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1959–60 Kangaroo tour
Manager	Jack Argent Ern Keffer
Coach(es)	Clive Churchill
Tour captain(s)	Keith Barnes
Top point scorer(s)	Keith Barnes 202
Top try scorer(s)	Eddie Lumsden 25
Top test point scorer(s)	Keith Barnes 62
Top test try scorer(s)	Eddie Lumsden 8
Summary	P W D L
Total	37 26 00 11
Test match	08 06 00 02
Opponent	P W D L
Great Britain	3 1 0 2
France	3 3 0 0
Italy	2 2 0 0
Tour chronology
Previous tour	1956-57
Next tour	1963-64

The 1959–60 Kangaroo tour was the tenth Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team traveled to Europe and played thirty-seven matches against British, French and Italian teams, including the Ashes series of three Test matches against Great Britain, two Test matches against the French and an additional two non-Test matches against an Italian representative team. It followed the tour of 1956-57 and the next was staged in 1963-64.

The squad's leadership

The team was coached by Clive Churchill. The team captain was Balmain Tigers Fullback Keith Barnes while the vice-captain was Manly-Warringah's dual rugby international forward Rex Mossop. Tour co-managers were Jack Argent and Ern Keffer.
In the five matches in which neither Barnes nor Mossop played, the Kangaroos were captained by five different players: Harry Wells (against Leigh), Brian Hambly (combined Workington and Whitehaven), Brian Clay (Bradford Northern), Brian Carlson (Swinton) and Billy Wilson (Huddersfield).

Touring squad

The Rugby League News published a photo and details of the touring team including the players' ages and weights.
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.
Beattie, Boden, Kelly, Muir, Parcell, Paterson and Rasmussen were selected from Queensland clubs. Chapman, Hambly, Parish and Walsh were selected from clubs in New South Wales Country areas. The balance of the squad had played for Sydney based clubs during the 1959 season.

Player	Position	Age	Weight	Club	Tests on Tour	Games	Tries	Goals	FG	Points
Keith Barnes (c)	Fullback	24	11 st. 10 lb. (74 kg)	Balmain	8	22	0	101	0	202
Dud Beattie	Prop	23	15 st. 0 lb. (95 kg)	Ipswich Railways	4	20	0	0	0	0
Ron Boden	Wing, Centre	21	12 st. 6 lb. (79 kg)	Toowoomba Valleys	0	14	5	0	0	15
Tony Brown	Five-eighth	23	12 st. 0 lb. (76 kg)	Newtown	2	9	4	0	0	12
Bob Bugden	Halfback	23	11 st. 10 lb. (74 kg)	St George	0	5	4	0	0	12
Peter Burke	Halfback	25	11 st. 2 lb. (71 kg)	Manly-Warringah	1	13	9	0	0	27
Brian Carlson	Utility Back	26	13 st. 0 lb. (83 kg)	North Sydney	4	23	19	49	0	155
Darrel Chapman	Fullback	21	11 st. 6 lb. (73 kg)	Kempsey	1	18	3	0	0	9
Brian Clay	Five-eighth, Lock	25	13 st. 3 lb. (84 kg)	St George	6	20	4	1	0	14
Bill Delamare	Prop	23	15 st. 0 lb. (95 kg)	Manly-Warringah	2	19	5	0	0	15
Reg Gasnier	Centre	20	12 st. 5 lb. (78 kg)	St George	6	19	20	0	0	60
Brian Hambly	Prop, Second-row	22	14 st. 6 lb. (92 kg)	Wagga Magpies	8	21	9	1	0	29
Ken Irvine	Wing	19	11 st. 12 lb. (75 kg)	North Sydney	3	21	17	0	0	51
Noel Kelly	Prop, Hooker	23	13 st. 9 lb. (87 kg)	Ipswich Brothers	1	14	2	1	0	8
Eddie Lumsden	Wing	22	13 st. 2 lb. (83 kg)	St George	8	27	25	0	0	75
Rex Mossop (vc)	Prop, Second-row	30	14 st. 5 lb. (91 kg)	Manly-Warringah	5	26	2	0	0	6
Barry Muir	Halfback	21	10 st. 11 lb. (68 kg)	Brisbane Western Suburbs	7	21	1	0	0	3
Gary Parcell	Prop	26	14 st. 6 lb. (92 kg)	Ipswich Brothers	5	20	2	0	0	6
Don Parish	Wing	21	11 st. 7 lb. (73 kg)	Dubbo Macquarie	0	12	7	16	0	53
Jim Paterson	Prop, Second-row	23	14 st. 6 lb. (92 kg)	Townsville Souths	3	22	4	0	0	12
Johnny Raper	Five-eighth, Lock	20	13 st. 2 lb. (83 kg)	St George	4	17	14	0	0	42
Elton Rasmussen	Prop, Second-row	22	15 st. 5 lb. (98 kg)	Toowoomba All Whites	3	20	4	1	0	14
Johnny Riley	Centre	20	12 st. 0 lb. (76 kg)	St George	2	15	2	0	0	6
Ian Walsh	Hooker	25	13 st. 4 lb. (84 kg)	Eugowra	8	23	3	1	0	11
Harry Wells	Centre	27	14 st. 6 lb. (92 kg)	Western Suburbs	7	22	11	0	0	33
Billy Wilson	Prop	30	14 st. 1 lb. (89 kg)	St George	6	19	2	0	0	6

