The War of the Roses, (also known in its last years as the County of Origin Series) was the inter-county
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 11 ...
matches between representative teams from
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
and
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, the areas where rugby league has traditionally been most popular in England. The series started in 1895 and was last played in 2003.
History
The first War of the Roses was contested in 1895 as part of the
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
. The majority of the clubs in rugby league came from Yorkshire and Lancashire and the fixtures was held almost annually, with exceptions for the two world wars (1914–1918 and 1939–1945) and 1977–1978, until 1983 when the County Championship was abandoned. Fixtures between Lancashire and Yorkshire briefly returned firstly between 1985 and 1991 and then again between 2001 and 2003. Eligibility to play was established either by county of birth or in which county players had originally played the sport professionally.
In 1985, an annual fixture between Lancashire and Yorkshire was proposed as a replacement for the County Championship. The fixture became known as the Rodstock War of the Roses and the first game was played in September 1985. The series lasted until 1991, when it was scrapped due to lack of interest.
The fixture was revived in 2001 under the name of the County of Origin series, inspired by the success of Australia's
State of Origin series
The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.
Referred to as “Australian sport's greatest rivalry”, the ...
between
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
and
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
. After three years, the Origin series games were discontinued due to falling attendances.
Roses matches have continued at amateur level as part of the
BARLA
The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board.
History
BARLA was created in 1973 in Huddersfiel ...
Three Counties Championship but despite several calls for a return at professional level the fixture remains unplayed.
[
]
Results
The two teams have met in 91 competitive matches with each team having won 44 and three games ending in draws. In addition there have been a number of exhibition matches during the First and Second World Wars when the County Championship was suspended.
International touring teams
Both Lancashire and Yorkshire have played numerous matches against touring Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
and New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
teams. From the 1967–68 Kangaroo Tour, both Lancashire and Yorkshire were taken off the Australian's itinerary with the only county side they played being Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
. The two teams also played in the only Rugby League County Championship in 1974–75.
Lancashire
Also see '' :Lancashire rugby league team coaches,'' '' :Lancashire rugby league team players.''
Yorkshire
Also see '' :Yorkshire rugby league team coaches,'' '' :Yorkshire rugby league team players.''
Women's Rugby League
In 2015, the RFL announced that they would stage the inaugural Women's "War of the Roses", between Lancashire Ladies and Yorkshire Ladies. The match, which took place at Thatto Heath Crusaders, St. Helens, saw the sides share the honours after a 22–22 draw, with an attendance of around 500.
The match, held on 18 October 2015, followed a Lancashire Girls vs Yorkshire Girls under 18s match, which finished 34–0 in favour of the Yorkshire side.
Results
Origin Legends
In 2017, Rugby AM announced a charity game between Yorkshire and Lancashire legends at Headingley Stadium in Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
, which saw Yorkshire defeat Lancashire 14–12.
The following year Yorkshire retained their Origin Legends title with a 32–14 victory over Lancashire in Castleford. 28 August 2019 saw the return of the game at Headingley and notable players including Gary Connolly, Denis Betts and Sean Long for Lancashire and Jason Robinson, Stuart Fielden and Rob Burrow for Yorkshire. The game was won 21–18 by Lancashire.
Academy series
See also
* International Origin
International Origin was an annual series of rugby league football matches between England national rugby league team, England RL and the Exiles rugby league team, Exiles. The International Origin was created by the Rugby Football League (RFL) to ...
* Roses rivalry
The term "Roses rivalry" can refer to sporting rivalries between teams from the English counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The name of the rivalry is derived from the historic Wars of the Roses which was fought between the House of Lancaster ...
References
{{reflist
Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom
Rugby league in Yorkshire
Rugby league in Lancashire