| |
Kangaroo
Tour: 1963-1964
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
 It
had been 51 years since McKivat's 1911-12 side returned home with
the Ashes. Some claimed that Australia had never won the Ashes in
England, as McKivat's side was "Australiasia" and included
four New Zealanders.
That argument was over by the end of the 1963/64 tour - Australia
had by then won the Ashes! Under the leadership combination of Arthur
Summons and Ian Walsh, the Kangaroos finally produced the result
that Australia had been yearning for.
The
side was arguably the best ever Kangaroo side and included Gasnier,
Hambly, Irvine, Johns, Kelly, Langlands, Raper, Michael Cleary,
Peter Dimond, Earl Harrison, Paul Quinn and the Thornett brothers,
Dick and Ken.
The
Kangaroos opened the Test series with their biggest ever win over
Britain (by 28-2). The Aussies scored four tries in the second half,
three were from deep in their own territory. The magical Gasnier
claimed three of his team's tries.
The
2nd Test saw the Kangaroos claim their Holy Grail - they won the
Ashes. The didn't just win, it was a rout. The thrashing that ensued
on the field that day led to changes in the rules to again allow
the use of replacements. The Kangaroos always dominated the game,
but when the British lost Ashton and Myler to injury, watching an
11 man team struggle was not a pretty scene.
The
Kangaroos won by 50-12, scoring twelve tries - nine of which involved
Johnny Raper in one of the greatest individual performances ever
seen in a rugby league Test match.
The
3rd Test was the complete opposite - Britain won (by 16-5) and football
was replaced by brawling and thuggery. Both sides were guilty in
producing one of the worst Tests of the game's history.
The
French leg of the tour ended with Australia winning the deciding
3rd Test in an entertaining match by 16-8.
Arriving
home at Sydney Airport there were 1000 fans on hand. On the steps
of the Town Hall 10,000 supporters paid tribute to the team.
Tour
Details:
1963/64
v Great Britain & France
GREAT
BRITAIN
1st Test - 16 October : won 28-2 / Wembley Stadium, London (13,946)
2nd Test - 9 November : won 50-12 / Station Road, Swinton (30,843)
3rd Test - 30 November : lost 5-16 / Headingley, Leeds (20,497)
RECORD: P: 22
W: 16 D: 1 L: 5 FOR: 379 AGST: 201
TEST SERIES: Won 2-1
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 286,729
v
Warrington W 28-20 20,090 Warrington
v Huddersfield W 6-5 13,398 Huddersfield
v Yorkshire L 5-11 10,324 Hull
v Leeds W 13-10 16,641 Leeds
v Lancashire L 11-13 15,068 Wigan
v St Helens W 8-2 21,284 St Helens
v Featherstone Rovers L 17-23 7,898 Featherstone
v Oldham W 12-4 11,338 Oldham
v Leigh W 33-7 9,625 Leigh
v Hull XIII W 23-10 10,481 Hull
v GREAT BRITAIN W 28-2 13,946 Wembley Stadium, London
v Rochdale Hornets W 3-0 8,637 Rochdale
v Hunslet W 17-13 4,400 Hunslet
v Wakefield Trinity W 29-14 15,821 Wakefield
v Cumberland W 21-0 8,229 Workington
v Barrow W 18-5 10,130 Barrow
v GREAT BRITAIN W 50-12 30,843 Station Road, Swinton
v Castleford L 12-13 7,887 Castleford
v Wigan W 18-10 11,746 Wigan
v Widnes W 20-9 6,509 Widnes
v Swinton D 2-2 11,947 Swinton
v GREAT BRITAIN L 5-16 20,497 Headingley, Leeds
FRANCE
1st Test : lost 5-8 /
Bordeaux
(4,261)
2nd
Test : won 21-9 / Toulouse (6,932)
3rd Test : won 16-8 / Paris (5,979)
RECORD:
P: 14 W: 12 L: 2 FOR: 328 AGST: 111
TEST SERIES: Won 2-1
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 49,689
v FRANCE L 5-8 4,261 Bordeaux
v FRANCE W 21-9 6,932 Toulouse
v FRANCE W 16-8 5,979 Paris
v Paris Celtic W 30-2 2,000 Paris
v Basque-Bearnaise W 18-5 4,261 Bayonne
v South-West France W 41-11 1,266 Villaneuve
v Pyrenees W 14-10 2,059 St Gaudens
v Rouergue W 13-2 3,780 Albi
v Languedoc W 16-12 6,143 Carcassonne
v Catalan XIII L 11-15 4,524 Perpignan
v Marseilles/Montpellier XIII W 51-11 889 Marseilles
v Vaucluse W 35-4 2,009 Avignon
v Roanne W 38-2 2,969 Roanne
v Les Espoirs W 19-12 2,617 Limoges
EASTERN
SUBURBS 0
SOUTH SYDNEY
2 (Mike Cleary, Jimmy Lisle)
NORTH SYDNEY 1 (Ken Irvine)
NEWTOWN 1
(Graham Wilson)
BALMAIN
0
WESTERN SUBURBS 4
(Arthur Summons Capt., Peter Dimond, Noel Kelly, Kevin Smyth)
ST GEORGE 5
(Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Johnny Raper, Kevin Ryan, Ian Walsh)
CANTERBURY
1 (Les Johns)
MANLY 1
(Frank Stanton)
PARRAMATTA 3
(Ken Thornett, Dick Thornett, Brian Hambly)
QUEENSLAND 5
(John Cleary, Ken Day, Peter Gallagher, John Gleeson, Barry Muir)
NSW COUNTRY 3
(Earl Harrison, Paul Quinn, Barry Rushworth)
Copyright
© 2006 - Sean Fagan. All rights reserved - the article above may
not be reproduced (in full or part) in any form without written
permission.
|
|
