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Comments No 01

I was certainly at this match as a young 16 year old Swinton supporter at that time . My main memory is of a very fit , fast and strong Aussie side whose forwards were quicker than our backs!!

I am sure that it was rumored that the winger , Ken Irvine ,had won a race with a horse over 100 yards .

If I remember rightly , GB's only try was scored by winger John Stopford after a break by centre Neil Fox , rapidly overtaken and tackled by Irvine who made him look as though he was standing still but the rest belongs to the Aussie team who were so magnificent that the only way that the GB team could compete in the next test was to pick a team of sluggers who could slow the Aussies down in a match in which several players were dismissed by referee , "Sergeant Major" Eric Clay but that's a separate story .

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courtesy of Tony Adams great book The Hitmen - A tribute to League's tough guys.

"I believe it was the world's best football team. We were a gun side ... You wouldn't have got one better. Guys like Gasnier, Kenny Irvine and Chang (Graeme Langlands) were dynamic out wide .. if you threw the ball over your head, someone was there on the burst to pick it up. It just happened that way when you played in that side. You had to push blokes out of the way to get to the ball, there was support everywhere and they all knew where each other were going."

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The 1st test series I remember was as a small boy reading about the 1962 series.

1963 was the first series I saw on TV.

The 1st test was played at Wembley, but only highlights were shown on TV, although I think Reg Gasnier scored 3 tries.

The match at Swinton was the first test I saw live.

It left an indelible imprint on me, which remains to this day.

Australia have never played better in my opinion. Langlands, Irvine, Gasnier, Raper would walk into any greatest team that I could think of.

The abiding memories are of Ken Irvine's chase down of Neil Fox, with John Stopford scoring a try.

But watching Australia that day was like watching the Harlem Globetrotters.

Raper never played better. Chang wasn't far behind. Still the best team I've ever seen.

As memorable was the 3rd test (Battle of Headingley) when the fists flew. Noel Kelly was indeed a very hard man. A scrum broke up and he delivered a couple of beauties on one of the English props.

Cliff Watson got sent off in the same game.

I have highlights of the 63 Tour on DVD and it's a prized possession.

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