Great Britain

The largest non-test attendance of the tour was 29,156 when the Kangaroos defeated St. Helens at Knowsley Road.

Test Venues

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

Swinton	Leeds	Wigan
Station Road	Headingley	Central Park
Capacity: 40,000	Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 48,000

Saturday, 12 September	Leeds	20 – 44	Australia	Headingley, Leeds
				Attendance: 14,629

Tuesday, 15 September	Rochdale Hornets	14 – 27	Australia	Athletic Grounds, Rochdale
				Attendance: 10,155

Wednesday, 18 September	Warrington	24 – 30	Australia	Wilderspool, Warrington
				Attendance: 17,112

Wednesday, 23 September	Lancashire	30 – 22	Australia	Knowsley Road, St. Helens
				Attendance: 15,743

Saturday, 26 September	Salford	20 – 22	Australia	The Willows, Salford
				Attendance: 11,008

Monday, 28 September	Yorkshire	47 – 15	Australia	Clarence Street, York
				Attendance: 7,338

Thursday, 1 October	Widnes	15 – 45	Australia	Naughton Park, Widnes
				Attendance: 9,381

Saturday, 3 October	Oldham	14 – 25	Australia	Watersheddings, Oldham
				Attendance: 17,630

Wednesday, 7 October	Leigh	18 – 17	Australia	Hilton Park, Leigh
				Attendance: 11,932

Saturday, 10 October	St. Helens	2 – 15	Australia	Knowsley Road, St. Helens
				Attendance: 29,156

The Ashes series

The Ashes series against Great Britain saw an aggregate crowd of 91,604 attending the Test series. The largest attendance of the tour came during the Kangaroos 22-14 first test win over Great Britain at Station Road in Swinton with 35,224 in attendance.

First Test

The first Ashes series test was played at Station Road, Swinton and drew the tours largest attendance of 35,224. Australia won the first test 22-14 with Reg Gasnier playing in his first ever test match against Great Britain named as the man of the match with 3 tries.

Great Britain	14 – 22	Australia
Tries: Billy Boston Derek Turner Goals: Eric Fraser (4)		Tries: Reg Gasnier (3) Harry Wells Goals: Keith Barnes (5)

Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 35,224 Referee: R. Gelder Player of the Match: Reg Gasnier

Thursday, 22 October	Whitehaven / Workington Town XIII	8 – 13	Australia	Recreation Ground, Whitehaven
				Attendance: 7,463

Saturday, 24 October	Barrow	12 – 9	Australia	Craven Park, Barrow
				Attendance: 8,488

Monday, 26 October	Hull F.C. / Hull Kingston Rovers XIII	9 – 29	Australia	The Boulevard, Hull
				Attendance: 15,944

Wednesday, 4 November	Bradford Northern	8 – 29	Australia	Odsal, Bradford
				Attendance: 4,126

5 days prior to the match against Bradford Northern, the Kangaroos played the first test against France.

Saturday, 7 November	Halifax	5 – 17	Australia	Thrum Hall, Halifax
				Attendance: 8,274

Wednesday, 11 November	Featherstone Rovers	23 – 15	Australia	Post Office Road, Featherstone
				Attendance: 7,671

Saturday, 14 November	Wigan	16 – 9	Australia	Central Park, Wigan
				Attendance: 24,466

Second Test

The Kangaroos went within one penalty goal of becoming the first All-Australian team to win The Ashes on British soil and the first touring side to win The Ashes since 1911-12. However, the Lions survived and the series would go on to a deciding 3rd test.

