The 1998 England rugby union tour of Australasia and South Africa was a series of matches played in June and July 1998 by the England national rugby union team.

Matches

The tour is often referred to in rugby culture as "The Tour of Hell" due to the number of heavy defeats suffered by the England team. This was caused principally because England fielded a roster of untested and uncapped players - many of whom went on to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup five years later.

Touring party

Full-back

Tim Stimpson (Newcastle Falcons), Matt Perry (Bath), Nick Beal (Northampton Saints)

Utilities

Josh Lewsey (Wasps), Spencer Brown (Richmond), Austin Healey (Leicester Tigers)

Wingers

Tom Beim (Sale Sharks), Matt Moore (Sale Sharks), Paul Sampson (Wasps)

Centres

Stuart Potter (Leicester Tigers), Dominic Chapman (Richmond), Steve Ravenscroft (Saracens)

Fly-halves

Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons), Alex King (Wasps), Jos Baxendell (Sale Sharks).

Scrum-halves

Matt Dawson (Northampton Saints), Scott Benton (Gloucester), Peter Richards (London Irish)

Loose-forwards

Tony Diprose (Saracens), Steve Ojomoh (Bath), Richard Pool-Jones (Stade Francais Paris), Ben Sturnham (Saracens), Ben Clarke (Richmond), Pat Sanderson (Sale Sharks), Lewis Moody (Leicester Tigers).

Locks

Dave Sims (Gloucester), Rob Fidler (Gloucester), Garath Archer (Newcastle Falcons), Danny Grewcock (Saracens)

Props

Phil Vickery (Gloucester), Will Green (Wasps), Darren Crompton (Richmond), Graham Rowntree (Leicester Tigers), Duncan Bell (Sale Sharks), Tony Windo (Gloucester).

Hookers

Richard Cockerill (Leicester Tigers), Phil Greening (Gloucester), George Chuter (Saracens)