After the war, he made his international representative debut for Australia in the 1946 Test series against the Great Britain Lions, becoming Kangaroo No. 223. He played in all three matches of the series. It was a violent era and every team had three or four 'enforcers'. Greg Ellis, who was the Newtown ball boy in Bumper's day, said he only ever saw two blokes get the better of him. One was George Jardine, of St. George, and the other was the enormous British prop Frank Whitcombe. During the brutal exchanges in the first test Bumper was 'King Hit' by Whitcombe when the unfortunate St John's ambulanceman ran on to treat him, a still groggy Farrell lashed out at him mistaking him for Whitcombe.