1963–64 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
The 1963-64 Kangaroo tour was the eleventh Kangaroo tour, during which the Australian national rugby league team traveled to Europe and played thirty-six matches against British and French club and representative teams. It included three Test matches against Great Britain for The Ashes, and three Tests against the French. The tour followed the 1959-60 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France and was followed by the 1967-68 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France.
The squad's leadership
The Australian team was captain-coached by Western Suburbs Magpies Halfback Arthur Summons, though due to injury to Summons the test captaincy fell to St George Hooker Ian Walsh for Ashes series against Great Britain and the first test against France.
Touring squad
Great Britain
The Ashes series against Great Britain saw an aggregate crowd of 65,286 attending the Test series. The largest attendance of the tour came during the Kangaroos 50-12 second test win over Great Britain at Station Road in Swinton with 30,843 in attendance. The largest non-test attendance of the tour was 21,284 when the Kangaroos defeated St. Helens at Knowsley Road.
Test venues
The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.
| London | Swinton | Leeds |
|---|---|---|
| Wembley Stadium | Station Road | Headingley |
| Capacity: 100,000 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 30,000 |
|
|
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|
| Saturday, 14 September | Warrington 
|
20 – 28 |  Australia
|
Wilderspool, Warrington | |
| [1] | Attendance: 20,090 |
| Monday, 16 September | Huddersfield 
|
5 – 6 | Australia
|
Fartown, Huddersfield | |
| [2] | Attendance: 13,398 |
| Wednesday, 18 September | Yorkshire 
|
11 – 5 | Australia
|
Craven Park, Hull | |
| [3] | Attendance: 10,324 Referee: Denis Davies |
| Saturday, 21 September | Leeds 
|
10 – 13 | Australia
|
Headingley, Leeds | |
| [4] | Attendance: 16,641 |
| Wednesday, 25 September | Lancashire 
|
13 – 11 | Australia
|
Central Park, Wigan | |
| [5] | Attendance: 15,068 Referee: M. Coats |
| Saturday, 28 September | St. Helens 
|
2 – 8 | Australia
|
Knowsley Road, St. Helens | |
| [6] | Attendance: 21,284 |
| Wednesday, 2 October | Featherstone Rovers 
|
23 – 17 | Australia
|
Post Office Road, Featherstone | |
| [7] | Attendance: 7,898 |
| Saturday, 5 October | Oldham 
|
4 – 12 | Australia
|
Watersheddings, Oldham | |
| [8] | Attendance: 11,338 |
| Wednesday, 9 October | Leigh 
|
7 – 33 | Australia
|
Hilton Park, Leigh | |
| [9] | Attendance: 9,625 |
| Saturday, 12 October | Hull F.C. / Hull Kingston Rovers XIII 
|
10 – 23 | Australia
|
The Boulevard, Hull | |
| [10] | Attendance: 10,481 |
The Ashes series
First Test
The first Ashes series test was played at the famous Wembley Stadium in London. Reg Gasnier ran in 3 of the Kangaroos 6 tries while his St George team mate and centre partner Graeme Langlands kicked 5 goals and crossed for his own try. In front of a small crowd of only 13,946 (in a stadium which at the time could hold up to 100,000 and earlier in the year had seen a crowd of 84,488 for the Challenge Cup Final), the Kangaroos kept the Lions scoreless with Neil Fox's lone goal the only score for the home side as Australia won 28-2.
