1920 Great Britain Lions tour
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The 1920 Great Britain Lions tour was the third British national rugby league team or 'Lions' tour of Australasia, where it was winter and matches were played against the Australian and New Zealand national sides, as well as several local teams. In Australia, the three-Test match series was won by the hosts. In New Zealand another three-Test series was played and won by the visitors. The tour was a success and brought in a handsome profit.[2]
| 1920 Great Britain Lions tour | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | S. Foster and J. Wilson | ||||
| Tour captain(s) | Harold Wagstaff | ||||
| Top point scorer(s) | Ben Gronow (136)[1] | ||||
| Top try scorer(s) | Billy Stone (24)[1] | ||||
| Summary |
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| Total |
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| Test match |
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| Opponent |
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 Australia |
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 New Zealand |
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| Tour chronology | |||||
| Previous tour | 1914 | ||||
| Next tour | 1924 | ||||
Touring squad
At the 1919â20 Northern Rugby Football Union season's conclusion, the following Great Britain squad was assembled by the Northern Rugby Football Union to represent it on the tour of Australasia. Mr S Foster and Mr J Wilson were the team managers. Although it was a Great Britain tour, the team played as 'England' during the games.
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England
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Wales
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Australia
The first leg of the tour was Australia, where the game of rugby league football was in its twelfth year since splitting away from rugby union in 1908. The tour included places such as Orange, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Tamworth as well as the standard main venues of Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney and Ipswich.[3]
Test venues
The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.
| Brisbane | Sydney | Sydney |
|---|---|---|
| Brisbane Exhibition Ground | Sydney Cricket Ground | Royal Agricultural Showground |
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 60,000 | Capacity: 50,000 |
 |
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The opening match of the tour on 5 June took place between rounds 5 and 6 of the fifteen-round 1920 NSWRFL season, and saw a Metropolis (Sydney) team host the tourists at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Saturday, 5 June |
Metropolis  |
20 â 27 |  Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Harold Horder (3), George McGowan Goals: Harold Horder (3) Charles Fraser (1) |
Database Program |
Tries: Johnny Rogers (2), Squire Stockwell (2), Arthur 'Chick' Johnson Goals: Ben Gronow (6) |
In front of an overflow crowd of 65,000 the visitors ran out 27â20 winners.
Wednesday, 9 June |
Orange  |
8 â 50 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: T. Dalton (2) Goals: C. Plowman (1) |
Database Report[4] |
Tries: Jim Bacon (4), Danny Hurcombe (2), William Reid, Joe Bowers, Joe Doyle, Herman Hilton, Cyril Stacey Goals: Alf Wood (7) |
As the preliminary match to the New South Wales versus Britain game on 12 June, Sydney University's first intervarsity match against Queensland University under rugby league rules was played before a crowd of 60,000.[5][6] Sydney won 26â14.
Saturday, 12 June |
New South Wales  |
42 â 6 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Frank Burge (2), Charles Fraser, Herb Gilbert, Reg Latta, George McGowan, Sandy Pearce, Jack 'Junker' Robinson Goals: Frank Burge (9) |
Database Program |
Tries: Goals: Ben Gronow (3) |
Albert Johnston captained New South Wales in two matches against the visiting Lions.[7]
Wednesday, 16 June |
| New South Wales |
10 â 18 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Viv Farnsworth, Jack 'Junker' Robinson Goals: Charles Fraser (1) Ray Norman (1) |
Database Program |
Tries: Herman Hilton, William Reid Goals: Ben Gronow (6) |
Saturday, 19 June |
Queensland  |
15 â 25 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Neville Broadfoot, Walter Paten, Bill Richards Goals: Henry Fewin (1) Walter Paten (1) Bill Richards (1) |
Tries: Jim Bacon (4), Squire Stockwell Goals: Ben Gronow (5) |
On Saturday, 19 June, the tourists played a match against Queensland before a crowd of around 20,000 at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground.[8] The Queensland side featured Mick Bennett, Neville Broadfoot, Jeff Daly, Harry Fewin, Thomas Johnson, Jack Maguire, Patrick Moran, Claud O'Donnell, Walter Paten, Norm Potter, Bill Richards, Stan Ryan, E. Sabine, Colin Thompson, and J. Thompson.[9] The British team was F G Thomas, J A Bacon, J Doyle, H Wagstaff, F Stockwell, R Lloyd, J Rogers, H Hilton, W Reid, G Rees, R Gronow, E Milnes and E Johnston. Refereed by L H Kearney, the visitors, after leading 13â10 at half-time, won the game 25â15.[10]
Monday, 21 June |
Wide Bay  |
13 â 34 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: J. Bradley, F. Heidke, W. Marles Goals: A. Toft (2) |
