1958 Great Britain Lions tour

1958 Great Britain Lions tour
ManagerB. Manson &
Tom Mitchell
Coach(es)Jim Brough
Tour captain(s)Alan Prescott
Top point scorer(s)Eric Fraser 238
Top try scorer(s)Mick Sullivan 38
Top test point scorer(s)Eric Fraser 44
Top test try scorer(s)Mick Sullivan 8
Summary
P W D L
Total
30 27 01 02
Test match
05 03 00 02
Opponent
P W D L
 Australia
3 2 0 1
 New Zealand
2 1 0 1
Tour chronology
Previous tour1954
Next tour1962

The 1958 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 11th tour of Australia and New Zealand and took place from May to November 1958. The Lions played 26 games on tour including the three test Ashes series against Australia and two tests against New Zealand.[1]

The Great Britain squad was coached by Jim Brough. The team captain was Alan Prescott from St Helens while Phil Jackson from Barrow was the tour vice-captain. The team managers were Mr B. Manson and Tom Mitchell.

The tour saw a record AU£78,417 in gate receipts with the Lions taking home a profit in excess of £40,000.

Touring squad

During the tour, players used numbers 1–26 in positional order, with full-backs as numbers 1 and 2. The Rugby League News published a photo of the touring squad and pen pictures of some players in two groups: one, and two.

Player Pos. Age
[nb 1] 		Weight Club Tests
on
Tour 		Games
in
Aus 		Games
in
NZ
[nb 2] 		Tries
in
Aus 		Goals
in
Aus 		FG Points
in
Aus 		Total
Points
Alvin Ackerley Hooker 30 14 st. 0 lb. (89 kg) Halifax 1 12 1 0 0 3
Harry Archer Stand-off 23 13 st. 12 lb. (88 kg) Workington 0 7 0 0 0 0
Eric Ashton Centre 23 13 st. 12 lb. (88 kg) Wigan 4 13 20 13 0 86 116
Dave Bolton Fullback, Stand-off 21 11 st. 6 lb. (73 kg) Wigan 2 8 6 0 0 18
Frank Carlton Wing 22 11 st. 10 lb. (74 kg) St Helens 1 6 16 0 0 48
Jim Challinor Wing, Centre 23 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) Warrington 2 9 7 0 0 21
Alan Davies Centre, Stand-off 25 13 st. 8 lb. (86 kg) Oldham 4 15 11 0 0 33
Brian Edgar Prop, Second-row 22 14 st. 4 lb. (91 kg) Workington 2 11 3 0 0 9
Eric Fraser Fullback 27 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) Warrington 5 13 5 82 0 179 238
Dennis Goodwin Centre, Prop, Second-row 28 15 st. 0 lb. (95 kg) Barrow 2 8 2 0 0 6
Tommy Harris Hooker 30 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) Hull 4 10 3 0 0 9
Dick Huddart Second-row 21 14 st. 4 lb. (91 kg) Whitehaven 4 17 15 0 0 45
Ken Jackson Prop 29 14 st. 10 lb. (93 kg) Oldham 0 6 0 0 0 0
Phil Jackson (vc) Centre, Stand-off 25 14 st. 12 lb. (94 kg) Barrow 3 9 4 0 0 12
Vince Karalius Second-row, Loose forward 25 14 st. 6 lb. (92 kg) St Helens 4 11 2 0 0 6
Mick Martyn Second-row 22 14 st. 4 lb. (91 kg) Leigh 1 12 15 0 0 45
Brian McTigue Centre, Prop 27 14 st. 4 lb. (91 kg) Wigan 4 12 3 11 0 31
Glyn Moses Fullback 30 13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg) St Helens 0 12 1 0 0 3
Alex Murphy Scrum-half, Centre 19 11 st. 0 lb. (70 kg) St Helens 4 15 15 3 0 51
Frank Pitchford Scrum-half 24 11 st. 0 lb. (70 kg) Oldham 1 8 7 0 0 21
Alan Prescott (c) Centre, Wing, Loose forward 30 15 st. 10 lb. (100 kg) St Helens 2 9 0 0 0 0
Ike Southward Wing 23 12 st. 0 lb. (76 kg) Workington 4 12 13 20 0 79 165
Mick Sullivan Wing 24 11 st. 12 lb. (75 kg) Wigan 5 12 20 0 0 60 114
Abe Terry Prop 24 16 st. 0 lb. (102 kg) St Helens 2 10 2 0 0 6
Johnny Whiteley Second-row, Loose forward 27 14 st. 8 lb. (93 kg) Hull 4 10 7 0 0 21
William Wookey Wing 22 14 st. 0 lb. (89 kg) Workington 0 7 6 0 0 18
  1. ^ Age as given in the Rugby League News for the first match against Sydney
  2. ^ Other than the Test Matches, team lists for the tour matches in New Zealand not available to the author at the time of page creation.

