1982 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand


The 1982 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand was a series of fourteen matches played by the Australia national rugby union team in New Zealand between July and September 1982. The Wallabies won ten of the fourteen matches and lost the other four. The international match series against the New Zealand national rugby union team resulted in a 2–1 win for New Zealand, who won the first and third matches, with Australia winning the second match. New Zealand thereby regained the Bledisloe Cup, which had been held by Australia since 1979.
The Australian touring party lacked international experience. Nine senior players were unavailable for the tour and seventeen of the thirty selected for the tour had not been capped by Australia previously. Only five of the sixteen forwards had played internationals. Despite losing the international series the tour proved good for the future of Australian rugby – in his assessment for Rothmans Rugby Yearbook New Zealand writer Don Cameron stated that "This represented the greatest triumph of all...Australia now has a deep fund of test-tried players". Amongst the new players selected by Australia was David Campese, who would go on to play for Australia 101 times and score 64 tries in international matches, which remains an Australia record as of 2015.

Matches

Opposing TeamResultForAgainstDateVenue
TaranakiWon161528 JulyNew Plymouth
ManawatuWon261031 JulyPalmerston North
Hawke's BayWon13124 AugustNapier
SouthlandWon2107 AugustInvercargill
South CanterburyWon292110 AugustTimaru
NEW ZEALANDLost162314 AugustLancaster Park, Christchurch
BullerWon651018 AugustWestport
OtagoWon291221 AugustDunedin
WaikatoWon23324 AugustHamilton
NEW ZEALANDWon191628 AugustAthletic Park, Wellington
Bay of PlentyLost16401 SeptemberRotorua
CountiesLost9154 SeptemberPukekohe
North AucklandWon16127 SeptemberWhangarei
NEW ZEALANDLost183311 SeptemberEden Park, Auckland

Touring party