Database Report[11] |
Tries: Harold Wagstaff (2), Jim Bacon, Herman Hilton, Jonty Parkin, Squire Stockwell, Billy Stone Goals: Ben Gronow (5) |
Tuesday, 22 June |
Central Queensland  |
15 â 26 |  Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: C. Bannon, T. Barnes, G. Price Goals: D. McIvor (3) |
Database Report[12] |
Tries: Billy Cunliffe, Evan Davies, Ernest Jones, William Reid, Arthur Skelhorne, Squire Stockwell Goals: Alf Wood (4) |
George Street Ground, Rockhampton Referee: W. Thorpe |
Thursday, 24 June |
| Ipswich |
12 â 40 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Jim McBrien, Colin Thompson Goals: Walter Paten (3) |
Database Report[13] |
Tries: Joe Doyle (2), Cyril Stacey (2), Squire Stockwell (2), Jim Bacon, Bobby Lloyd, William Reid Goals: Ben Gronow (3) Alf Wood (2) |
First test
The first test of the 1920 Ashes series was played on the 26th of June at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground before a crowd of 32,000. It was refereed by local whistleblower Laurie Kearney.[14] Albert Johnston was selected to captain Australia in the opening Test of the series in the absence of champion centre Herb Gilbert. Despite a last minute reshuffling of the team which saw Johnston move to halfback.[7]
Saturday, 26 June |
| Australia |
8 â 4 |  Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Frank Burge Charles Fraser Goals: Harold Horder (1) |
[15] |
Tries: Goals: Ben Gronow (2) |
Australia won the match 8â4.[16]
Monday, 28 June |
Toowoomba  |
28 â 48 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Edwin Brown, G. Hawthorne, L. Melbusch, Fred Prouton, W. Smith Goals: Fred Prouton (3) Edwin Brown (2) |
Database Report[17] |
Tries: Billy Stone (5), Harold Wagstaff (2), William Reid, Cyril Stacey, Squire Stockwell Goals: Alf Wood (9) |
Second test
Albert Johnston lost the Australian captaincy on Herb Gilbert's return and played at five-eighth in the second Ashes Test.[7] The match was played on the 3rd of July at the Sydney Cricket Ground and attracted 67,739 spectators, then a record attendance for any sport at the SCG.[18]
Saturday, 3 July |
| Australia |
21 â 8 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Viv Farnsworth Herb Gilbert Harold Horder Norm Potter Dick Vest Goals: Frank Burge (1) Harold Horder (1) Field Goals: Charles Fraser |
Database Program |
Tries: Frank Gallagher Arthur Johnson Goals: Ben Gronow (1) |
Australian halfback Duncan Thompson starred in the match,[19] which was won by the hosts 21â8.[16] With this Australia secured the Ashes for the first time on home soil.
Wednesday, 7 July |
| Tamworth |
10 â 27 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: H Hassan, Ted Taplin Goals: J Orchard (2) |
Database Report[20] |
Tries: Jonty Parkin (3), Evan Davies (2), Frank Gallagher, Herman Hilton Goals: Ben Gronow (3) |
Third test
The third Test was played on the 10th of July in Sydney, with Great Britain winning 23â13.[16]
Saturday, 10 July |
| Australia |
13 â 23 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Frank Burge Bert Gray Duncan Thompson Goals: Frank Burge (2) |
Database Program |
Tries: Herman Hilton (2) Billy Stone (2) Jim Bacon Goals: Johnny Rogers (3) Squire Stockwell (1) |
Wednesday, 25 August |
Newcastle  |
10 â 17 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: P. Gray, H. Williams Goals: Dan Davies (1) H. Williams (1) |
Database Report[21][22] |
Tries: Jonty Parkin (2), Jim Bacon, Evan Davies, Danny Hurcombe Goals: Arthur Johnson (1) |
The British also played two matches against a Newcastle rugby league team that featured Dan "Laddo" Davies.[23] The first game was on the 25th of August and the tourists won 17â10. The second was on the 28th which they also won 24â3.[24]
Saturday, 28 August |
Newcastle  |
3 â 24 | Northern Union |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: William Bell Goals: |
Database Report[25] |
Tries: Bobby Lloyd, Evan Davies, Ben Gronow, Herman Hilton, Ernest Jones Goals: Ben Gronow (3) |
New Zealand
The British team played a three-Test series against New Zealand just as it did against Australia. Karl Ifwerson captained the Kiwis against the tourists.[26]
After losing their first game to Auckland, the tourists won all three Tests.[27]
In the Test at Wellington, the British were behind on the scoreboard 10â0, but made it 10â6 before Douglas Clark forced his way over the line for the match-winning try which Ben Gronow converted, giving the visitors an 11â10 victory.[28]
The second Test was played in Christchurch on Saturday, 7 August, and was won by the tourists 19 points to 3.[29]
Both the game against Auckland and the final Test versus the Lions attracted nearly 40,000 spectators to Auckland's Domain ground â the biggest ever New Zealand sporting crowds to that time.
Tuesday 3 August the touring England side played a mid week match against a King Country XIII in Taumarunui in front of a 4000 strong Crowd at Taumarunui Domain. England won easily 47â3. Wagstaffe scored twice in the first half for the visitors along with one a piece for Stockwell and Milne. Doran got one back for King Country. The halftime score was 16â3. In the 2nd spell, Stockwell scored 2 tries and Wagstaffe, Bowers, Doyle and Johnston one each. The final score was 47â3.[30]