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During the 1970s, England's scrum-half slot was something of a merry-go-round and a whole host of players were selected and discarded at will. Of these was Gloucester's Peter Kingston who won five caps between 1975 and 1979. Peter made his debut as one of several new caps on England's ill fated tour of Australia in 1975. Buoyed by their excellent record against Southern Hemisphere nations in recent seasons and Australia's poor reputation, England expected an easy ride. Unfortunately, they hadn't counted on Australia's maverick coach Dave Brockhoff who had instilled new discipline and self belief into his side. England played well in the first test in Sydney, but eventually lost 16-9 after conceding a first half try to Mark Loane.
The first test was rough, but the second was a veritable bloodbath in comparison and was later described as "The Battle of Ballymore". Though reduced to 14 men, England still led for much of the game but conceded five tries and eventually lost 30-21. Even Australian officialdom was shocked by the aggressive tactics of the Wallaby side and ARU President Bill McLaughlin approached Brockhoff at half-time with the words. "Call them off now Brock - or you're off!" Kingston meanwhile arrived home much chastened and found that he was now surplus to requirements. Welsh legend Gareth Edwards was critical of the tour in his autobiography saying: "England's trip to Australia did not work because they chose too many youngsters. A lot of these youngsters, Peter Kingston, Peter Knight and others were never seen again." Edwards wrote that in 1978, and as if to prove him wrong, the selectors subsequently recalled Peter for the 1979 Five Nations Championship. He played in three tests, but one was one of five players to see his career ended permanently after a 27-3 hammering by Wales in Cardiff. (Jon Collins)
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