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Kangaroo
Tour: 1978
Sean Fagan of RL1908.com
 Under
the leadership of East's Bob Fulton, vice-captain Tom Raudonikis
(Wests) and coach Frank Stanton, the 1978 Kangaroos had a tough,
but ultimately successful tour as they set about retaining the Ashes.
In
England, the Kangaroos won a very close First Test by 15-9 after
Fulton contrived two tries for his support players in the final
ten minutes. Best for Australia aside from Fulton were Rod Reddy,
Craig Young and Graham Olling.
The
2nd Test at Bradford saw Britain square the series with an 18-14
win. Late Australian tries by Ray Price and Steve Rogers flattered
the scoreboard for the tourists.
In the deciding Test Australia led early by 4-0 after Cronin kicked
two goals. Peponis then burrowed over for a converted try and the
Kangaroos were up by 9-0.
In
a sign of what lay ahead in future tours, the British team's fitness
could not match Australia in the back-end of the first half - two
tries to the Kangaroos (Les Boyd and Geoff Gerrard) saw them hold
a 19-0 lead at half time. The second half produced no change in
fortunes as the Aussies won by 23-6.
The
tour was somewhat marred though by the loss of the two French Tests
at the end. It was the last time Australia lost a Test series anywhere!
Tour
Details:
1978
v Great Britain & France
GREAT
BRITAIN
1st Test - 21 October : won 15-9 / Central Park, Wigan (17,644)
2nd Test - 5 November : lost 14-18 / Odsal Stadium, Bradford (26,761)
3rd Test - 18 November : won 23-6 / Headingley, Leeds (30,604)
RECORD: P: 16
W: 13 L:3
TEST SERIES: Won 2-1
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 189,961
v
Blackpool Borough W 39-1 2,700 Blackpool
v Cumbria W 47-4 5,964 Barrow
v Britain Under-24s W 30-8 6,418 Hull
v Bradford Northern W 21-11 15,755 Bradford
v Warrington L 12-15 10,143 Warrington
v Wales W 8-3 4,250 Swansea
v Leeds W 25-19 9,781 Leeds
v GREAT BRITAIN W 15-9 17,644 Central Park, Wigan
v Widnes L 10-11 12,202 Widnes
v Hull W 34-2 10,723 Hull
v Salford W 14-2 6,155 Salford
v GREAT BRITAIN L 14-18 26,761 Odsal Stadium, Bradford
v Wigan W 28-2 10,645 Wigan
v St Helens W 26-4 16,352 St Helens
v York W 29-2 5,155 York
v GREAT BRITAIN W 23-6 30,604 Headingley, Leeds
FRANCE
1st Test : lost 10-13
/ Carcassonne
(7,000)
2nd
Test :
lost 10-11 / Toulouse (7,060)
RECORD:
P: 6 W: 3 L:3
FOR:
116 AGST: 73
TEST
SERIES: Lost 0-2
AGGREGATE
ATTENDANCE: 19,642
v
FRANCE L 10-13 7,000 Carcassonne
v FRANCE L 10-11 7,060 Toulouse
v Catalan XIII W 26-15 2,270 Perpignan
v Cote d'Azur W 29-7 645 Avignon
v Les Espoirs L 5-20 1,600 Albi
v Midi-Pyrenees W 36-7 1,627 Villeneuve
EASTERN
SUBURBS 2 (Bobby
Fulton Capt.,
Ian Schubert)
SOUTH SYDNEY
0
NORTH SYDNEY 0
NEWTOWN 0
BALMAIN 2 (Allan McMahon, Larry Corowa)
WESTERN SUBURBS 2
(Les Boyd, Tom Raudonikis)
ST GEORGE 2
(Rod Reddy, Craig Young)
CANTERBURY
2 (Chris Anderson, George Peponis)
MANLY 7
(Graham Eadie, Johnny Gibbs, Max Krilich, Steve Martin,
Alan Thompson, Ian Thomson, Bruce Walker)
PARRAMATTA 5
(Ray Price, Mick Cronin, Ron Hilditch, Graham Olling, Geoff Gerard)
PENRITH
0
CRONULLA
3 (Steve Rogers, Steve Kneen, Greg Pierce)
QUEENSLAND 3
(Rod Morris, Kerry Boustead, Greg Oliphant)
NSW COUNTRY 0
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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