1958 Great Britain Lions tour

1958 Great Britain Lions tour
Manager	B. 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 tour	1954
Next tour	1962

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
Bill 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.

Sydney	Brisbane
Sydney Cricket Ground	Brisbane Exhibition Ground
Capacity: 70,000	Capacity: 35,000

18 May	Southern Districts	18–36	Great Britain	Wollongong Showground, Wollongong
		Result [2]

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21 May	Western Districts	24–24	Great Britain	Wade Park, Orange
		Scorers [3]

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24 May	Newcastle	16–35	Great Britain	Newcastle Sportsground, Newcastle
				Attendance: 21,126

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28 May	Northern NSW	17–27	Great Britain	Scully Park, Tamworth
		Scorers [4]

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31 May	Sydney	15–20	Great Britain	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
		Program		Attendance: 48,692 Referee: Darcy Lawler

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4 June	Riverina	10–29	Great Britain	Leeton
				Attendance: 6,000

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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).

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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

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: 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: 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.

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

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21 June	Queensland	29–34	Great Britain	Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane
				Player of the Match: Brian Davies

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22 June	Central Division	19–61	Great Britain	Browne Park, Rockhampton
		Result [6]

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26 June	Wide Bay	25–50	Great Britain	Bundaberg

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28 June	Far North Queensland	8–78	Great Britain	Cairns

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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.

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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 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: 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: 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.

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9 July	Toowoomba	19–36	Great Britain	Toowoomba Athletic Oval, Cairns
				Attendance: 7,500

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13 July	NSW North Coast	15–56	Great Britain	Oakes Oval, Lismore
				Attendance: 5,541

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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 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: 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: 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.

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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.

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17 August	Coalfields	v	Great Britain	Maitland Showground, Maitland

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23 August	Western Australia	v	Great Britain	Claremont Showground, Perth

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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

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: 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: 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.

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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

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: 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: Jim Brough

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

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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