Great Britain	11 – 10	Australia
Tries: Neil Fox Don Robinson Johnny Whiteley Goals: Neil Fox (1)		Tries: Brian Carlson (2) Goals: Keith Barnes (1) Brian Carlson (1)

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 30,301 Referee: R. Gelder

Wednesday, 25 November	Swinton	24 – 25	Australia	Station Road, Swinton
				Attendance: 5,021

Saturday, 28 November	Wakefield Trinity	20 – 10	Australia	Belle Vue, Wakefield
				Attendance: 17,615

Wednesday, 2 December	Huddersfield	7 – 21	Australia	Fartown, Huddersfield
				Attendance: 2,349

Saturday, 5 December	Hunslet	11 – 12	Australia	Parkside, Hunslet
				Attendance: 8,061

Third Test

This would be the final time that Great Britain (or England) would win the Ashes on home soil (as of 2017).

Great Britain	18 – 12	Australia
Tries: Neil Fox Ike Southward Goals: Neil Fox (6)		Tries: Brian Carlson Johnny Raper Goals: Keith Barnes (3)

Central Park, Wigan Attendance: 26,089 Referee: Eric Clay

France

The first two games of the French leg of the tour were actually played while The Kangaroos were still completing the British leg.

First Test

Australia won the first test against the French at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Kangaroos winger Eddie Lumsden crossed for 3 tries while legendary winger Ken Irvine made the first of 33 test appearances for Australia.

France	19 – 20	Australia
Tries: Aldo Quaglio Goals: Andre Lacaze (6) Field Goals: Andre Lacaze (2)		Tries: Eddie Lumsden (3) Harry Wells Goals: Keith Barnes (4)

Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 9,864 Referee: Georges Jameau Player of the Match: Eddie Lumsden

Tuesday, 8 December	French Army XIII	2 – 15	Australia	Stade Marcel Saupin, Nantes
				Attendance: 993

The game against the French Army XIII was played 4 days before the third Ashes test against Great Britain

Second Test

France	2 – 17	Australia
Tries: Raymond Gruppi G. Velvaud Goals Claude Mantoulan (1)		Tries: Brian Carlson Johnny Raper Harry Wells Goals Keith Barnes (4)

Stade Municipal, Bordeaux Attendance: 8,848 Referee: A. Cassan

Thursday, 24 December	Racing Club Albi XIII	19 – 10	Australia	Stade Municipal d'Albi, Albi
				Attendance: 5,845

Thursday, 31 December	Carcassonne / Lézignan XIII	32 – 9	Australia	Stade d'Albert Domec, Carcassonne
				Attendance: 6,364

Friday, 1 January	XIII Catalan	8 – 32	Australia	Stade Jean-Laffon, Perpignan
				Attendance: 6,364

Sunday, 3 January	Montpellier	13 – 44	Australia	Stade Sabathé, Montpellier
				Attendance: 3,741

Thursday, 7 January	Racing Club Marseille XIII	7 – 38	Australia	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
				Attendance: 1,366

Thursday, 14 January	Avignon / Cavaillon XIII	5 – 65	Australia	Parc des Sports, Avignon
				Attendance: 2,806

Third Test

France	8 – 16	Australia
Tries: Raymond Gruppi Gérard Bélivaud Goals André Lacaze (1)		Tries: Johnny Raper (2) Reg Gasnier Brian Hambly Goals Keith Barnes (2)

Parc des Sports, Roanne Attendance: 6,932 Referee: Georges Jameau

Italy

To finish the tour, the Kangaroos played two games against an Italian representative team.

Saturday, 23 January	Italy	15 – 37	Australia	Stadio Euganeo, Padua
				Attendance: 3,500 Referee: R. Somma

Sunday, 24 January	Italy	22 – 67	Australia	Stadio Omobono Tenni, Treviso
				Attendance: 3,105 Referee: T. Rossi

Ken Irvine crossed for 6 tries in this game.

References

1. New South Wales Rugby Football League. (1920). "Australia's Kangaroos—1959-60". The Rugby League News. 39 (27 (29 August 1960)). Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League. nla.obj-630517488. Retrieved 16 Jan 2021 – via Trove.
2. E.E.Christensen (1960). "Players' Records in N.Z.". E.E. Christensen's Official Rugby League Yearbook. 14. Sydney: E.E.Christensen.
3. 1st Ashes Test
4. 2nd Ashes Test
5. 3rd Ashes Test
6. France vs Australia 1st Test
7. France vs Australia 2nd Test
8. France vs Australia 3rd Test

External links

• 1959-60 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project

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