1963–64 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

The 1963-64 Kangaroo tour was the eleventh Kangaroo tour, where the Australian national rugby league team traveled to Europe and played thirty-six matches against British and French club and representative rugby league teams, in addition to three Test matches against Great Britain and three Tests against the French. It followed the tour of 1959-60 and the next was staged in 1967-68.

The squad's leadership

The 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.

Saturday, 14 September	Warrington	20 – 28	Australia	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington
				Attendance: 20,090

Monday, 16 September	Huddersfield	5 – 6	Australia	Fartown Ground, Huddersfield
				Attendance: 13,398

Wednesday, 18 September	Yorkshire	11 – 5	Australia	Craven Park, Hull
				Attendance: 10,324 Referee: Denis Davies

Saturday, 21 September	Leeds	10 – 13	Australia	Headingley, Leeds
				Attendance: 16,641

Wednesday, 25 September	Lancashire	13 – 11	Australia	Central Park, Wigan
				Attendance: 15,068 Referee: M. Coats

Saturday, 28 September	St Helens	2 – 8	Australia	Knowsley Road, St Helens
				Attendance: 21,284

Wednesday, 2 October	Featherstone	23 – 17	Australia	Post Office Road, Featherstone
				Attendance: 7,898

Saturday, 5 October	Oldham	4 – 12	Australia	The Watersheddings, Oldham
				Attendance: 11,338

Wednesday, 9 October	Leigh	7 – 33	Australia	Hilton Park, Leigh
				Attendance: 9,625

Saturday, 12 October	Hull / Hull KR XIII	10 – 23	Australia	The Boulevard, Hull
				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 seat up to 100,000), 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)		Tries: Reg Gasnier (3) Ken Irvine Graeme Langlands Ken Thornett Goals: Graeme Langlands (5)

Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 13,946 Referee/s: Denis Davies Man of the Match: Reg Gasnier

Saturday, 19 October	Rochdale	0 – 3	Australia	Athletic Grounds, Rochdale
				Attendance: 8,637

Wednesday, 23 October	Hunslet	13 – 17	Australia	Parkside, Hunslet
				Attendance: 4,400

Saturday, 26 October	Wakefield Trinity	14 – 29	Australia	Belle Vue, Wakefield
				Attendance: 15,821

Thursday, 31 October	Cumberland	0 – 21	Australia	Derwent Park, Workington
				Attendance: 8,229 Referee: A. Durkin

Saturday, 2 November	Barrow	5 – 18	Australia	Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness
				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. Ken Irvine crossed for three tries while Reg Gasnier, Peter Dimond and Graeme Langlands all crossed for a double 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 had a hand in 9 of his teams 12 tries.

Sunday, 3 November

Great Britain	12 – 50	Australia
Tries: Jim Measures John Stopford Goals: Neil Fox (3)		Tries: Ken Irvine (3) Reg Gasnier (2) Peter Dimond (2) Graeme Langlands (2) Earl Harrison Noel Kelly Dick Thornett Goals: Graeme Langlands (7)

Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 30,843 Referee/s: Denis Davies Man of the Match: Johnny Raper

Wednesday, 13 November	Castleford	13 – 12	Australia	Wheldon Road, Castleford
				Attendance: 7,887

Monday, 18 November	Wigan	10 – 18	Australia	Central Park, Wigan
				Attendance: 11,746

Thursday, 21 November	Widnes	9 – 20	Australia	Lowerhouse Lane, Widnes
				Attendance: 6,509

Saturday, 23 November	Swinton	2 – 2	Australia	Station Road, Swinton
				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".^[1]

Ken Irvine, who scored Australia's only try for the match, became the first Australian to score a try in each test of an Ashes series.

Saturday, 30 November

Great Britain	16 – 5	Australia
Tries: Don Fox Geoff Smith John Stopford Johnny Ward Goals: Don Fox (2)		Tries: Ken Irvine Goals: Graeme Langlands (1)

Headingley in Leeds Attendance: 20,497 Referee/s: Eric Clay

France

French Tests

First test

8 December 1963

France	8 – 5	Australia
Tries: Georges Ailleres Bernard Fabre Goals Jean Villeneuve (1)		Tries: Graeme Langlands Goals Graeme Langlands (1)

Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux Attendance: 4,261 Referee/s: A. Cassan

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)

Stade des Minimes, Toulouse Attendance: 6,932 Referee/s: Eddie Martung

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)

Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 5,979 Referee/s: Georges Jameau

References

External links

• 1963-64 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project

Rugby league Ashes
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