1959–60 Kangaroo Tour
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The 1959–60 Kangaroo tour was the tenth
Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...
, in which the
Australian national rugby league team The Australian national rugby league team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competitions since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League Comm ...
traveled to Europe and played thirty-seven matches against British, French and Italian teams, including the
Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, i ...
of three
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...
against
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
, two Test matches against the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
and an additional two non-Test matches against an Italian representative team. It followed the tour of 1956-57 and the next was staged in 1963-64.


The squad's leadership

The team was coached by
Clive Churchill Clive Bernard Churchill Order of Australia, AM (21 January 1927 – 9 August 1985) was an Australians, Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach in the mid-20th century. An Australian Kangaroos, Australian international and Ne ...
. The team captain was
Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995 to 1996) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and on ...
Keith Barnes William Keith Barnes AM (30 October 1934 – 7 April 2024), also known by the nickname of "Golden Boots", was a Welsh-born Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He was ...
while the vice-captain was
Manly-Warringah The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...
's dual rugby international forward
Rex Mossop Rex Peers "Moose" Mossop (18 February 1928 – 17 June 2011) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s – a dual-code international, and an Australian television personality from 1964 un ...
. Tour co-managers were Jack Argent and Ern Keffer.
In the five matches in which neither Barnes nor Mossop played, the Kangaroos were captained by five different players: Harry Wells (against
Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...
), Brian Hambly (combined
Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...
and
Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...
),
Brian Clay Brian Joseph 'Poppa' Clay (1935–1987) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a with the St. George Dragons during their 11-year consecutive premiership winning run from 1956 to 1966. He was a ...
(
Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...
),
Brian Carlson Brian Patrick Carlson (12 February 1933 – 14 April 1987) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a & utility back for the Australia national team. He played in 17 Tests and 6 World C ...
( Swinton) and Billy Wilson (
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
).


Touring squad

The ''Rugby League News'' published
photo
and details of the touring team including the players' ages and weights.
Match details - listing surnames of both teams and the point scorers - were included in ''E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook'', as was a summary of the players' point-scoring.
Beattie, Boden, Kelly, Muir, Parcell, Paterson and Rasmussen were selected from Queensland clubs. Chapman, Hambly, Parish and Walsh were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney based clubs during the 1959 season.


Great Britain

The largest non-test attendance of the tour was 29,156 when the Kangaroos defeated St. Helens at
Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...
.


Test Venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----


The Ashes series

The Ashes series against Great Britain saw an aggregate crowd of 91,604 attending the Test series. The largest attendance of the tour came during the Kangaroos 22-14 first test win over Great Britain at Station Road in Swinton with 35,224 in attendance.


First Test

The first
Ashes series The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, i ...
test was played at Station Road, Swinton and drew the tours largest attendance of 35,224. Australia won the first test 22-14 with Reg Gasnier playing in his first ever test match against Great Britain named as the man of the match with 3 tries. ---- ---- ---- ---- 5 days prior to the match against Bradford Northern, the Kangaroos played the first test against France. ---- ---- ---- ----


Second Test

The Kangaroos went within one penalty goal of becoming the first All-Australian team to win
The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...
on British soil and the first touring side to win The Ashes since 1911-12. However, the Lions survived and the series would go on to a deciding 3rd test. ---- ---- ---- ---- ----


Third Test

This would be the final time that Great Britain (or
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
) would win the Ashes on home soil (as of 2017).


France

The first two games of the French leg of the tour were actually played while The Kangaroos were still completing the British leg.


First Test

Australia won the first test against the French at the
Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...
in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Kangaroos winger Eddie Lumsden crossed for 3 tries while legendary winger
Ken Irvine Kenneth John Irvine (5 March 1940 – 22 December 1990), also nicknamed "Mongo", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He holds the standing Australian record for the most tries in a ...
made the first of 33 test appearances for Australia. ---- The game against the French Army XIII was played 4 days before the third Ashes test against Great Britain ----


Second Test

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----


Third Test

----


Italy

To finish the tour, the Kangaroos played two games against an Italian representative team. ---- Ken Irvine crossed for 6 tries in this game. ----


References


External links


1959-60 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:1959-60 Kangaroo tour Australia national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Rugby league tours of France Rugby league tours of Italy
Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...
Kangaroo tour Kangaroo Tour is the name given to Australia national rugby league team tours of Great Britain and France, tours to New Zealand and the one-off tour to Papua New Guinea (1991). The first Kangaroo Tour was in 1908. Traditionally, Kangaroo Tours too ...