The 1967–68 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France was the twelfth Kangaroo Tour, and saw 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 ...

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 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 ...

and three Tests against the French. It followed the tour of 1963-64 and the next was staged in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. 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 West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

town of

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

one night wearing nothing but a

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...

. Although Johnny Raper often jokingly claimed it was him, in 1988 on

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

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 Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

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 Reginald William "Reg" Gasnier (12 May 1939 – 11 May 2014) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the St. George Dragons from 1959 to 1967 and represented Australia in a then record 36 Tests and three World Cup g ...

making his third and ultimately final Kangaroo Tour. Gasnier broke his leg during the first test at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and 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 Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, 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. Having led the team in four tour matches in England, Johnny Raper was appointed captain for the Third Test Match against Great Britain. Raper captained the side in each of the three Test Matches in France. Peter Gallagher led the team in three successive matches in England, culminating in the Second Test Match against Great Britain. He also was captain against Barrow, Bradford Northern and France B. Noel Kelly captained the Kangaroos in five matches, against Cumbria, Oldham, Widnes, Swinton and Pyrenees.

Graeme Langlands Graeme Frank Langlands, Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE, (2 September 1941 – 20 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Changa", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played from the 19 ...

led the team in two matches (Castleford and Catalans). Elton Rasmussen was captain in one match, against St Helens. The Kangaroo tourists were co-managed by Jack Drewes (NSW) and Harry Schmidt (Queensland). Alf Richards accompanied the team as masseur.

Touring squad

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, along with each player's age, height and weight.
The ''Rugby League News'' published a summary of the Kangaroos
point scorers
Noel Gallagher, Peter Gallagher, John Gleeson, Dennis Manteit and John McDonald were selected from Queensland clubs. Tony Branson and Allan Thomson were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney based clubs during the 1967 season.

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.

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

The Ashes series

First Test

The first Ashes series test was played at

. 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. ---- ---- ----

Second Test

The second test at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...

saw the Australian's tie the series at one game all with a 17-11 win in front of 17,445 fans. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

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.1967 Ashes series - Game 3
/ref> 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

re-broke the leg he had broken during the first Ashes Test at

. 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. , - bgcolor="#CCCCFF" , Date , Opponent , Score , Ground , Referee , Crowd , Report , - bgcolor=pink , 17 December 1967 ,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 7 – 7 ,

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, G. Jameau (FRA) , 5,193 , , - , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , 21 December 1967 , Les Espoirs (Colts) , 7 – 17 , Parc des Sports,

, , 1,116 , , - , - bgcolor=pink , 24 December 1967 ,

, 10 – 3 ,

Stade Albert Domec Stade Albert Domec is a multi-use municipal stadium in Carcassonne, France. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators. It is the home ground of Pro D2 rugby union club US Carcassonne, Union Sportive Carcassonnaise and Elite One Championship rugby lea ...

Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...

, A. Breysse (FRA) , 4,193 , , - , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , 21 December 1967 , XIII Catalan , 7 – 37 , Stade Jean-Laffon,

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, , 3,000 , , - , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , 31 December 1967 , France XIII , 6 – 13 , Stade Municipal d'Albi,

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

, , 2,949 , , - , - bgcolor="#FFFFFF" , 4 January 1968 , South West France , 0 – 15 , Stade Jules Ribet, Saint-Gaudens , , 1,205 , , - , - bgcolor=pink , 7 January 1968 ,

, 16 – 13 , Stade des Minimes,

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, G. Jameau (FRA) , 5,000 , , -

First test

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

Third Test

References

External links

1967-68 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:1967-68 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France Australia national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Rugby league tours of France Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France