The second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament (known as the Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship) was contested between 16 October and 27 November of 2004. 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 Leagu ...

(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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 American football, foo ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. 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