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Kangaroo
Tour: 1973
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
 The
Kangaroos returned to England in 1973 after a six year absence while
World Cup tournaments took centre stage.
Captained
by Graeme Langlands the side boasted huge forwards including Bill
Hamilton, Arthur Beetson, John O'Neill, Bob O'Reilly and Bob McCarthy.
The backs included Fulton, Sait, Starling, Branighan, Pickup, Cronin
and Eadie.
The
First Test was a superb match which saw Britain's Phil Lowe take
centre stage. The giant second rower scored two tries as the Aussies
lost 21-12.
In the second half of the 2nd Test scores were near level until
Bob McCarthy scored a fine 40 metre try to take a 9-6 lead. With
Eadie kicking goals superbly in his debut Test, Australia ran out
winners 14-6.
The
3rd Test in early December was a repeat of 1967 when it was played
on a hard iced field. The Kangaroos blew their opponents away in
the first half, scoring four unconverted tries.
They
retained the Ashes when they held on to win by 15-5. Beetson, Maddison
and stand-in captain Tom Raudonikis were Australia's best. In France
the Kangaroos continued their good form, winning both Tests.
At
home for the start of the 1974 season, locals had a rare chance
to see a Kangaroos team play. AT Brookvale Oval the Kangaroos beat
"The Rest" by 26-0 in front of 16,000 fans. "The Rest" included
Englishmen Mal Reilly, Bill Ashurst, Cliff Watson and Mike Stephenson.
Tour
Details:
1973
v Great Britain & France
GREAT
BRITAIN
1st Test - 3 November : lost 12-21 / Wembley Stadium, London
(9,875)
2nd Test - 24 November : won 14-6 / Headingley, Leeds (16,674)
3rd Test - 1 December : won 15-5 / Wilderspool, Warrington (10,019)
RECORD: P: 16
W: 14 L:2
TEST SERIES: Won 2-1
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 103,773
v
Salford W 15-12 11,064 Salford
v Wakefield Trinity W 13-9 5,863 Wakefield
v Dewsbury W 17-3 5,865 Dewsbury
v Castleford W 18-10 2,419 Castleford
v Widnes W 25-10 5,185 Widnes
v Oldham W 44-10 2,895 Oldham
v Cumbria W 28-2 3,666 Whitehaven
v Bradford Northern W 50-14 5,667 Bradford
v GREAT BRITAIN L 12-21 9,875 Wembley Stadium, London
v Hull Kingston Rovers W 25-9 5,150 Hull
v Huddersfield W 32-2 1,333 Huddersfield
v Leigh W 31-4 2,607 Leigh
v St Helens L 7-11 10,013 St Helens
v Featherstone Rovers W 18-13 5,659 Featherstone
v GREAT BRITAIN W 14-6 16,674 Headingley, Leeds
v GREAT BRITAIN W 15-5 10,019 Wilderspool, Warrington
FRANCE
1st Test : won 21-11
/ Perpignan
(7,630)
2nd
Test :
won 14-3 / Toulouse (5,000)
RECORD:
P: 3 W: 3 L:0
TEST SERIES: Won 2-0
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 17,213
v FRANCE W 21-9 7,630 Perpignan
v FRANCE W 14-3 5,000 Toulouse
v France-B W 24-12 2,523 Bordeaux
EASTERN
SUBURBS 2 (Arthur
Beetson,
Elwyn Walters)
SOUTH SYDNEY
3 (Bob McCarthy, Gary Stevens, Paul Sait)
NORTH SYDNEY 0
NEWTOWN 1
(Lionel Williamson)
BALMAIN 1 (Geoff Starling)
WESTERN SUBURBS 1
(Tom Raudonikis)
ST GEORGE 2
(Graeme Langlands Capt., Ted Goodwin)
CANTERBURY
1 (Tim Pickup)
MANLY 6
(Graham Eadie, Bobby Fulton, Bill Hamilton, John O'Neill, Terry
Randall, Ray Branighan)
PARRAMATTA 1
(Bob O'Reilly)
PENRITH
0
CRONULLA
3 (Steve Rogers, Greg Pierce, Ken Maddison)
QUEENSLAND 2
(John Lang, Warren Orr)
NSW COUNTRY 3
(Mick Cronin, Dennis Ward, David Waite)
Copyright
© 2006 - Sean Fagan. All rights reserved - the article above may
not be reproduced (in full or part) in any form without written
permission.
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