“We were robbed”

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14th July 1962              Australia  18  v  Great Britain 17     Sydney
“1962 was a great side. Even the Australians said it was the best side for years. We wrapped up the Ashes in the second test at Brisbane with a 17-10 win despite losing Alex Murphy early on which was a blow but Poynton came on and did very well. In the third, we were robbed. We were 17-11 up and had Mick Sullivan and Derek Turner sent off. We were penalised under the posts for 17-13 then they went in at the corner and converted to win by a point and the game didn’t even kick off again. We would have been the only ever side to win a series 3-0 in Australia. However, that tour was the highlight of my career. To captain an Ashes winning side down under was fantastic.”

  – Great Britain captain Eric Ashton.

It was payback time as Australian referee Darcy Lawler sent off Great Britain winger Mick Sullivan and awarded the Kangaroos a last minute try from a forward pass leaving replacement kicker Ken Irvine a touchline conversion to win the game. Referee Lawler guided Irvine when the placing of the ball, and he famously kicked the match winning goal.

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