Wednesday, 16 October
|
Great Britain 
|
2 – 28 |  Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Goals: Neil Fox (1) |
[11] |
Tries: Reg Gasnier (3) Ken Irvine Graeme Langlands Ken Thornett Goals: Graeme Langlands (5) |
| Great Britain | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Gowers | FB | Ken Thornett |
| Bill Burgess | WG | Ken Irvine |
| Eric Ashton (c) | CE | Reg Gasnier |
| Neil Fox | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| Norman Field | WG | Peter Dimond |
| Dave Bolton | SO | Earl Harrison |
| Alex Murphy | SH | Barry Muir |
| John Tembey | PR | Peter Gallagher |
| Bill Sayer | HK | Ian Walsh (c) |
| Brian Tyson | PR | Noel Kelly |
| Jim Measures | SR | Brian Hambly |
| Ken Bowman | SR | Dick Thornett |
| Vince Karalius | LF | Johnny Raper |
| Coach | Arthur Summons |
| Saturday, 19 October | Rochdale Hornets 
|
0 – 3 | Australia
|
Athletic Grounds, Rochdale | |
| [12] | Attendance: 8,637 |
| Wednesday, 23 October | Hunslet 
|
13 – 17 | Australia
|
Parkside, Hunslet | |
| [13] | Attendance: 4,400 |
| Saturday, 26 October | Wakefield Trinity 
|
14 – 29 | Australia
|
Belle Vue, Wakefield | |
| [14] | Attendance: 15,821 |
| Thursday, 31 October | Cumberland 
|
0 – 21 | Australia
|
Derwent Park, Workington | |
| [15] | Attendance: 8,229 Referee: A. Durkin |
| Saturday, 2 November | Barrow 
|
5 – 18 | Australia
|
Craven Park, Barrow | |
| [16] | Attendance: 10,130 |
Second Test
The second test at Station Road in Swinton has gone down in rugby league folklore as the "Swinton Massacre". The Kangaroos ran riot, crossing for 12 tries to just 2 from the Lions. The 50-12 win was not only the Kangaroos highest ever score against Great Britain, it also saw Australia win The Ashes in England for the first time since 1911–12 and the first time an all-Australian team (the 1911–12 squad included New Zealand players) had won The Ashes in England. British fans got a taste of Ken Irvine's legendary speed when he crossed for three long range tries while Reg Gasnier, Peter Dimond and Graeme Langlands all crossed for doubles with Langlands also kicking 7 goals for a personal tally of 20 points. Though on this day there was none better than Kangaroos lock forward Johnny Raper who while not scoring himself, had a hand in 9 of his teams 12 tries.[1]
Saturday, 9 November
|
| Great Britain
|
12 – 50 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: John Stopford Jim Measures Goals: Neil Fox (3) |
[17] |
Tries: Ken Irvine (3) Reg Gasnier (2) Peter Dimond (2) Graeme Langlands (2) Earl Harrison Noel Kelly Dick Thornett Goals: Graeme Langlands (7) |
| Great Britain | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Gowers | FB | Ken Thornett |
| Mick Sullivan | WG | Ken Irvine |
| Eric Ashton (c) | CE | Reg Gasnier |
| Neil Fox | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| John Stopford | WG | Peter Dimond |
| Frank Myler | SO | Earl Harrison |
| Alex Murphy | SH | Barry Muir |
| Bill Robinson | PR | Paul Quinn |
| Len McIntyre | HK | Ian Walsh (c) |
| Cliff Watson | PR | Noel Kelly |
| Jim Measures | SR | Ken Day |
| Ron Morgan | SR | Dick Thornett |
| Vince Karalius | LF | Johnny Raper |
| Coach | Arthur Summons |
| Wednesday, 13 November | Castleford 
|
13 – 12 | Australia
|
Wheldon Road, Castleford | |
| [18] | Attendance: 7,887 |
| Monday, 18 November | Wigan 
|
10 – 18 | Australia
|
Central Park, Wigan | |
| [19] | Attendance: 11,746 |
| Thursday, 21 November | Widnes 
|
9 – 20 | Australia
|
Naughton Park, Widnes | |
| [20] | Attendance: 6,509 |
| Saturday, 23 November | Swinton 
|
2 – 2 | Australia
|
Station Road, Swinton | |
| [21] | Attendance: 11,947 |
Third Test
With pride on the line as no England or Great Britain team had ever lost a home series 3-0 to Australia, The Lions put in a much improved performance at Headingley in Leeds. The Rugby Football League had appointed "Sergeant Major" Eric Clay as the referee for the game. The two sides set about settling scores and the Australians felt Clay was biased. It is considered was one of the most brutal Tests ever played, with two Australians (Barry Muir and Brian Hambly) and one British player (Cliff Watson) being sent off. Muir who was sent off (for kicking) later told that he first told Clay "where to go" as he left the field, and later approached Clay after the game and said to him "You robbed us". According to Muir, Clay reportedly responded with "Barry, I've got to live here".[2]
Ken Irvine, who scored Australia's only try for the match, repeated his efforts from the 1962 Ashes series by scoring a try in each test of an Ashes series.
