1967–68 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France
The 1967–68 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France was the twelfth Kangaroo Tour, and saw the Australian national rugby league team travel to Europe and play twenty-one 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 1963-64 and the next was staged in 1973.
The 1967-68 Kangaroo tour became infamously known as the "Bowler Hat Tour". Legend had it that a Kangaroos forward had walked through the West Yorkshire town of Ilkley one night wearing nothing but a bowler hat. Although Johnny Raper often jokingly claimed it was him, in 1988 on Brisbane television, Dennis Manteit claimed that he was in fact the man in the bowler hat. At the time, Kangaroo touring teams were housed in the Ilkley Moors Hotel located approximately 25 km west of Leeds in an effort to not only keep down costs but also to keep players out of trouble by being located in a small town rather than a larger city.
The squad's leadership
The team was captain-coached by Reg Gasnier making his third and ultimately final Kangaroo Tour. Gasnier broke his leg during the first test at Headingley that saw him sit out the remainder of the English leg. He returned to the field in France but in a minor game against Les Espoirs in Avignon, he suffered a further break. This would ultimately cause him to announce his retirement from playing at the age of just 28. He later told in an interview that he never regretted his decision to retire, explaining that he had been playing rugby league virtually non-stop including juniors, junior representative games, the Sydney premiership, interstate games and international tours since the early 1950s, and felt it was about time that he started devoting more time to his family.[1]
Touring squad
Great Britain
The Ashes series against Great Britain saw an aggregate crowd of 53,353 attending the Test series. The largest attendance of the tour came during the Kangaroos 6-12 loss to Wigan in front of 22,770 fans at Central Park on 13 October.
Test Venues
The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.
| Leeds | London | Swinton |
|---|---|---|
| Headingley | White City Stadium | Station Road |
| Capacity: 30,000 | Capacity: 93,000 | Capacity: 40,000 |
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| Saturday, 30 September | Warrington  |
7 – 16 |  |
Wilderspool, Warrington | |
| Attendance: 11,642 |
| Wednesday, 4 October | Yorkshire  |
15 – 14 | |
Belle Vue, Wakefield | |
| Attendance: 19,370 Referee: D. Brown |
| Saturday, 7 October | Hull Kingston Rovers  |
27 – 15 | |
Craven Park, Hull | |
| Attendance: 11,252 |
| Wednesday, 11 October | Lancashire  |
2 – 14 | |
The Willows, Salford | |
| Attendance: 9,369 Referee: R. Appleyard |
| Friday, 13 October | Wigan  |
12 – 6 | |
Central Park, Wigan | |
| Attendance: 22,770 |
| Monday, 16 October | Rochdale Hornets  |
2 – 25 | |
Athletic Grounds, Rochdale | |
| Attendance: 2,676 |
The Ashes series
First Test
The first Ashes series test was played at Headingley, Leeds. Kangaroos captain-coach Reg Gasnier suffered a broken leg which would keep him out of the rest of the English leg of the tour while lock forward Johnny Raper would play most of the game with a fractured cheek bone.[2]
Saturday 21 October |
Great Britain  |
16 – 11 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Roger Millward Chris Young Goals: Roger Millward (3) Bill Holliday (1) Drop Goals: Tommy Bishop |
[3] | Tries: Graeme Langlands Goals: Graeme Langlands (4) |
      Great Britain
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     Australia
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| Tuesday, 24 October | St. Helens  |
8 – 4 | |
Knowsley Road, St. Helens | |
| Attendance: 17,275 |
| Saturday, 28 October | Wakefield Trinity  |
7 – 33 | |
Belle Vue, Wakefield | |
| Attendance: 10,056 |
Second Test
The second test at London's White City Stadium saw the Australian's tie the series at one game all with a 17-11 win in front of 17,445 fans.[4]
Friday 3 November |
| Great Britain |
11 – 17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Tommy Bishop Goals: Neil Fox (3) Field Goals: Tommy Bishop |
[5] | Tries: Ron Coote Johnny King Graeme Langlands Goals: Graeme Langlands (4) |
Great Britain
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Australia
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| Thursday, 9 November | Castleford  |
22 – 3 | |
Wheldon Road, Castleford | |
| Attendance: 6,137 |
| Saturday, 11 November | Oldham  |
8 – 18 | |
Watersheddings, Oldham | |
| Attendance: 3,174 |
| Monday, 13 November | Widnes  |
11 – 33 | |
Naughton Park, Widnes | |
| Attendance: 9,828 |
| Thursday, 16 November | Barrow  |
10 – 10 | |
Craven Park, Barrow | |
| Attendance: 8,418 |
| Saturday, 18 November | Cumberland  |
17 – 15 | |
Derwent Park, Workington | |
| Attendance: 7,545 Referee: J. Hebblethwaite |
| Wednesday, 22 November | Swinton  |
9 – 12 | |
Station Road, Swinton | |
| Attendance: 5,640 |
| Saturday, 25 November | Leeds  |
4 – 7 | |
Headingley, Leeds | |
| Attendance: 5,522 |
| Wednesday, 29 November | Halifax  |
2 – 22 | |
Thrum Hall, Halifax | |
| Attendance: 5,285 |
| Saturday, 2 December | Bradford Northern  |
3 – 7 | |
Odsal, Bradford | |
| Attendance: 14,173 |
Third Test
The Kangaroos retained The Ashes with a hard-fought 11-3 win on a frozen ground at Station Road in Swinton. It would be the 10th and last time Station Road would host an Ashes Test and the 18th and last test match played at the ground.[6]
Saturday 9 December |
| Great Britain |
3 – 11 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Malcolm Price Goals: |
[7] | Tries: Tony Branson Ron Coote Johnny King Goals: Graeme Langlands (1) |
Great Britain
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Australia
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According to stand-in Kangaroos captain and man of the match Johnny Raper, the Kangaroos had a psychological advantage in the third test after he heard Lions halves Roger Millward and Tommy Bishop say after walking around the Station Road ground pre-match that they did not want to play on the frozen ground. The Kangaroos, used to playing on hard Australian grounds, were in their element against a timid Lions outfit.
