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Post by Rugby League Historian on Feb 11, 2022 19:10:42 GMT 10
Date Sunday, November 28th, 1982 Referee Julien Rascagneres Venue Headingley (Leeds) Crowd 17,318 Official Man of the Match Brett Kenny
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Post by Rugby League Historian on Feb 11, 2022 19:14:10 GMT 10
Third Test Injuries forced Frank Stanton to make three changes to the Kangaroos for the final Test. Eric Grothe's knee injury in the second Test kept him out with the tour's leading try scorer John Ribot re-claiming his test spot on the wing; Rod Morris replaced Craig Young in the front row; while second test man of the match Ray Price was also ruled out with a knee injury and was replaced by Paul McCabe in the second row allowing Wayne Pearce to move to his favoured position at lock forward.
Kangaroos coach Frank Stanton predicted that the third Test would be the best contested of the three, and he was proved correct until the final ten minutes of play. Recalled Widnes halfback Andy Gregory, and Bradford Northern hooker Brian Noble (making his Test debut), led the way for the Lions and provided a service to their speedy outside backs that Britain had lacked in the first two Tests. The Lions made more line breaks in the third Test at Headingley than they had in the previous two Tests combined. The Australian's ran with a very strong breeze in the first half and used this to their advantage, keeping much of the play in Great Britain's half, though they were unable to cross the British try line. Mal Meninga kicked three goals (two from near half-way) while Hull youngster Lee Crooks kicked two long range penalties into the breeze to keep the Lions in the game at 6–4 at half time. Lions winger Des Drummond brought the crowd to its feet mid-way through the half with a 40-metre run from near his own line before he was brought down on half-way by Greg Brentnall and Steve Rogers in cover.
The first try of the game came with just on 50 minutes gone. From deep in his own half, Brentnall made a break down the right wing after breaking a tackle. The play looked like breaking down when he didn't pass to an un-marked Kerry Boustead on his outside and was tackled from behind by a desperate David Stephenson. From there the Kangaroos spread the ball to the opposite wing where Ribot was tackled. Wayne Pearce then broke the British line before passing to Rod Reddy who gave the ball to Ribot flying on his outside. Ribot crashed over in the corner with Lions fullback George Fairbairn clinging to his legs. Pearce then made another break and sent captain Max Krilich on a 30-metre run for his first try of the tour. Krilich scored under the posts giving Meninga an easy conversion and Australia held a 14–4 lead. With just over 10 minutes left to play the Aussies were holding-off Great Britain by 14–8 and an intense finish loomed after Hull F.C. winger Steve Evans had scored the Lions only try of the series (it was also the first try the Australians had conceded in all 11 Tests they'd played since the second Ashes Test of 1979 against the Lions in Brisbane). It seemed Britain had not been so far behind Australia's standard after all, but in the final 10 minutes the Kangaroos superior fitness told and they ripped the home side apart with 4 tries to Boustead, Pearce, Steve Rogers and Man of the Match Brett Kenny to run out win 32–8 winners and become the first touring side to go through Britain undefeated.
Right on half-time there was a set-to between forwards Les Boyd and Mick Crane which resulted in an all-in brawl. Boyd had hit Lions captain David Topliss (their third captain in as many tests) with a shoulder charge on the half-way line and Topliss had lashed out with his feet at Boyd who then punched Topliss as he lay on the ground, with Crane then coming in and began trading punches with the Australian front rower. As the teams lined up for the second half, referee Rascagneres called out both Boyd and Crane and sent both to the sin-bin for 10 minutes.
The Ashes series win was Australia's 4th straight over the Lions dating back to 1974, and their second straight 3–0 Ashes series win. It also continued the streak started by the 1963–64 Kangaroos of successfully defending The Ashes in England. As of 2017, this was also the last test Australia played at Headingley. Starting with the 1986 Kangaroo tour, all test matches Australia has played in Leeds have been played at the Elland Road stadium, home of the Leeds United soccer club, due to its greater spectator capacity (Elland Road currently holds 37,890 while Headingley has a capacity of 21,062).
Wikipedia
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