History - Prescott's Epic

Captain courageous. Alan Prescott (St. Helens), captain of the 1958 Lions in Australia and New Zealand, is chaired from the Sydney Cricket Ground by his players after securing the Ashes again with a 40-17 victory. In the crucial Second Test in Brisbane, Prescott and his men had levelled the series one-all, with a 25-18 win in which the captain played with a broken arm for all but the first three minutes.

Prescott's team had won all but one of their first seven matches, and that one they drew, before the First Test in Sydney. Expected to win there too, they were well beaten 25-8, largely because the Australian pack was irresistible and claimed three of their side's five tries. Three weeks later, at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, they evened matters by winning 25-18 in a Second Test that would always be compared to the heroism of Harold Wagstaff and his men on Sydney Cricket Ground (Rorke's Drift that day) in 1914. The progressive scoreline went thus: 0-3, 2-3, 2-5, 2-7, 2-10 to half-time, then 2-15, 7-15, 7-20, 10-20, 13-20, 13-25, 18-25 afterwards; which gives some idea of the excitement, but none at all of the drama. For that, let us see what the British team manager, Tom Mitchell, reported afterwards to Chapeltown Road:

This match had everything. High drama, pathos, fortitude and endurance stretched to breaking point, sheer naked guts and courage. Occasional flashes of humour on the field served but to highlight the grimness and intensity of an epic struggle for mastery, for make no mistake about it, Australia brought everything out of their repertoire in an attempt to defeat us, feeling that they MUST on grounds of prestige alone win the day against a sadly depleted foe. A chronicle of events leading up to what might be called our last ditch stand would reveal that:

Alan Prescott (St Helens, captain and prop), falling heavily as he went into a tackle and before he had time to warm up, broke his arm between the wrist and elbow (right radius). He came over and said his arm was broken and it was fairly obvious it was. He showed no inclination to leave the field so the matter was just left that way, with few words said, and after half a minute of strapping he resumed. This took place after three minutes.

 

Jim Challinor (Warrington, centre), corning away from his own 25 line, was dumped heavily on his right shoulder and remained with one arm limp and useless for the rest of the match. He came over to the touchline but was told to play on as long as humanly possible (or words to that effect). This he did. Time eight minutes.

 

Eric Fraser (Warrington, full-back), playing confidently and fully fit, went down on a loose ball underneath his own posts and was kicked right on the point of the elbow. He said little but carried on under pain and played immaculately His elbow looked really bad. Time - ten minutes.

 

David Bolton (Wigan. stand-off), running strongly from his own half to the 25 line, put Sullivan in with a try-scoring chance, but after running on fifteen yards to back up, was felled without the ball by Hawick. He pitched forward on to his right shoulder and broke his collarbone. The unexpected nature of the tackle contributed to the injury He saw the rest of the match from the touchline. Time - nineteen minutes.

 

Vincent Karalius (St Helens, loose forward), playing magnificently and tackling everything in sight, suddenly appeared to lose some of his fire. It transpired that he had strained his back in such a fashion that he had not the full use of his legs. Up to this time - twenty minutes - he had engaged in destroying half the Australian pack and the halfbacks. Nothing questionable, just ferocious tackling at its very best. He completed the game, playing himself into the ground in the process. Karalius has been playing better here in Australia than back home. He is just the inspiration the team needs against the Aussies. I rather fancy that O'Shea and Provan don't like him very much, and sending him out here was an inspired move by the selectors. He is a hard and conscientious trainer.

Half-time Great Britain 10, Australia 2. Tries by Challinor and Sullivan, goals by Fraser 2.

The scene in the English dressing room at half-time will live long in my memory. Very few (if any) of the players knew the extent of Prescott's injury, but it could not be kept from them. When they realised, in addition to Bolton's collarbone, the captain had a broken arm, they looked stunned. I daresay one or two could see a second-half victory would be snatched from them. The Doctor forbade Prescott to resume and told me so. With Challinor winged (he had an injection at half time), it was obvious that the day could only be saved if Prescott returned to the field, even if only to hold the side together. The matter was put to him in the sense that the decision was left to him entirely. Without hesitation, he said he would go out again. In the final analysis, his presence on the field meant everything. He packed blind side once but had his arm clutched (inadvertently) and had to return to his normal position in the front row. The crowd went silent as the position became clear to them. Karalius went to outside half and at the vital stage of the game, worked a move with Murphy (St Helens, scrumhalf) which put the latter in for a try under the posts. Murphy, rattled just once during the game, rose to great heights in defence and attack, and his manipulation of the ball in the closing ten minutes, when Australia just must not be allowed to score again, was worth seeing. He gave personal warnings to O'Shea about his rough play and informed the referee of what was going on, etc. etc. A great game for this young man. Of course, each and every member of the team deserves special praise, but because of the heavy load thrown upon them I might say that:
Eric Ashton (Wigan, centre), with Challinor hurt, and under constant pressure, did the work of two men at least. Brian McTigue (Wigan, prop) gave everything he had. At half time I thought he hardly knew what I meant when he was asked to play until he dropped, and for England. But whether he understood or not, that is just what he did. If Karalius was a tiger, then McTigue was like a bull elephant running amok. John Whiteley (Hull, second-row) and Dick Huddart (Whitehaven, second-row) went on until they had given everything. Tommy Harris (Hull, hooker) was like the Scarlet Pimpernel. Hooking one second, tackling or leading a rush down the middle the next. When Challinor was subsequently forced on to the wing, Sullivan (Wigan, left-winger) came in at centre and proceeded to intimidate every Australian in sight. Southward (Workington, right-winger) did his job well, scoring two tries (both opportunist).
As you can well realise, this was a game of emotion, and as I write many hours later, I feel drained from the drama and tragedy of the game. I feel sure this match will go down in the history of Australian and English (sic) Rugby League Football as a great classic, and no better name can describe it than Prescott's Epic. I would like to think that this title will stick, not so much for the name of Prescott but for the association of many sporting memories that this game will hold for all those who saw it. Please do what you can in this respect. We might lose the Ashes, but the tour is now made.

Scorers for the Lions: tries by Southward (2), Challinor, Sullivan, Murphy, goals by Fraser (5).

Scorers for Australia; tries by Marsh, Holman, Carlson and Dimond. Goals by Clifford (5)