Career Record: Played 15: Won 4, Lost 11
Test Points: 32
Tries: 8.
1985 v New Zealand (Christchurch) L 18-13
1985 v New Zealand (Wellington) L 42-15
1986 v Scotland (Murrayfield) L 33-6 (FN)
1986 v Ireland (Twickenham) W 25-20 (FN)
1986 v France (Paris) L 29-10 (FN)
1987 v Ireland (Dublin) L 17-0 (FN)
1987 v France (Twickenham) L 19-15 (FN)
1987 v Wales (Cardiff) L 19-12 (FN)
1987 v Scotland (Twickenham) W 21-12 (FN)
1987 v Australia (Sydney) L 19-6 (W. Cup)
1987 v Japan (Sydney) W 60-7 (W. Cup)
1987 v USA (Sydney) W 34-6 (W. Cup)
1987 v Wales (Brisbane) L 16-3 (W. Cup)
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1988 v France (Paris) L 10-9 (FN)
1988 v Wales (Twickenham) L 11-3 (FN)
Following his debut against New Zealand on
1st June 1985, Mike went on to play in 13 of
the next 14 Internationals.
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Mike Harrison playing for England in 1985. Photo G.Herringshaw. ©
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Wakefield winger Mike Harrison won the first of his fifteen caps on England's ©tour of New Zealand in 1985 under the captaincy of Paul Dodge. England lost both tests, but Mike scored a breakaway try in each to earn himself the nickname "Burglar Bill". The following season Mike was then part of the England side that experienced a record 36-3 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield. Pride was restored to some degree with a 25-20 victory over Ireland in the next match before defeat in Paris against the French. In 1987 Harrison played in all four games of the Five Nations, one of which was as captain. His appointment came about when current skipper and scrum-half Richard Hill was suspended for allegedly inciting a violent clash with Wales. Mike's first game in charge resulted in victory over Scotland and he marked the occasion with a try. He kept the role for the inaugural World Cup where he led by example and enjoyed a purple patch of try scoring form.
Indeed, in the opening match against Australia, Mike scored another breakaway try to give his side a surprise lead. England remained in contention at 6-6 but could not respond to losing full-back Marcus Rose to concussion and a controversial try scored by David Campese. Mike's men lost 19-6, but came back to score ten tries against Japan, with Mike notching up a hat-trick in thirteen minutes. He scored his fifth try of the tournament against the USA, but England bombed out to Wales in the quarter-finals, thought by some to have been the worst match of the tournament. Mike would play only two more matches for England, against France and Wales respectively. In the first game England nearly pulled off a shock win but it was Mike's error near the end which allow Laurent Rodriguez to score the winning try. England were then outgunned by Wales and Mike was one of three players to be permanently axed. (Jon Collins)
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