Saturday, 30 November
|
| Great Britain
|
16 – 5 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Johnny Ward John Stopford Geoff Smith Don Fox Goals: Don Fox (2) |
[22] |
Tries: Ken Irvine Goals: Graeme Langlands (1) |
| Great Britain | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Gowers | FB | Ken Thornett |
| Geoff Smith | WG | Ken Irvine |
| Keith Holden | CE | Reg Gasnier |
| Alan Buckley | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| John Stopford | WG | Peter Dimond |
| Dave Bolton | SO | Earl Harrison |
| Tommy Smales (c) | SH | Barry Muir |
| Frank Collier | PR | Noel Kelly |
| Johnny Ward | HK | Ian Walsh (c) |
| Cliff Watson | PR | Paul Quinn |
| Dick Huddart | SR | Brian Hambly |
| Ken Roberts | SR | Dick Thornett |
| Don Fox | LF | Johnny Raper |
| Coach | Arthur Summons |
France
French Tests
First test
Although Ken Irvine was unavailable due to injury, The Kangaroos lost nothing with pace on the wing due to the selection of South Sydney flyer and dual-rugby international Michael Cleary who 12 months earlier had won the Bronze Medal in the 100 yards sprint at the 1962 Commonwealth Games. However it wasn't enough as the tourists were defeated 8-5 by a determined French.
8 December 1963
|
France 
|
8 – 5 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Georges Ailleres Bernard Fabre Goals Jean Villeneuve (1) |
Tries: Graeme Langlands Goals Graeme Langlands (1) |
| France | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Andre Carrere | FB | Ken Thornett |
| Jean Etcheberry | WG | Michael Cleary |
| Bernard Fabre | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| Claude Mantoulan | CE | Reg Gasnier |
| F. Roldos | WG | Peter Dimond |
| Jean Villeneuve | SO | Earl Harrison |
| Georges Fages (c) | SH | Barry Muir |
| L. Faletti | PR | Noel Kelly |
| Jean Graciet | HK | Ian Walsh (c) |
| Jean Pano | PR | Paul Quinn |
| Henry Marracq | SR | Brian Hambly |
| Georges Ailleres | SR | Dick Thornett |
| Andre Lacaze | LF | Johnny Raper |
| Jean-Pierre Capdouze | Int. | Ron Lynch |
| Coach | Arthur Summons |
Second Test
22 December 1963
|
| France
|
9 – 21 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Jean Etcheberry Goals Jean Villeneuve (2) Andre Lacaze (1) |
Tries: Ken Irvine (2) Graeme Langlands Arthur Summons Ken Thornett Goals Graeme Langlands (3) |
| France | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Andre Carrere | FB | Ken Thornett |
| Jean Etcheberry | WG | Ken Irvine |
| Bernard Fabre | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| Claude Mantoulan | CE | Reg Gasnier |
| F. Roldos | WG | Peter Dimond |
| Jean Villeneuve | SO | Arthur Summons (c) |
| Georges Fages (c) | SH | Barry Muir |
| L. Faletti | PR | Billy Wilson |
| Jean Graciet | HK | Noel Kelly |
| Jean Pano | PR | Peter Gallagher |
| Henry Marracq | SR | Kevin Smyth |
| Georges Ailleres | SR | Dick Thornett |
| Andre Lacaze | LF | Johnny Raper |
| Coach | Arthur Summons |
Third Test
18 January 1964
|
| France
|
8 – 16 | Australia
|
|---|---|---|
| Tries: F. Roldos Louis Verge Goals Jean Villeneuve (1) |
Tries: Barry Muir (2) Ken Irvine Barry Rushworth Goals Brian Hambly (1) |
| France | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Andre Carrere | FB | Ken Thornett |
| F. Roldos | WG | Ken Irvine |
| Bernard Fabre | CE | Reg Gasnier |
| Gilbert Benausse | CE | Barry Rushworth |
| Daniel Pellerin | WG | Peter Dimond |
| Jean Villeneuve | SO | Arthur Summons (c) |
| Louis Verge | SH | Barry Muir |
| L. Faletti | PR | Brian Hambly |
| Jean Graciet | HK | Noel Kelly |
| Jean Pano | PR | Peter Gallagher |
| H. Larrue | SR | Graham Wilson |
| Henry Marracq | SR | Ken Day |
| Jean Barthe | LF | Kevin Smyth |
| Coach | Arthur Summons |
References
External links
| Related | |
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