1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand

The 1951 French rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand was the first ever tour of Australasia by any French sports team in history. Puig Aubert captained the France national rugby league team who played 28 matches in total in both Australia and New Zealand, winning 21 of them in what is regarded as the high point in the history of rugby league in France. The Australian Test series resulted in a 2-1 victory to France, however the tourists then lost their match against the New Zealand Kiwis. Welcoming the team home to Marseille, more than 150,000 people turned out for a street parade.

The French side was coached by former internationals Bob Samatan and Jean Duhau, and was captained by Puig Aubert. France had just claimed the 1950–51 European Rugby League Championship before embarking on the tour. The squad's average age was 26.5 years. The backs' average weight was 11.1 stone (70 kg) while the forwards' was 14.5 stone (92 kg).

France's captain Puig Aubert had been offered a large contract to play in Sydney but returned to his homeland where he was voted French sportsman of the year.

The tour's Australian leg featured games played in every mainland State capital except Adelaide, drawing a total of over 450,000 spectators.

Monaro: Max Preston, D Stewart, Doug McRitchie, D Hodges, T Fogarty, P Schumack, Ken Brogan (c), Ted Schell, Ken Fogarty, K Barber, B Grant, R Alexander, Pat Rankin

France: Puig Aubert, Ode Lespes, Gaston Comes, Maurice Andre, Raymond Contrastin, Robert Caillou, Jean Dop, Paul Bartoletti, Gabriel Genoud, Andre Beraud, Michael Lopez, Élie Brousse, Gaston Calixte

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