50 years since Les Boyd first played in Warrington

From arriving in 1985 as “Bad Boy Boyd” to leaving as “Sir Les,” he remains highly spoken of as one of the club’s finest ever overseas imports.

The formidable front-row partnership with Bob Jackson and Kevin Tamati, the man-of-the-match display in the 1986 Premiership Trophy final and so many more memories make his four-year stint at the club such an iconic one.

However, plenty of fans may not know that he graced the Wilderspool turf for the very first time exactly 50 years ago today.

In 1972 – 13 years before he joined Warrington and at the very start of a career which saw him turn out 17 times in the green and gold of Australia – Boyd was part of the Australian Schoolboys team that undertook a dominant tour of England.

In total, the side won all 12 games they played, scoring 402 points and conceding just 17.

Les Boyd (middle row, fifth from right) as part of the 1972-73 Australian Schoolboys touring side (Image: Contributed)

On December 22 of that year, however, the team arrived in Warrington for a match against South Lancashire.

It was the second game of their tour having previously beaten East Lancashire 30-0 in Oldham, and Boyd took his place in the side at the ground he would later grace on so many occasions.

The Australians won 18-2 thanks in no small part to two tries and three goals from Stephen Fishenden. Herb Rauter and David Tassell also crossed the whitewash.

Boyd scored seven tries on that tour, including two in the 46-3 win over England in the third and final test at Hayes in Middlesex.

He also scored a hat-trick in a 40-0 win over Cumbria at Millon and touched down twice as his side beat Yorkshire 28-0 in Hull.