1939–40 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland

June 2017 June 2017 Australia 1939 1940 Vay Wilson 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 SCO 0 0 0 0 IRE 0 0 0 0 WAL 0 0 0 0 ENG 0 0 0 0 FRA 0 0 0 0 The 1939–40 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland commenced with the departure of the Australian squad by ship from Sydney, Australia on 21 July 1939. The team is remembered as The Second Wallabies, however their tour was prematurely ended by Britain's declaration of war on Nazi Germany just two days after the team arrived in the UK on 2 September 1939. The side played only one match - at Bombay in India during their return journey. The tour was the first full scale trip to the British Isles attempted by the Australian national side since the First Wallaby tour of 1908 and the 1927/8 Waratah Tour (which has retrospectively been accorded national representative status). It was followed by the Third Wallaby Tour of 1947/8.Jack Pollard Australian Rugby The Game and the Players; Ironbark, 1994, p.654Peter Jenkins; The History of Australian Test Rugby; Random House, 1999, p. 108 Touring party The side was captained by Vay Wilson. The Manager was Dr W. F. Matthews and the Secretary was Mr J. Noseda.Jack Pollard Australian Rugby The Game and the Players; Ironbark, 1994, p.654 References expanded collapsed collapsed collapsed collapsed collapsed collapsed Australia Australia Category:Rugby union tours of England Category:Rugby union tours of Ireland Category:Rugby union tours of Scotland Category:Rugby union tours of Wales Category:Rugby union tours of France Category:Australia national rugby union team tours of Europe 1939 Rugby