1973 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
The 1973 Kangaroo Tour was the thirteenth Kangaroo Tour, where the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Europe and played nineteen matches against British and French club and representative rugby league teams, in addition to three Test matches against Great Britain and two Tests against the French. It followed the tour of 1967-68 and the next was staged in 1978.
The squad's leadership
The team was captain-coached by Graeme Langlands making his third Kangaroo Tour. Managers of the team were Albert Bishop and Charlie Gibson with Alf Richards as the team trainer.
Touring squad
1973 NSWRFL Premiers Manly-Warringah provided a record 6 players to the Kangaroos, though one shock omission was tough tackling forward Terry Randall. Amazingly, the 1973 Brisbane premiers Fortitude Valley did not have any players selected.
Great Britain
The Ashes series against Great Britain saw an aggregate crowd of 36,567 attending the Test series
Test Venues
The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.
| London | Leeds | Warrington |
|---|---|---|
| Wembley | Headingley | Wilderspool |
| Capacity: 100,000 | Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 15,000 |
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| Sunday, 30 September | Salford  |
12 – 15 |  Australia |
The Willows, Salford | |
| Attendance: 11,064 |
| Wednesday, 3 October | Wakefield Trinity  |
9 – 13 | Australia |
Belle Vue, Wakefield | |
| Attendance: 5,863 |
| Sunday, 7 October | Dewsbury  |
3 – 17 | Australia |
Old Crown Flatt ground, Dewsbury | |
| Attendance: 5,865 |
| Wednesday, 10 October | Castleford  |
10 – 18 | Australia |
Wheldon Road, Castleford | |
| Attendance: 2,419 |
| Sunday, 14 October | Widnes  |
10 – 25 | Australia |
Naughton Park, Widnes | |
| Attendance: 5,185 |
| Friday, 19 October | Oldham  |
10 – 44 | Australia |
Watersheddings, Oldham | |
| Attendance: 2,895 |
| Wednesday, 24 October | Cumberland  |
2 – 28 | Australia |
Recreation Ground, Whitehaven | |
| Attendance: 3,666 Referee: Mick Naughton |
| Sunday, 28 October | Bradford Northern  |
14 – 50 | Australia |
Odsal, Bradford | |
| Attendance: 5,667 |
The Ashes series
First Test
In the first rugby league international played at Wembley since 1963, the Lions shocked the then unbeaten Australian's 21-12 in front of just 9,874 fans. The match had been moved to Wembley from the Central Park ground in Wigan at the request of the Australian team management.
Saturday, 3 November 1973 |
Great Britain  |
21 – 12 |  Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Phil Lowe (2) Colin Clarke Brian Lockwood Goals: Terry Clawson (4) Field Goals: Steve Nash (1) |
[1] | Tries: Ray Branighan Bob Fulton Goals: Graeme Langlands (3) |
      Great Britain
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     Australia
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| Wednesday, 7 November | Hull Kingston Rovers  |
9 – 25 | Australia |
Craven Park, Hull | |
| Attendance: 5,150 |
| Saturday, 10 November | Huddersfield  |
2 – 32 | Australia |
Fartown, Huddersfield | |
| Attendance: 1,333 |
| Sunday, 11 November | Leigh  |
4 – 31 | Australia |
Hilton Park, Leigh | |
| Attendance: 2,607 |
| Tuesday, 13 November | St. Helens  |
11 – 7 | Australia |
Knowsley Road, St. Helens | |
| Attendance: 10,013 |
| Sunday, 18 November | Featherstone Rovers  |
13 – 18 | Australia |
Post Office Road, Featherstone | |
| Attendance: 5,659 |
Second Test
The second test at Headingley in Leeds saw the Australian's tie the series at one game all with a 14-6 win in front of the tours largest attendance of 16,674.
Saturday, 24 November 1973 |
| Great Britain |
6 – 14 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Goals: Terry Clawson (3) |
[2] | Tries: Bob McCarthy Goals: Graham Eadie (5) |
Great Britain
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Australia
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Kangaroos captain-coach Graeme Langlands was ruled out of the second test with a broken hand. To replace him at fullback, Langlands selected Manly-Warringah's 19 year old dual premiership winning fullback Graham Eadie to make his test debut (Eadie, known affectionately as "Wombat", would turn 20 the next day). Eadie was also handed the goal kicking duties on the day and despite a very strong wind making conditions tricky for kickers, kicked 5 goals which proved vital in the Kangaroos 14-6 win over the Lions to keep The Ashes series alive.
After conceding 4 tries in the first test loss at Wembley, the Kangaroos kept their line intact with the Lions only scores coming from 3 goals by prop forward Terry Clawson.
Third Test
The Kangaroos won back The Ashes with a hard fought 15-5 win in trying conditions at Warrington. The pitch at Wilderspool was frozen which suited the Australians who were used to playing on hard grounds at home.
Saturday, 1 December 1973 |
| Great Britain |
5 – 15 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Roger Millward Goals: Roger Millward |
[3] | Tries: Ken Maddison (2) Bob Fulton Geoff Starling Elwyn Walters Goals: Graham Eadie (0/4) Ray Branighan (0/2) |
Great Britain
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Australia
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With coach Graeme Langlands still out with a broken hand and looking on from the sidelines, the Kangaroos wrapped up the Ashes with a 15-5 win on the frozen ground at Wilderspool. Man of the match Ken Maddison crossed for two tries while Warrington born Bob Fulton, centre Geoff Starling and hooker Elwyn Walters also crossed for tries. For the Lions, their only score came from a try and goal from Hull Kingston Rovers halfback Roger Millward.
France
| Date | Opponent | Score | Ground | Referee | Crowd | Report |
| 9 December | France | 9 – 21 | Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan | G. Jameau (FRA) | 5,109 | |
| 12 December | France XIII | 12 – 24 | Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux | 2,523 | ||
| 16 December | France | 3 – 14 | Stade des Minimes, Toulouse | M. Caillol (FRA) | 7,060 |
French Tests
First test
Sunday, 9 December 1973 |
France  |
9 – 21 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Michael Moliner Andre Ruiz Goals Roger Garrigues (1) Field Goals: Roger Garrigues (1) |
[4] | Tries: Bob Fulton (2) Ted Goodwin (2) Geoff Starling Goals Ray Branighan (2) Michael Cronin (1) |
    France
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Australia
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Second Test
Arthur Beetson became the first aboriginal player to captain Australia in a rugby league Test match.
Sunday, 16 December 1973 |
| France |
3 – 14 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Jacques Franc Goals: |
[5] | Tries: Ray Branighan Micheal Cronin Bob Fulton Ken Maddison Goals: Michael Cronin (1) |
France
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Australia
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References
External links
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