# 1952–53 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

The 1952–53 Kangaroo tour was the eighth Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played forty matches, including the Ashes series of three Test matches against Great Britain and three Test matches against the French. It followed the tour of 1948-49 and the next was staged in 1956-57.

## The squad's leadership

The team was captained by Clive Churchill with Frank Stanmore as vice-captain. Tour co-managers were Doug MacLean and Norm Robinson. In the matches in which neither Churchill nor Stanmore played, the Kangaroos were captained by Duncan Hall on 4 occasions (Wigan, Swinton, Dewsbury, and Selection de Midi) and Albert Paul on 3 occasions (French Selection, French Selection, Paris-Lyon). Three players captained the team in one match: Keith Holman (Doncaster), Ferris Ashton (Wakefield Trinity) and Noel Hazzard (French Selection).

## Touring squad

The Rugby League News published a photo and details of the touring team including the players' ages, weights, heights, and occupations. 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.
Crocker, Davies, Flannery, Hall, Hazzard, McCaffery, McGovern, and Rooney were selected from Queensland clubs. Carlson, Duncan, Gill, Paul, and Wells were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney-based clubs during the 1952 season.

### Test Venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.
| Leeds | Swinton | Bradford |
| Headingley | Station Road | Odsal Stadium |
| Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 60,000 |

## Match Results

The touring party departed the eastern states before the conclusion of the Sydney, Brisbane and various regional competitions. On July 27, 1952, they played a match against Western Australia in Perth, winning 88—3. Travelling aboard the RMS Strathnaver, the team arrived in England on August 24, 1952. Australia played 27 matches in England before moving in mid-December to France for a further 13 matches.

### 1st Test

* October 4 3.00pm
| Great Britain | 19–6 | Australia |
| Tries: 3 Frank Castle Ron Ryder Arthur Daniels Goals: 5 Willie Horne (5) | [29] [30] [31] | Tries: nil Goals: 3 Noel Pidding (3) |
* Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 34,505 Gate: £ 8,628 Referee: G. Phillips
| Great Britain | Position | Australia |
| Jack Evans | FB | Clive Churchill (c) |
| Arthur Daniels | WG | Noel Pidding |
| Ron Ryder | CE | Noel Hazzard |
| Ernest Ward | CE | Harry Wells |
| Frank Castle | WG | Brian Carlson |
| Willie Horne (c) | SO | Greg Hawick |
| Ted Toohey | SH | Keith Holman |
| Alan Prescott | PR | Duncan Hall |
| Alvin Ackerley | HK | Kevin Schubert |
| Jim Featherstone | PR | Brian Davies |
| Charlie Pawsey | SR | Ferris Ashton |
| Bob Ryan | SR | Albert Paul |
| Ken Traill | LF | Harold Crocker |

### 2nd Test

* November 9 3.00pm
| Great Britain | 21–5 | Australia |
| Tries: 5 Frank Castle (2) Doug Greenall (2) Ernest Ward Goals: 3 Ernest Ward (2) Willie Horne | [48] [49] [50] | Tries: 1 Col Geelan Goals: 1 Brian Carlson |
* Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 32,421 Gate: £ 6,776 Referee: J. Jackson
| Great Britain | Position | Australia |
| Jack Evans | FB | Clive Churchill (c) |
| Arthur Daniels | WG | Denis Flannery |
| Ernest Ward | CE | Noel Hazzard |
| Doug Greenall | CE | Col Geelan |
| Frank Castle | WG | Brian Carlson |
| Willie Horne (c) | SO | Frank Stanmore |
| Ted Toohey | SH | Col Donohoe |
| Alan Prescott | PR | Duncan Hall |
| Tom McKinney | HK | Kevin Schubert |
| Jim Featherstone | PR | Charlie Gill |
| Charlie Pawsey | SR | Brian Davies |
| Dave Valentine | SR | Tom Tyrrell |
| Ken Traill | LF | Arthur Collinson |

### 3rd Test

* December 13 2.30pm
| Great Britain | 7–27 | Australia |
| Tries: 1 Willie Horne Goals: 2 Jack Evans (2) | [64] [65] [66] | Tries: 5 Tommy Ryan (2) Noel Pidding Keith Holman Brian Davies Goals: 6 Noel Pidding (6) |
* Odsal Stadium, Bradford Attendance: 30,509 Gate: £ 5,478 Referee: A.S. Dobson
| Great Britain | Position | Australia |
| Jack Evans | FB | Clive Churchill (c) |
| Dai Bevan | WG | Noel Pidding |
| Doug Greenall | CE | Noel Hazzard |
| Ernest Ward | CE | Col Geelan |
| Frank Castle | WG | Tommy Ryan |
| Willie Horne (c) | SO | Frank Stanmore |
| Ted Toohey | SH | Keith Holman |
| Alan Prescott | PR | Roy Bull |
| Tom McKinney | HK | Ken Kearney |
| Jim Featherstone | PR | Duncan Hall |
| Charlie Pawsey | SR | Brian Davies |
| Dave Valentine | SR | Ferris Ashton |
| Ken Traill | LF | Arthur Collinson |