Australian leg

Test venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues. As per normal to maximise the gate, two tests were played at the 70,000 capacity Sydney Cricket Ground.

18 May Southern Districts 18–36 Great Britain Wollongong Showground, Wollongong
Result[2]
21 May Western Districts 24–24 Great Britain Wade Park, Orange
Scorers[3]
24 May Newcastle 16–35 Great Britain Newcastle Sportsground, Newcastle

Attendance: 21,126
28 May Northern NSW 17–27 Great Britain Scully Park, Tamworth
Scorers[4]
31 May Sydney 15–20 Great Britain Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Program
Attendance: 48,692
Referee: Darcy Lawler
4 June Riverina 10–29 Great Britain Leeton

Attendance: 6,000
7 June New South Wales 10–19 Great Britain Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Program
Attendance: 52,963
Referee: Col Pearce

The final match before the first Test was often viewed by the home side as a chance to soften up the tourists and that was certainly the case in a violent clash which saw four players dismissed by referee Col Pearce – Vince Karalius (Great Britain); Greg Hawick, Rex Mossop and Peter Dimond (NSW).

The Ashes

The three Ashes series tests drew an aggregate attendance of 171,060.

1st Test

Saturday 14 June
Australia  25–8  Great Britain
Tries:
Brian Carlson
Ross Kite
Rex Mossop
Kel O'Shea
Norm Provan
Goals:
Gordon Clifford (5) 		Database[5]
Program
 Tries:
Dave Bolton
Ike Southward



Goals:
Ike Southward (1)
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 68,777
Referee: Darcy Lawler Australia
Australia
Great Britain
FB 1 Gordon Clifford
WG 2 Ross Kite
CE 3 Harry Wells
CE 4 Brian Carlson
WG 5 Ian Moir
FE 6 Tony Brown
HB 7 Keith Holman
PR 13 Bill Marsh
HK 12 Ken Kearney
PR 11 Brian Davies (c)
SR 10 Rex Mossop
SR 9 Norm Provan
LF 8 Kel O'Shea
Coach:
Australia Norm Robinson
FB 9 Eric Fraser
WG 22 Ike Southward
CE 14 Phil Jackson
CE 7 Alan Davies
WG 23 Mick Sullivan
SO 4 Dave Bolton
SH 19 Alex Murphy
PR 21 Alan Prescott (c)
HK 11 Tommy Harris
PR 24 Abe Terry
SR 8 Brian Edgar
SR 16 Mick Martyn
LF 25 Johnny Whiteley
Coach:
England Jim Brough

After going through the tour undefeated before the test, the Lions ran into a hungry Australian side who led 10–0 after just 10 minutes and led 18–0 at halftime in front of 68,777 fans at the SCG.

16 June Brisbane 29–34 Great Britain Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane

Referee: Jack Casey
21 June Queensland 29–34 Great Britain Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane

Player of the Match: Brian Davies
22 June Central Division 19–61 Great Britain Browne Park, Rockhampton
Result[6]
26 June Wide Bay 25–50 Great Britain Bundaberg
28 June Far North Queensland 8–78 Great Britain Cairns
28 June North Queensland 17–78 Great Britain Townsville

Lions test fullback Eric Fraser kicked 15 goals from 18 attempts in the match. Dick Huddart crossed for 4 tries while Eric Ashton and Mick Martyn each scored 3 tries.

