Summer 1998 saw Vickery taking part in the tour of the Southern Hemisphere, part of an England squad which had been severely weakened by injury and player unavailability. In the space of a month, England were soundly defeated by Australia (76–0 in Brisbane on 6 June), twice by New Zealand (64–22 in Dunedin on 20 June and 40–10 in Auckland on 27 June) and finally by South Africa (18–0 in Cape Town on 4 July). There were also losses to New Zealand 'A', New Zealand Rugby Academy, and New Zealand Māori.