1979 England rugby union tour of Japan, Fiji and Tonga

In 1979 an England rugby union touring team toured Japan, Fiji and Tonga. The tourists won all their seven matches, scoring 270 points and conceding only 93. Only the first international against Japan was close, with Japan leading 19–15 going into injury time – a converted try by Peter Squires allowed England to win the match.

1979 England rugby union tour of Japan, Fiji and Tonga
Summary
P W D L
Total
07 07 00 00
Test match
4[1] 04 00 00
Opponent
P W D L
 Japan
2 2 0 0
 Fiji
1 1 0 0
 Tonga
1 1 0 0

England did not award full international caps for the matches against Japan, Fiji and Tonga and the tourists played under the name of England XV rather than England in those games. The Welsh referee Clive Norling travelled with the party and refereed five of the matches. The leading tour points scorer was Huw Davies, with 60 points, and the leading try-scorers were John Carleton (9 tries) and Mike Slemen (7 tries).

The visit to Tonga was the first time that a major rugby nation had visited the country.

Matches
Scores and results list England's points tally first.
Opposing TeamForAgainstDateVenueStatus
Japan 'B'36710 May 1979TokyoTour match
Japan211913 May 1979Kintetsu Hanazono Stadium, OsakaFirst 'Test'
Kyūshū80316 May 1979FukuokaTour match
Japan381820 May 1979Olympic Stadium, TokyoSecond 'Test'
Fiji Juniors392225 May 1979LautokaTour match
Fiji19729 May 1979National Stadium, Suva'Test' Match
Tonga37171 June 1979Teufaiva Sport Stadium, Nukuʻalofa'Test' Match

Touring party

Full back

Three-quarters

Half-backs

Forwards

References
  • Jenkins, Vivian (1980). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1980–81. Queen Anne Press. pp. 39–43. ISBN 0-362-02018-3.

Notes
  1. not official test-matches for Rugby Football Union
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