2nd Test

Saturday 5 July
Australia  18–25  Great Britain
Tries:
Brian Carlson
Peter Dimond
Keith Holman
Bill Marsh
Goals:
Gordon Clifford (3) 		Database[7]
Team[8]
 Tries:
Ike Southward (2)
Jim Challinor
Alex Murphy
Mick Sullivan
Goals:
Eric Fraser (5)
Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
Attendance: 33,563
Referee: Darcy Lawler Australia
Player of the Match: Alex Murphy
Australia
Great Britain
FB 1 Gordon Clifford
WG 2 Peter Dimond
CE 3 Brian Carlson
CE 4 Greg Hawick
WG 5 Ross Kite
FE 6 Tony Brown
HB 7 Keith Holman
PR 13 Bill Marsh
HK 12 Ken Kearney
PR 11 Brian Davies (c)
SR 10 Rex Mossop
SR 9 Norm Provan
LF 8 Kel O'Shea
Coach:
Australia Norm Robinson
FB 9 Eric Fraser
WG 22 Ike Southward
CE 3 Eric Ashton
CE 6 Jim Challinor
WG 23 Mick Sullivan
SO 4 Dave Bolton
SH 19 Alex Murphy
PR 17 Brian McTigue
HK 11 Tommy Harris
PR 21 Alan Prescott (c)
SR 25 Johnny Whiteley
SR 12 Dick Huddart
LF 15 Vince Karalius
Coach:
England Jim Brough

Inspired by captain Alan Prescott who played on until the end despite breaking his right arm in just the 3rd minute of the game, Great Britain leveled the series at 1–all with a 25–18 win over Australia in Brisbane. The injury ended Prescott's tour as a player. At half time, Prescott was offered a pain killing injection but refused, telling team manager Tom Mitchell "I just can't got off, Tom. We would be two men short. We have got to win, so I had better help the boys". Great Britain also lost Dave Bolton with a broken collar bone after just 17 minutes.

With Vince Karalius and Brian McTigue providing the muscle and teenage scrum-half Alex Murphy providing the class, the Lions had the measure of Australia this day.

9 July Toowoomba 19–36 Great Britain Toowoomba Athletic Oval, Cairns

Attendance: 7,500
13 July NSW North Coast 15–56 Great Britain Oakes Oval, Lismore

Attendance: 5,541

3rd Test

Former Australian captain Ken Kearney played his 31st and last test.

Saturday 19 July
Australia  17–40  Great Britain
Tries:
Greg Hawick
Keith Holman
Norm Provan



Goals:
Gordon Clifford (4) 		Database[9]
Program
Scorers[10]
 Tries:
Mick Sullivan (3)
Alan Davies
Alex Murphy
Ike Southward
Abe Terry
Johnny Whiteley
Goals:
Eric Fraser (8)
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 68,720
Referee: Jack Casey Australia
Player of the Match: Alex Murphy
Australia
Great Britain
FB 1 Gordon Clifford
WG 2 Ian Moir
CE 3 Brian Carlson
CE 4 Harry Wells
WG 5 Peter Dimond
FE 6 Greg Hawick
HB 7 Keith Holman
PR 13 Bill Marsh
HK 12 Ken Kearney
PR 11 Brian Davies (c)
SR 10 Rex Mossop
SR 9 Norm Provan
LF 8 Kel O'Shea
Coach:
Australia Norm Robinson
FB 9 Eric Fraser
WG 22 Ike Southward
CE 3 Eric Ashton
CE 6 Alan Davies
WG 23 Mick Sullivan
SO 4 Phil Jackson (c)
SH 19 Alex Murphy
PR 17 Abe Terry
HK 11 Tommy Harris
PR 24 Brian McTigue
SR 25 Johnny Whiteley
SR 12 Dick Huddart
LF 15 Vince Karalius
Coach:
England Jim Brough

Great Britain wrapped up The Ashes with a comprehensive 40–17 win over Australia in front of another 68,000+ crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground. As he had done in the second test in Brisbane, 19 year old St Helens scrum-half Alex Murphy tormented the home side and was awarded the Man of the Match. Following the game, Lions players chaired injured captain Alan Prescott (carrying The Ashes cup) on a lap of honour of the ground.

The following matches took place after the New Zealand leg of the tour.

