning his passport had expired. He was replaced by Brad Tessman. Kiwi, Mark Graham was vice captain, with his club, North Sydney’s selfish objections to his selection, over ruled by the International Federation.
There is very little about the game in the Rothmans Yearbook 1984/85. The entire game was given one sentence on page 22 under Memories of April as follows “The French celebrate their 50th anniversary with a Europe v Oceania match in Paris, the star studded Australasian outfit winning 54-4”
The scorers were as follows
Europe
Try
Hanley
Oceania
Tries
Gene Miles 2, Hugh McGahan 2, Brad Tressmann 2, Robin Alfield, Kerry Boustead, Mark Graham, Steve Mortimer, Ekon Togili
Goals
Kerry Boustead (1), Mal Meninga (1), Howie Tamati (1), Kevin Tamati (1), Ekon Togili (1)
There is a video on YouTube and union convert Steve Fenwick can be seen on there wearing the number 17 shirt
This is the most comprehensive article on the Scarborough Pirates Rugby League team from 1991/92 that you will find. It includes a brief history, every result, points scorer and detail of every team that played in all the games. There are also some photographs however it is very difficult to find many
In December 1990, Scarborough announced an intention to apply for membership of the RFL. Scarborough Pirates RLFC were admitted as a member club in January 1991; getting exactly the minimum number of votes required. The Chairman was Geoffrey Richmond who also was the Chairman of Scarborough F.C. Len Casey was Head Coach, and Peter Smith was the captain.
Scarborough played their first competitive game on Sunday 25 August 1991 away to Doncaster in a Yorkshire Cup preliminary round match. Scarborough won 14-10 in front of 1,080 spectators.
Scarborough started the season well and finished ninth in the newly formed fourteen-club Third Division with ten wins and fourteen defeats. See the table below. However, attendances at the McCain Stadium were poor; with only four of their fourteen home matches attracting crowds of over 1,000. In June 1992, it was revealed that they were in debt to the sum of £113,000. Richmond disbanded the club after just one season citing a lack of local interest.
Season 1991/92 Results
August 25th 1991 Away at Doncaster in the Yorkshire Cup
So after 26 games Scarborough finished the season in 9th place with 20 points. They had won 10 games and lost 16 scoring 483 points and conceding 499, see the full table below
A photographic history of Newcastle Falcons Jerseys from the past
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CLUB
The Newcastle Falcons (formerly Gosforth FC/ Newcastle Gosforth until 1996) is an English rugby union team that plays in the English Premiership. The club was established in 1877 and played under the name of Gosforth Football Club until 1990. The name was then changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in Kingston Park, Newcastle. At the start of the professional era the club adopted its current name of Newcastle Falcons.
Swansea’s 1992 vintage side, a side built and coached by Mike Ruddock, would go on to become the premier Welsh side of the 1990s – as any good Jack will insist!
But few gave them a chance against the Australians who had named their Test team, rather than the dirt-trackers who Swansea fans will tell you were defeated by Llanelli RFC 10 days later.
In contrast, injuries meant the All Whites fielded a front row containing ageing club stalwart Keith Colclough and Swansea University student Chris Clark – who was making just his fifth senior appearance.
But there was something special in the Swansea Bay air that day.
The St Helen’s terraces that sweep away from the ground always make it difficult to create a pressure-cooker atmosphere, but on this occasion the crowd could have been encamped on the touch line.
A roar that rolled down to the Mumbles went up as Colclough drove opposing loose-head Matt Ryan out of the first scrum.
For me – peering through the mist and rain from the terraces – the defining moment came soon after as Wallaby number eight Tim Gavin picked up at the base of another retreating visitors scrum.
His monstrous bulk drove through Richard Webster’s initial tackle, and then over the top of opposite number Stuart Davies.
With the Wales back-rowers swatted aside, blind-side flanker Alan Reynolds – an All Whites legend known to all as ‘Santa’ – flew across and seemed to clamber up Gavin’s back before driving him into the turf with a block-busting tackle.
With the momentum rolling, Scott Gibbs slipped through the midfield defence to slide in for an excellent try.
