International RL Blog

The next four-year International Rugby League calendar has been confirmed today (May 9th 2017) at a meeting of the Board of the Rugby League International Federation in Sydney. Headlining the calendar is the return of Kangaroos and Lions Tours. The four-year cycle, beginning in 2018, will include a New Zealand tour to Europe and an Emerging Nations championship in 2018, followed by a Lions Tour to the Southern Hemisphere in 2019, and a Kangaroos Tour to Europe in 2020. The Kangaroos Tour will feature at least three Test matches against England and one Test against France. The final year of the next cycle, 2021, will feature the Rugby League Men’s and Women’s World Cups in the UK. To support the development of Tier Two nations, the RLIF will work with the Continental Federations to strengthen existing regional competitions in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and Middle East/Africa. The RLIF also authorised the creation a dedicated mid-season international weekend, giving nati...

Last performed in 1967

Although the Kangaroos have been dominant in recent years, they are only slightly ahead in terms of series and Test matches won Ashes Series won           Australia    20                   GB    19 Test Matches won          Australia    59                   GB    55 Apart from 1911/12, the Kangaroos were beaten in every Ashes series in  Great Britain  from 1908 until 1963. Even in  Australia , the GB Lions triumphed in fourteen Ashes series between 1910 and 1970 The Kangaroos won just four times in 1920, 1950, 1954 and 1966 The GB Lions held the Ashes for thirty years from 1920 – 1950 The Australian Kangaroos currently hold the Ashes and have done since 1973 although they h...

7th November 2003     Great Britain  18  v  Australia  22     Wigan Adrian Morley had a reputation as the best forward in the world and he had played a big part for the Sydney Roosters in their drive to consecutive NRL Grand Finals. He was expected to continue in this vein for the GB Lions but to the home supporter’s dismay he was sent off by referee Steve Ganson after only twelve seconds of the first match at  Wigan . The performance that followed from the twelve remaining GB players was top class. Phil Bailey and Trent Waterhouse scored tries for the Kangaroos and Brian Carney replied for the Lions to give them an 8-4 half time lead. A Keith Senior try and two Sean Long goals gave GB a 12-8 lead before a Craig Gower try and a brilliant conversion by Craig Fitzgibbon from the touchline put Australia ahead but another Brian Carney try put the twelve man Lions 18-14 in front with less than ten minutes to go. Australia e...

July 1992           Australia    10 v Great Britain    33                                      Melbourne After losing the first test 22-6 in  Sydney  and with injuries to key players Ellery Hanley and Andy Gregory The Lions were not given much chance. They chose an all  Wigan  pack and Shaun Edwards came in at half back for his first match against  Australia Despite their injuries and the poor weather, The Lions raced into a 22-0 lead with tries from Clark, Newlove and Schofield. The expected Kangaroo comeback saw tries from Lindner and Johns but the Lions pack held firm giving Graham Steadman and Martin Offiah the opportunity to score great tries. They lost the decider 16-10 but the glorious night in  Melbour...

November 10th 1990      Great Britain    10    Australia  14                 Manchester The Lions won the first test 19-12 at Wembley to end  Australia ’s unbroken run of consecutive victories stretching back two tours. With injuries to key Australian players Bradley Clyde and Brad Fittler the Lions entered the second test with their best chance in twenty years to regain the Ashes. The Kangaroos led 4-2 at half time following a Dale Shearer try with Paul Eastwood replying for the Lions with a penalty.  Dixon  scored for GB shortly after the break and they held onto this 6-4 lead until Cliff Lyon scored a great try with twelve minutes to go. The Kanagaroos led 10-6 and were controlling the game until a Ricky Stuart pass to Dale Shearer was intercepted by substitute Paul Loughlin who raced the length of the field to score. It was 10-10 with a kick to come ...

14 th  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...

6 th  November 1948       Great Britain 17    Australia 6             Swinton Despite the baffling omission of their captain Len Smith, the Kangaroo tourists played their part in a great First Test matches as  Great Britain  won 23-21. Their form deserted them and they lost four games in a row before the Second Test at Station Road, Swinton.    Before the game, the players paid homage at the corner of the ground where Joe “Chimpy” Busch had been famously been denied in 1930 but they lost the match and The Ashes 17-6. Station Road, once again proved to be the graveyard of the Aussies as it hosted another British Ashes triumph. A 23-9 win for  Great Britain  at  Bradford  resulted in only the second ever whitewash in Ashes history. Sadly Station Road, Swinton is a now a housing estate.

January 4 th  1930             The Lions 0 v Australia 0                        Swinton In 1930 at Swinton near Manchester, in the third and deciding  Test ,  Australia ’s half-back Joe “Chimpy” Busch picked the ball up at the scrum base and ran 20 m for what seemed like a match winning and Ashes winning score. Busch and his team were ecstatic but referee Bob Robinson over-turned his original decision to award the try after consulting the touch judge. Things didn’t improve for the Kangaroos when they were beaten 3-0 in 1933

The  Rugby  League Ashes The Ashes  is the name given to the trophy awarded to the winner of a Rugby League test series between Great Britain and Australia. The format used is usually that three matches are played, with the winning team being decided on the basis of most matches won. The team representing Great Britain were originally known as the  Northern Union  after the sport’s govorning body and the team representing Australia were and still are known as the  Kangaroos First Ever Ashes Test Match December 12 1908                    Northern Union  22  Australia  22            London England  dominated the match early on and led by 14-5 at half-time. They seemed assured of victory when leading 17-5 early in the second half but  Australia  fought back with tries from ...

30th October 1982         Great Britain 4  Australia 40     Hull Australia's side for the first Test was built around the new breed of young players  Grothe, Pearce, Meninga, Kenny and Sterling. Great Britain included five players aged over the age of thirty and they were competitive in the first half although A ustralia led 10-4 at half time. In the second half, the Kangaroos demonstrated their superlative skills including pace, guile, teamwork and fitness and scored six stunning tries in the process. The Great Britain team, the crowd and the game in  the UK were stunned and have not really recovered to this day.

It's not been confirmed, but it seems certain that the GB Lions Tour to Australia in 2015 will not take place. They haven't been invited!!! It appears that the Australian players don't want to play because they are guaranteed a winter off every four years. I find this very hard to believe!!! Which Australian players don't want to represent the Kangaroos in an Ashes series against the Lions? The RL Ashes is a competition with a long history which has not been contested since 2003. That series was very close, despite the 3-0 scoreline and the overall scoreline is very close too despite recent Australian dominance. On either side of the world, crowds would flock to see the Burgess brothers, Widdop, Graham, Tomkins etc represent thec Lions There are many thousands of very good RL players in Australia. Why don't they ask for volunteers? The queue would start in Preston Let's hope International Federation Chairman, Nigel Wood has some power and influence an...

I notice that the All Blacks are due to play an RU game at Soldiers Field, Chicago against the USA in November. I have no doubt that a big crowd will attend and that the All Blacks will clock up a big score. I also have no doubt that the event will be a huge success. Soldiers Field is famous as, amongst other things, being the venue for the long count fight between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney in 1927. It's hallowed turf Dempsey v Tunney 1927 In the 1970s and 1980s, it could be argued that the British Lions (RL version who existed long before RU and were much more successful) and the Kangaroos had a similar international profile to the All Blacks. Since then, the NZ RU have continually worked hard to promote the All Blacks and turned them into the internationally recognisable brand they are. Meanwhile, the ARL have neglected the Kangaroos and concentrated on SoO. The Kangaroos, who used to be acknowledged as the best...