14 August Representative Colts v Great Britain Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Program

In this game against the NSWRFL's Representative Colts (U/21), future Australian captain Reg Gasnier played his first game against Great Britain.

17 August Coalfields v Great Britain Maitland Showground, Maitland
23 August Western Australia v Great Britain Claremont Showground, Perth

New Zealand

1st Test

Saturday 26 July
New Zealand  15–10  Great Britain
Tries:
Rex Percy (2)
Tom Hadfield
Goals:
Cyril Eastlake (3) 		[11]
 Tries:
Phil Jackson
Mick Sullivan
Goals:
Eric Fraser (2)
Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Vic Belsham New Zealand
New Zealand
Great Britain
FB 1 Cyril Eastlake
WG 2 Tom Hadfield
CE 3 Reese Griffiths
CE 4 George Turner
WG 5 Neville Denton
FE 6 George Menzies
HB 7 Keith Roberts
PR 13 Joe Rātima
HK 12 Jock Butterfield
PR 11 Henry Maxwell
SR 10 Cliff Johnson (c)
SR 9 Trevor Kilkelly
LF 8 Rex Percy
Coach:
New Zealand Travers Hardwick
FB 9 Eric Fraser
WG 5 Frank Carlton
CE 3 Eric Ashton
CE 6 Alan Davies
WG 23 Mick Sullivan
SO 4 Phil Jackson (c)
SH 20 Frank Pitchford
PR 17 Brian McTigue
HK 1 Alvin Ackerley
PR 10 Dennis Goodwin
SR 8 Dick Huddart
SR 25 Johnny Whiteley
LF 15 Vince Karalius
Coach:
England Jim Brough

Just a week after their Ashes triumph over Australia, Great Britain were brought back down to earth by a committed New Zealand side 15–10 at Carlaw Park in Auckland.

2nd Test

Saturday 9 August
New Zealand  15–32  Great Britain
Tries:
Tom Hadfield
Rex Percy
Keith Roberts
Goals:
Cyril Eastlake (3) 		[12]
 Tries:
Mick Sullivan (3)
Eric Ashton (2)
Alex Murphy
Goals:
Eric Fraser (7)
Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Vic Belsham New Zealand
New Zealand
Great Britain
FB 1 Cyril Eastlake
WG 2 Tom Hadfield
CE 3 Reese Griffiths
CE 4 George Turner
WG 5 Neville Denton
FE 6 George Menzies
HB 7 Keith Roberts
PR 13 Joe Rātima
HK 12 Jock Butterfield
PR 11 Henry Maxwell
SR 10 Trevor Kilkelly
SR 9 Cliff Johnson (c)
LF 8 Rex Percy
Coach:
New Zealand Travers Hardwick
FB 9 Eric Fraser
WG 5 Ike Southward
CE 3 Eric Ashton (c)
CE 6 Jim Challinor
WG 23 Mick Sullivan
SO 6 Alan Davies
SH 19 Alex Murphy
PR 8 Brian Edgar
HK 11 Tommy Harris
PR 17 Brian McTigue
SR 8 Dick Huddart
SR 10 Dennis Goodwin
LF 15 Vince Karalius
Coach:
England Jim Brough

With Alex Murphy returning from injury, Great Britain outclassed New Zealand 32–15 in front of 25,000 at Carlaw Park.

References

  1. ^ 1958 Great Britain Lions tour at Rugby League Project
  2. ^ "English League Team Wins At Wollongong". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 19 May 1958. p. 12. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  3. ^ "West Holds U.K. Side To Draw". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 22 May 1958. p. 24. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Englishmen Challenged". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 29 May 1958. p. 3. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. ^ 1st Ashes Test
  6. ^ "England Has Easiest Win Of Tour". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 23 June 1958. p. 9. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  7. ^ 2nd Ashes Test
  8. ^ "Hawick Chosen To Play In Second Test". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 30 June 1958. p. 12. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  9. ^ 3rd Ashes Test
  10. ^ "England Wins Test With Record Score". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 21 July 1958. p. 12. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  11. ^ 1st Test – New Zealand vs Great Britain
  12. ^ 2nd Test – New Zealand vs Great Britain