1963–64 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

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

London	Swinton	Leeds
Wembley Stadium	Station Road	Headingley
Capacity: 100,000	Capacity: 40,000	Capacity: 30,000

Saturday, 14 September	Warrington	20 – 28	Australia	Wilderspool, Warrington
				Attendance: 20,090

Monday, 16 September	Huddersfield	5 – 6	Australia	Fartown, Huddersfield
				Attendance: 13,398

Wednesday, 18 September	Yorkshire	11 – 5	Australia	Craven Park, Hull
				Attendance: 10,324 Referee: Denis Davies

Saturday, 21 September	Leeds	10 – 13	Australia	Headingley, Leeds
				Attendance: 16,641

Wednesday, 25 September	Lancashire	13 – 11	Australia	Central Park, Wigan
				Attendance: 15,068 Referee: M. Coats

Saturday, 28 September	St. Helens	2 – 8	Australia	Knowsley Road, St. Helens
				Attendance: 21,284

Wednesday, 2 October	Featherstone Rovers	23 – 17	Australia	Post Office Road, Featherstone
				Attendance: 7,898

Saturday, 5 October	Oldham	4 – 12	Australia	Watersheddings, Oldham
				Attendance: 11,338

Wednesday, 9 October	Leigh	7 – 33	Australia	Hilton Park, Leigh
				Attendance: 9,625

Saturday, 12 October	Hull F.C. / Hull Kingston Rovers XIII	10 – 23	Australia	The Boulevard, Hull
				Attendance: 10,481

The first Ashes series test was played at the famous Wembley Stadium in London. Reg Gasnier ran in 3 of the Kangaroos 6 tries while his St George team mate and centre partner Graeme Langlands kicked 5 goals and crossed for his own try. In front of a small crowd of only 13,946 (in a stadium which at the time could hold up to 100,000 and earlier in the year had seen a crowd of 84,488 for the Challenge Cup Final), the Kangaroos kept the Lions scoreless with Neil Fox's lone goal the only score for the home side as Australia won 28-2.

Wednesday, 16 October

Great Britain	2 – 28	Australia
Tries: Goals: Neil Fox (1)		Tries: Reg Gasnier (3) Ken Irvine Graeme Langlands Ken Thornett Goals: Graeme Langlands (5)

Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 13,946 Referee: Denis Davies Player of the Match: Reg Gasnier

Saturday, 19 October	Rochdale Hornets	0 – 3	Australia	Athletic Grounds, Rochdale
				Attendance: 8,637

Wednesday, 23 October	Hunslet	13 – 17	Australia	Parkside, Hunslet
				Attendance: 4,400

Saturday, 26 October	Wakefield Trinity	14 – 29	Australia	Belle Vue, Wakefield
				Attendance: 15,821

Thursday, 31 October	Cumberland	0 – 21	Australia	Derwent Park, Workington
				Attendance: 8,229 Referee: A. Durkin

Saturday, 2 November	Barrow	5 – 18	Australia	Craven Park, Barrow
				Attendance: 10,130

The second test at Station Road in Swinton has gone down in rugby league folklore as the "Swinton Massacre". The Kangaroos ran riot, crossing for 12 tries to just 2 from the Lions. The 50-12 win was not only the Kangaroos highest ever score against Great Britain, it also saw Australia win The Ashes in England for the first time since 1911–12 and the first time an all-Australian team (the 1911–12 squad included New Zealand players) had won The Ashes in England. British fans got a taste of Ken Irvine's legendary speed when he crossed for three long range tries while Reg Gasnier, Peter Dimond and Graeme Langlands all crossed for doubles with Langlands also kicking 7 goals for a personal tally of 20 points. Though on this day there was none better than Kangaroos lock forward Johnny Raper who while not scoring himself, had a hand in 9 of his teams 12 tries.[4]

Saturday, 9 November

Great Britain	12 – 50	Australia
Tries: John Stopford Jim Measures Goals: Neil Fox (3)		Tries: Ken Irvine (3) Reg Gasnier (2) Peter Dimond (2) Graeme Langlands (2) Earl Harrison Noel Kelly Dick Thornett Goals: Graeme Langlands (7)

Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 30,843 Referee: Denis Davies Player of the Match: Johnny Raper

Wednesday, 13 November	Castleford	13 – 12	Australia	Wheldon Road, Castleford
				Attendance: 7,887

Monday, 18 November	Wigan	10 – 18	Australia	Central Park, Wigan
				Attendance: 11,746

Thursday, 21 November	Widnes	9 – 20	Australia	Naughton Park, Widnes
				Attendance: 6,509

Saturday, 23 November	Swinton	2 – 2	Australia	Station Road, Swinton
				Attendance: 11,947

With pride on the line as no England or Great Britain team had ever lost a home series 3-0 to Australia, The Lions put in a much improved performance at Headingley in Leeds. The Rugby Football League had appointed "Sergeant Major" Eric Clay as the referee for the game. The two sides set about settling scores and the Australians felt Clay was biased. It is considered was one of the most brutal Tests ever played, with two Australians (Barry Muir and Brian Hambly) and one British player (Cliff Watson) being sent off. Muir who was sent off (for kicking) later told that he first told Clay "where to go" as he left the field, and later approached Clay after the game and said to him "You robbed us". According to Muir, Clay reportedly responded with "Barry, I've got to live here".[5]

Ken Irvine, who scored Australia's only try for the match, repeated his efforts from the 1962 Ashes series by scoring a try in each test of an Ashes series.

Saturday, 30 November

Great Britain	16 – 5	Australia
Tries: Johnny Ward John Stopford Geoff Smith Don Fox Goals: Don Fox (2)		Tries: Ken Irvine Goals: Graeme Langlands (1)

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 20,497 Referee: Eric Clay

Although Ken Irvine was unavailable due to injury, The Kangaroos lost nothing with pace on the wing due to the selection of South Sydney flyer and dual-rugby international Michael Cleary who 12 months earlier had won the Bronze Medal in the 100 yards sprint at the 1962 Commonwealth Games. However it wasn't enough as the tourists were defeated 8-5 by a determined French.

8 December 1963

France	8 – 5	Australia
Tries: Georges Ailleres Bernard Fabre Goals Jean Villeneuve (1)		Tries: Graeme Langlands Goals Graeme Langlands (1)

Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux Attendance: 4,261 Referee: A. Cassan