1966 Great Britain Lions tour

Date| 1 June 1966 –
23 August 1966
Manager| Wilf Spaven
J. Errock
Tour captain(s)| Harry Poole
Top point scorer(s)| Ken Gowers (134)
Top try scorer(s)| Berwyn Jones (24)
Summary| | P|  W|  D|  L

|
|
|

Total| | 30|  21|  00|  09

|
|
|

Test match| | 05|  03|  00|  02

|
|
|

Opponent| | P|  W|  D|  L

|
|
|

Australia| | 3|  1|  0|  2

|
|
|

New Zealand| | 2|  2|  0|  0

|
|
|

Tour chronology
Previous tour| 1962
Next tour| 1970

The 1966 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 13th tour of Australasia and took place from June to August 1966. A total of 30 matches were played against local club and representative sides during the tour, including a three match Test match series against Australia and a two-game series against New Zealand.

Great Britain failed to regain The Ashes against Australia following their home defeat in 1963, but had more success on the New Zealand leg of the tour, winning all eight games.

## Touring squad

[edit]

The 26-man touring squad was announced on 23 March 1966, with Harry Poole named as captain, and Ken Gowers selected as vice-captain.[1] A few days later, Alex Murphy withdrew from the squad due to business commitments, and was replaced by Ian Brooke.[2] Murphy's withdrawal meant that Brian Edgar was the only member of the squad who had toured previously with the Lions.[3]

## Results

[edit]

### Australia

[edit]

1 June 1966

Northern Territory  | 7 – 17  | Great Britain

|
|

| [4]

Darwin

4 June 1966

Far North Queensland  | 7 – 48  | Great Britain

|
|

| [5]

Cairns

5 June 1966

North Queensland  | 17 – 15  | Great Britain

|
|

| [6]

Townsville

8 June 1966

Central Queensland  | 10 – 5  | Great Britain

|
|

| [7]

Rockhampton

11 June 1966

Sydney  | 14 – 15  | Great Britain

|
|

| [8]

Sydney

13 June 1966

Newcastle  | 2 – 5  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Newcastle

15 June 1966

NSW North Coast  | 20 – 52  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Kempsey

18 June 1966

New South Wales  | 18 – 13  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Sydney

19 June 1966

Southern NSW  | 17 – 8  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Wollongong

#### First Test

[edit]

25 June 1966

Australia  | 13 – 17  | Great Britain

|
|

Tries: Banks
Goals: Barnes (5)
| [9]
| Tries: Burgess, Hardisty, Watson
Goals: Keegan (3)
Drop goals: Bishop

Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 57,962
Referee: Jack Bradley

26 June 1966

Northern NSW  | 15 – 13  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Tamworth

29 June 1966

Brisbane  | 19 – 17  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Brisbane

2 July 1966

Queensland  | 29 – 38  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Brisbane

3 July 1966

Wide Bay/Burnett  | 22 – 30  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Bundaberg

7 July 1966

Ipswich  | 10 – 44  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Ipswich

10 July 1966

Toowoomba  | 10 – 38  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Toowoomba

#### Second Test

[edit]

16 July 1966

Australia  | 6 – 4  | Great Britain

|
|

Goals: Barnes (3)
| [10]
| Goals: Keegan (2)

Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 45,057
Referee: Col Pearce

17 July 1966

Western NSW  | 11 – 38  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Parkes

#### Third Test

[edit]

23 July 1966

Australia  | 19 – 14  | Great Britain

|
|

Tries: Irvine (3), King, Lynch
Goals: Johns (2)
| [11]
| Tries: Hardisty (2)
Goals: Gowers (4)

Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 63,503
Referee: Col Pearce

24 July 1966

Riverina  | 20 – 34  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Narrandera

26 July 1966

Balmain  | 9 – 8  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Sydney

31 July 1966

Monaro  | 12 – 33  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Cooma

### New Zealand

[edit]

3 August 1966

Waikato  | 8 – 47  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Huntly

#### First Test

[edit]

6 August 1966

New Zealand  | 8 – 25  | Great Britain

|
|

Tries: Christian, Mincham
Goals: Kennedy
| [12]
| Tries: Brooke, Burgess, Clarke, Myler, Watson
Goals: Gowers
Drop goals: Gowers

Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 14,494
Referee: John Percival

9 August 1966

Wellington  | 9 – 28  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Wellington

11 August 1966

West Coast  | 5 – 27  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Greymouth

13 August 1966

Canterbury  | 6 – 53  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Christchurch

15 August 1966

Taranaki  | 17 – 51  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

New Plymouth

#### Second Test

[edit]

20 August 1966

New Zealand  | 14 – 22  | Great Britain

|
|

Goals: Wiggs (7)
| [13]
| Tries: Brooke (2), Aspinall, Burgess
Goals: Gowers (5)

Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 10,657
Referee: John Percival

23 August 1966

Auckland  | 11 – 12  | Great Britain

|
|

|  |

Auckland

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Mather, Harold (24 March 1966). "Peculiarities of inclusion and also of omission". The Guardian. p. 15\. ProQuest 185199978.
2. ^ "Brooke to replace Murphy for tour". The Guardian. London. 29 March 1966. p. 4\. ProQuest 185043070.
3. ^ Mather, Harold (7 May 1966). "Tour forwards good, backs speedy". The Rugby League news. Vol. 47, no. 12\. Sydney: N.S.W. Rugby Football League - via Trove.
4. ^ "English League side worried by heat but wins 17-7". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 June 1966. p. 12.
5. ^ "English winger shines". The Sun-Herald. 5 June 1966. p. 56.
6. ^ "English League team beaten". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 June 1966. p. 16.
7. ^ "English League team loses another match". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 June 1966. p. 12.
8. ^ "England's Warning On Tests". The Sun-Herald. 12 June 1966. p. 44.
9. ^ "Ashes Series 1966 Series - Game 1". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
10. ^ "Ashes Series 1966 Series - Game 2". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
11. ^ "Ashes Series 1966 Series - Game 3". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
12. ^ "New Zealand vs Great Britain 1966 Series - Game 1". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
13. ^ "New Zealand vs Great Britain 1966 Series - Game 2". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 22 December 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Lions Tour 1966 at Rugby League Project

* v
* t
* e

Great Britain Lions tours

* 1910
* 1914
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1946
* 1950
* 1954
* 1958
* 1962
* 1966
* 1970
* 1974
* 1979
* 1984
* 1988
* 1990
* 1992
* 1996
* 2019

* v
* t
* e

Rugby league Ashes  /

Teams|

* Original
* Australia
* Australasia
* Great Britain
* Modern
* Australia
* England
* Women's
* Australia
* England
* †Great Britain

Men's original series|

* 1908–09
* 1910
* 1911–12
* 1914
* 1920
* 1921–22
* 1924
* 1928
* 1929–30
* 1932
* 1933
* 1936
* 1937
* 1946
* 1948
* 1950
* 1952
* 1954
* 1956
* 1958
* 1959
* 1962
* 1963
* 1966
* 1967
* 1970
* 1973
* 1974
* 1978
* 1979
* 1982
* 1984
* 1986
* 1988
* 1990
* 1992
* 1994
* 2001
* 2003

Men's modern series|

* 2025
* 2028

Women's series|

* 1996†
* 2002†
* 2025

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template