Portly outside-half Aled Williams kept the scoreboard ticking with two penalties, a drop goal and conversion.
And hooker Garin Jenkins got the old St Helen’s grandstand rattling with the clinching second-half try, pouncing on a loose Australian tap-back from a defensive line-out.
But if international stalwarts Gibbs and Jenkins stole the headlines, it was as much about the club regulars stepping up for their day of glory.
“The game was so special to me because Swansea was my bread and butter,” said Gibbs.
“I was playing alongside people who have been my friends for life, the guys I worked hard with all week.
“More than that, it was my only victory over Australia – all the games with Wales seemed to be foregone conclusions.
“Australian sport is epitomised and set apart by skill level and their appreciation of space.
“Their union sides may not have the aggressive uniformity of the All Blacks, the sheer mass of South Africa, or the flair of France.
“But they have that precision and are some of the best rugby athletes and players in the world – their sporting ethos is what we should aspire to.”
Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer said that the Swansea display was “as good a performance as I can remember by a Welsh side”.
A record-equalling six All Whites went on to represent Wales in the Test with Australia on 21 November – Davies, Gibbs, Jenkins, Webster, Robert Jones and Reynolds (as a substitute).
Swansea: Anthony Clement; Mark Titley, Kevin Hopkins, Scott Gibbs, Simon Davies; Aled Williams, Robert Jones; Chris Clark, Garin Jenkins, Keith Colclough, Paul Arnold, Richard Moriarty, Alan Reynolds, Stuart Davies (capt), Richard Webster.
Australia: T Kelaher; D Smith, J Little, T Horan, P Carozza; P Kahl, P Slattery; M Ryan, P Kearns (capt), A Blades, W Waugh, J Eales, T Coker, S Scott Young, T Gavin.
The story starts in the 1980s when Rugby League was undergoing an expansion outside of its conventional northern setting.
Mansfield was chosen as an area in the heartland of the Nottinghamshire coalfields, with great access to Yorkshire and surrounding Counties and therefore a great contender for spectator sport.
In 1984 the Mansfield Marksman were born straight into the professional divisions.
With the Mansfield Brewery’s popular lager as the main sponsor it was thought that support would flood in and so planted roots at Field Mill.
Their pre-season games in the midst of the ongoing miners’ strike saw the team play the biggest names in rugby league including St Helens and Wigan, but suffered heavy defeats.
t was also reported that during the pre-season games, the most prominent names in the team were on holiday, creating opportunities for local players to take stage.
Already there was doubts that professional rugby league wasn’t being taken seriously in the town.
The first Division Two match for the Marksman saw an attendance of 2,291 against Wakefield in a 15-0 win.
When it mattered most the Marksman could pull off the results to keep media support rolling in even if it was scarce.
However, despite the Marksman success on the field, attendances declined weekly.
In the second half of the season when results weren’t consistent attendances dropped to just a few hundred.
Of course the slump in the Marksmen’s first season of existence had financial implications. It was reported that the team had suffered a loss of a staggering £90,000.
In their first season (1984/85) they finished a respectable 9th in the table
In 1986 the Marksmen made the move from Field Mill to Alfreton Town FC, but then later moved to Sutton Town’s ground. Finally the Mansfield Marksmen made their resting place at Nottingham’s Harvey Hadden stadium in 1989, but soon became Nottingham City RLFC. Just how did it go so wrong for a team who had so much potential?
The move to an area where the sport is virtually non-existent was a great risk. Much more could have been done make Mansfield more aware of the sport and educate people in what rugby league is all about. Perhaps there was no room in Mansfield for two professional sports teams or perhaps it was just the wrong time to drop a team in Mansfield during a period of conflict in the area. If there had been a thriving amateur scene in the area there’s a possibility it may have taken off better.
Mansfield Marksman RLFC
Mansfield Marksman was founded in 1984 and joined the Second Division along with Sheffield Eagles, in 1984-85. Mansfield was chosen as it was in the heartland of the Nottinghamshire coalfields, and close to Yorkshire where rugby league was much stronger.
