The Combined Nationalities rugby league team was originally created to play international fixture(s) 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 ...

during the 1950s. The team comprised European-based (or in the case of the United States players, European touring) non-French

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballers.

Matches

1950s

During the 1950s, there was Combined Nationalities' 15-19 defeat by

during the 1953–54 season at

Stade de Gerland The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland ) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, on Sunday 3 January 1954.

Players

Notable players include; * Billy Banks * Lionel Cooper *

Gerry Helme https://www.rugbyleaguerecords.com/ Gerard "Gerry" J. Helme (4 April 1923 – 19 December 1981) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached. He played at representative level for Great Brit ...

* Bob Lampshire *

Tom McKinney Thomas McKinney (31 December 1926 – 10 November 1999) was an Irish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Jed-Forest RFC, and representative level rugb ...

Keith McLellan Keith McLellan (born 14 July 1929) is a former Australian athlete, and rugby union, and rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s. He played club level rugby union for Eastern Suburbs RUFC, 1948-1951 and was named in the club team of the ...

Bernard McNally Bernard Anthony McNally (born 17 February 1963) is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played in midfield. During his club career he played for Shrewsbury Town (1980–1989), West Bromwich Albion (1989–1995), Hednesford ...

* Owen Phillips * Willie Richardson * Leon Sellers right- *

Dave Valentine David Donald Valentine (12 September 1926 – 14 August 1976) was a Scottish representative rugby union and Rugby League World Cup, World Cup winning rugby league footballer, a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code rugby internatio ...

* Giovanni Vigna *

Ernest Ward Ernest Ward (30 July 1920 – 9 July 1987) was an English rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1950s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, British Empire, Combined Nationalities and Eng ...

Combined Nations All Stars

In 2021 the concept was resurrected and an inauguration fixture was played between the, now-named, ''Combined Nations All Stars'' and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

on 25 Jun 2021, as part of England’s

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

preparation. The result was a victory for Combined Nations All Stars 26–24.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Combined Nationalities rugby league team Combined Nationalities rugby league team National rugby league teams Rugby league in Australia Rugby league in England Rugby league in Ireland Rugby league in Italy Rugby league in Scotland Rugby league in the United States Rugby league in Wales