### 1st Test

* December 27 3.00pm
| France | 12–16 | Australia |
| Tries: 2 Vincent Cantoni Élie Brousse Goals: 3 Puig Aubert (3) | [71] [72] [73] | Tries: 7 Tommy Ryan (2) Brian Davies Noel Hazzard Goals: 5 Noel Pidding (2) |
* Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 18,327 Gate: F 5,248,500 Referee: Eddie Martung
| France | Position | Australia |
| Puig Aubert (c) | FB | Clive Churchill (c) |
| Vincent Cantoni | WG | Tommy Ryan |
| Jacky Merquey | CE | Col Geelan |
| André Carrère | CE | Noel Hazzard |
| Raymond Contrastin | WG | Noel Pidding |
| Gilbert Benausse | SO | Frank Stanmore |
| Jean Dop | SH | Keith Holman |
| Jean Dedieu | PR | Duncan Hall |
| Gabriel Genoud | HK | Ken Kearney |
| Louis Mazon | PR | Roy Bull |
| Élie Brousse | SR | Ferris Ashton |
| Rene Bernard | SR | Brian Davies |
| Christian Duple | LF | Arthur Collinson |

### 2nd Test

* January 11 3.00pm
| France | 5–0 | Australia |
| Tries: 1 André Carrère Goals: 1 Rives | [78] [79] [80] | Tries: nil Goals: nil |
* Parc Lescure, Bordeaux Attendance: 23,419 Gate: F 5,060,200 Referee: Eddie Martung
| France | Position | Australia |
| G. Rives | FB | Clive Churchill (c) |
| Raymond Contrastin | WG | Brian Carlson |
| Claude Teisseire | CE | Noel Hazzard |
| André Carrère | CE | Harry Wells |
| Vincent Cantoni | WG | Tommy Ryan |
| Joseph Crespo | SO | Frank Stanmore |
| Gilbert Benausse | SH | Keith Holman |
| François Rinaldi | PR | Roy Bull |
| Gabriel Genoud | HK | Ken Kearney |
| Gabriel Berthomieu | PR | Duncan Hall |
| François Montrucolis | SR | Ferris Ashton |
| Édouard Ponsinet | SR | Brian Davies |
| Élie Brousse | LF | Greg Hawick |

### 3rd Test

* January 25 3.00pm
| France | 13–5 | Australia |
| Tries: 1 Gilbert Benausse Goals: 5 Puig Aubert (5) | [85] [86] [87] | Tries: 1 Duncan Hall Goals: 1 Keith Holman |
* Stade de Gerland, Lyon Attendance: 17,454 Gate: F 6,512,500 Referee: P. Ribas
| France | Position | Australia |
| Puig Aubert (c) | FB | Clive Churchill (c) |
| Raymond Contrastin | WG | Noel Pidding |
| Claude Teisseire | CE | Noel Hazzard |
| André Carrère | CE | Col Geelan |
| Vincent Cantoni | WG | Tommy Ryan |
| Gilbert Benausse | SO | Frank Stanmore |
| Joseph Crespo | SH | Keith Holman |
| Louis Mazon | PR | Roy Bull |
| Gabriel Genoud | HK | Ken Kearney |
| François Rinaldi | PR | Duncan Hall |
| Élie Brousse | SR | Brian Davies |
| Édouard Ponsinet | SR | Ferris Ashton |
| François Montrucolis | LF | Harold Crocker |
The tourists returned from France to London to meet the RMS Mooltan, departing England on the evening of February 2, 1953. The ship arrived in Fremantle on March 6 and to Sydney on March 17. The players were welcomed home by local League authorities.
A team selected from the touring Kangaroos played a match against The Rest of Australia on April 15, 1953. The Kangaroos won 33-21.

## Sources

| Acronym | Item | Years | Database App | Notes |
| Direct Online Access |||||
| RLN | Rugby League News | 1920-1973 | Trove | Team Lists, Team Photos, Articles |
| RLP | Rugby League Project | 1907–present | RLP Website | Test Match teams & scorers. |
| CM | The Courier-Mail | 1933-1954 | Trove | Match Reports, Articles by Eddie Waring as well as the AAP. |
| Truth | Truth | 1894-1954 | Trove | Match Reports, Articles by Harry Sunderland as well as the AAP. |
| — | Various Australian newspapers | 1952-1953 | Trove | Match Reports written by the Australian Associated Press and amended by local editors. The Brisbane Telegraph, Cairns Post and Maryborough Chronicle typically published longer versions of the AAP articles. |
| WARL | History of Western Australian Rugby League | 1947–Present | Website | Images of the programme, Western Australia v Australia, including team photo and pen profiles of the tourists. |
| Offline Resources |||||
| EECYB | E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Year Book | 1946-1978 | Copies at State Library of NSW | Teams, Point Scorers, Report. 1953 Yearbook covers the 1952-53 tour. |
| - | Ipswich Rugby League - The Bulimba Cup Era 1925 to 1972 | 1925-1972 | Copies at SLQ & NLA | Given Names & Club of Brisbane, Ipswich & Toowoomba Players |