The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the
Gillette
Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G).
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...
Tri-Nations due to sponsorship
) was contested between
16 October
Events Pre-1600
* 456 – Ricimer defeats Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the Western Roman Empire.
* 690 – Empress Wu Zetian ascends to the throne of the Tang dynasty and proclaims herself ruler of the Chinese Empire.
* 91 ...
and
27 November
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Luoyang is History of the Han dynasty#Reconsolidation under Guangwu, declared capital of the Eastern Han dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han.
* 176 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank o ...
of
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
. The format of the competition differed from the
previous event in that the teams played each other twice, rather than once, prior to the final.
The tournament final of the tournament was predicted by some to be a close affair, with the British team heralded as slight favourites after finishing at the top of the league table. Instead, it was a one-sided match as Australia produced their best performance of the tournament. The game was effectively over by half-time when Australia led by 38–0.
Participating teams
Each team was to play the other three twice during the round robin tournament. The top two finishing teams would then contest the final.
Officials
One referee from each participating nation was appointed to control matches in the Tri-Nations:
*
Tim Mander
Timothy Leonard Mander (born 9 August 1961) is an Australian politician and a former leading Australian rugby league referee. He is a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Mander was the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leade ...
(2 matches)
*
Russell Smith (3 matches)
*
Glen Black
Glen Black is a New Zealand former rugby league referee. An international referee, Black has also controlled Canterbury Rugby League, New Zealand Rugby League and Super League matches.
International career
Black was the New Zealand Rugby League' ...
(2 matches)
Venues
The games were played at the following venues in New Zealand and England.
Final
The tournament final was played in Leeds.
Results
Tournament matches
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Tournament standings
Final
Player statistics
Non-series Tests
During the series, Australia and New Zealand both played an additional test match against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
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Additional Matches
A one-off match was also played between an ANZAC side made up of touring Australian and New Zealand players and a
Cumbria side.
On their way back to Australia just four days after the Tri-Nations Final, the Kangaroos played a match, known as the Liberty Bell Cup against the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
at the
Franklin Field
Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and fi ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Played in quarters instead of halves, and on a synthetic field that was the size of a
Grid iron field, the American's shocked the Australians by racing to an 18–0 lead nearing half time and actually went into the long break with a 24–6 lead. They managed to keep their lead until late in the game when the fitness of the Australians, who had bombed numerous try scoring opportunities through the game, told and the Kangaroos overhauled the home team to win 36–24.
USA vs Australia 1st half
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References
External links
{{2004 in rugby league
Tri-Nations
Rugby League Tri-Nations
Tri
Tri
International rugby league competitions hosted by the United Kingdom