France
During the game against Les Espoirs in Avignon, Kangaroos captain coach Reg Gasnier re-broke the leg he had broken during the first Ashes Test at Headingley. Ultimately this would prove to be Gasnier's last game of top grade football and he subsequently announced his retirement from playing at the age of 28.
| Date | Opponent | Score | Ground | Referee | Crowd | Report |
| 17 December 1967 | France | 7 – 7 | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille | G. Jameau (FRA) | 5,193 | |
| 21 December 1967 | Les Espoirs (Colts) | 7 – 17 | Parc des Sports, Avignon | 1,116 | ||
| 24 December 1967 | France | 10 – 3 | Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne | A. Breysse (FRA) | 4,193 | |
| 21 December 1967 | XIII Catalan | 7 – 37 | Stade Jean-Laffon, Perpignan | 3,000 | ||
| 31 December 1967 | France XIII | 6 – 13 | Stade Municipal d'Albi, Albi | 2,949 | ||
| 4 January 1968 | South West France | 0 – 15 | Stade Jules Ribet, Saint-Gaudens | 1,205 | ||
| 7 January 1968 | France | 16 – 13 | Stade des Minimes, Toulouse | G. Jameau (FRA) | 5,000 |
First test
17 December 1967 |
France  |
7 – 7 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Georges Bonet Goals Andre Lacaze (2) |
Tries: Les Johns Goals Les Johns (1) Graeme Langlands (1) |
| France | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| André Lacaze | FB | Les Johns |
| Daniel Pellerin | WG | Johnny King |
| Guy Andrieu | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| Jean Lecompte | CE | Johnny Greaves |
| Yves Raynaud | WG | Ken Irvine |
| Claude Mantoulan | SO | Tony Branson |
| Roger Garnung | SH | Billy Smith |
| Christian Sabatié | PR | Dennis Manteit |
| Yves Bégou | HK | Noel Kelly |
| Guy Ribot | PR | Peter Gallagher |
| Georges Ailleres (c) | SR | Elton Rasmussen |
| Adolphe Alésina | SR | Ron Coote |
| Georges Bonet | LF | Johnny Raper (c) |
| Jean Capdouze | Int. | Ron Lynch |
| Jep Lacoste | Coach | Reg Gasnier |
Legendary Australian winger Ken Irvine broke his leg during this game. It was to be his 33rd and final test appearance for the Kangaroos.
Second Test
| France | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| André Lacaze | FB | Les Johns |
| Daniel Pellerin | WG | Johnny King |
| Guy Andrieu | CE | Johnny Greaves |
| Roger Garrigue | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| Pierre Surre | WG | John McDonald |
| Jean Capdouze | SO | Tony Branson |
| Roger Garnung | SH | Billy Smith |
| Christian Sabatié | PR | Peter Gallagher |
| Yves Bégou | HK | Noel Gallagher |
| Pierre Dubié | PR | Elton Rasmussen |
| Georges Ailleres (c) | SR | Ron Lynch |
| Francis de Nadaï | SR | Ron Coote |
| Georges Bonet | LF | Johnny Raper (c) |
| Jacques Fabre | Int. | |
| Adolphe Alésina | Int. | |
| Jep Lacoste | Coach | Reg Gasnier |
Third Test
7 January 1968 |
| France |
16 – 13 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Daniel Pellerin P Surre Goals Jean Capdouze (5) |
Tries: Johnny Greaves (2) Graeme Langlands Goals Les Johns (1) Graeme Langlands (1) |
| France | Position | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Mantoulan | FB | Les Johns |
| Pierre Surre | WG | Johnny King |
| Michel Molinier | CE | Johnny Greaves |
| Guy Andrieu | CE | Graeme Langlands |
| Daniel Pellerin | WG | John McDonald |
| Jean Capdouze | SO | Tony Branson |
| Roger Garnung | SH | Billy Smith |
| Christian Sabatié | PR | Peter Gallagher |
| Yves Bégou | HK | Noel Kelly |
| Pierre Dubié | PR | Elton Rasmussen |
| Francis de Nadaï | SR | Allan Thomson |
| Georges Ailleres (c) | SR | Ron Coote |
| Georges Bonet | LF | Johnny Raper (c) |
| Jep Lacoste | Coach | Reg Gasnier |
References
- Legends of Australian sport: The Inside Story. Australia: University of Queensland Press. 2003. p. 79. ISBN 9780702234101.
- 1967 Ashes series - Game 1
- 1st Ashes Test
- 1968 Ashes series - Game 2
- 2nd Ashes Test
- 1967 Ashes series - Game 3
- 3rd Ashes Test
External links
| Related | |
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