Their General Manager was Dave Parker, a rugby league journalist. They played initially at Mansfield Towns Field Mill, and were sponsored by Mansfield Brewery and named “Marksman” in the singular after a lager the brewery produced. The club colours were predominantly sky blue and dark blue shirts with yellow trim, however towards the end of their existence the club colours became a more basic blue and amber. The team was composed of northern, mainly West Yorkshire based players, who travelled down to play for Mansfield.
Mansfield’s pre-season friendlies saw them play some of the strongest teams in British rugby league, including St Helens and Wigan. Unfortunately Mansfield’s big name players were on holiday and a weakened team, including many local players, went down to heavy defeats.
Mansfield first home game in the Second Division attracted 2,291 spectators and they defeated Wakefield Trinity 15-0. They won eight of their first nine games; the only defeat being 7-6 at Dewsbury. However, they struggled after this and attendances declined steadily. Their final home game of the season against Rochdale Hornets was watched by 321 spectators and they were beaten 9-8. The club lost £90,000 in this first year and could not afford the rent at Field Mill. The final game there was on 2 February 1986 when Marksman lost 32-2 to Leigh.
The club then moved to Alfreton Towns North Street stadium. The first game at the new venue was on 23 March 1986 when Mansfield were beaten 42-18 by Workington Town in front of a crowd of 290.
The club moved once again for the 1988-89 season to Sutton Towns Lowmoor Road ground at Kirkby in Ashfield
Table for 1985/86 where the Marksman finished bottom
1986/87 below
1987/88 below
1988/89 below
Nottingham City RLFC
A boardroom split occurred over the decision to move the club to Nottingham in June 1989. The move also led to the loss of sponsorship by Mansfield Brewery and the club was renamed Nottingham City RLFC. They played at the Harvey Hadden Stadium and their initial club colours were sky blue shirts with a dark blue and gold vee, carrying over the Mansfield Marksman colours. Later the club colours changed to myrtle green, yellow and white shirts (see 1991/92 shirt in these colours below under the 91/92 table). In later years the shirts were myrtle green with purple trim. One season the team adopted the name Nottingham City Outlaws RLFC, a name that would later be used by the city amateur side.
The Nottingham team was led by player-coach Mark Burgess, several players were from Batley Boys RLFC and other local towns, Dave Parker took over as Managing Director at Huddersfield and the Nottingham City club was run by former Mansfield Director Paul Tomlinson and his mother Joan. As Nottingham they won only seven games in four years.
Their first season in the Second Division 1989/90 table below
Chief Executive Maurice Lindsay wanted to reduce the number of clubs in the lower division of the league in 1993. The three clubs finishing bottom of the second division would be demoted to the National Conference League . Nottingham struggled and finished bottom of the Third Division at the end of the 1992-93 season, winning only one game. With both Nottingham City and Blackpool Gladiators both already relegated, the crucial last match at Nottingham on 12 April 1993, between Nottingham City and Highfield would determine the final relegation spot. Highfield won 39-6 and Highfield survived at the expense of Chorley Borough
The RLSA, the Rugby League Supporters Association, had called on fans to turn out at the Harvey Haddon Stadium in protest against the decision, City’s normal crowd of three hundred or so was boosted by this to a season’s best of 851.[The three expelled clubs plus Highfield RL pursued legal action against the RFL decision, but to no avail.
Nottingham could no longer afford Yorkshire-based players so imported local Nottingham Crusaders players who weren’t up to National Conference League standards and they were relegated in their first year and then resigned from the league the following year.
Table 1990/91
For the 1991/92 season there were 3 divisions but Nottingham City came bottom again
This is a rare New Zealand Maori Official ISC Rugby League Shirt
from 2008
SHIRT CONDITION – Shirt is in very good condition
CONDITION DETAILS – Colours are bright, collar has discolour
SIZE – Adults XL, armpit to armpit 23 inches
No size label in shirt
MADE BY – ISC
FEATURES – NZ Maori Rugby League Centenary detail on chest commemorating 100 years of the Maoris playing their first RL game
DETAILS – Shirt as worn against the Indigenous Dreamtime tean on 26th October 2008 as the curtain raiser to the first match of the 2008 World Cup. The Maori team lost 34-26
Classic Rugby Jerseys 