The 2019 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the

Great Britain national rugby league team The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, p ...

to the New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2019.

Background

This tour was the first matches played by the Lions since 2007 when they defeated New Zealand 3–0 during the New Zealand tour that year. The last time the Lions travelled to Australasia was for the 2006 Tri-Nations tournament and the last full Lions tour was in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. After the 2007 New Zealand tour to Great Britain the Great Britain Lions were disbanded and more emphasis was placed on the four home nations;

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. In 2017 the

Rugby League International Federation The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The IRL organises the Rugby League World Cup, the oldest international rugby World Cup, as well as the Women's and Wheelchair equivalen ...

(RLIF) announced a four-year cycle of tours and tournaments to include the resurrection of the Great Britain Lions and a tour by the team to the Southern Hemisphere. At the RLIF's 2018 meeting a proposal by the

Australian Rugby League Commission The Australian Rugby League Commission Limited (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League Limited known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australi ...

for the Lions tour to be postponed in favour of a tour to Europe by the Australian Kangaroos was rejected and the 2017 announced cycle was confirmed.

Squad

The 24-man Great Britain squad was named on 14 October 2019. Ages are as of 26 October 2019. Following injuries to Gildart and Hall,

Ash Handley Ashley Handley (born 16 February 1996) is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a er and for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League. He has spent time on loan from Leeds Rhinos, Leeds at Featherstone Rovers in the RFL Championship, Cha ...

was called into the squad on 7 November.

Itinerary

At the RLIF congress in November 2018 a provisional tour was arranged with Great Britain to play tests against , , , and with the exact locations and dates being subject to ratification by the various national league and player organisations. In March 2019 it was confirmed that test matches would only be played against New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga. In September 2019 the

Tongan National Rugby League The Tonga National Rugby League (TNRL) was the governing body for rugby league in Tonga. It is based in the capital Nuku'alofa. The TNRL was founded in 1949 and has been a member of the Rugby League International Federation The Internationa ...

's membership of the RLIF was suspended and in order to fulfil the fixture against the Lions a ''Tongan Invitational XIII'' was selected to play against Great Britain. The members of the suspended Tonga board labelled the invitational side as a 'rebel' squad and insisted that the game against Great Britain could not be classed as a test match. The

International Rugby League The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The IRL organises the Rugby League World Cup, the oldest international rugby World Cup, as well as the Women's Rugby League World Cup, Wom ...

(the RLIF was rebranded earlier in October 2019) disagreed and gave the match test status.

Test Venues

Fixtures

New Zealand leg

Notes: * '' Tesi Niu (Tonga), Jackson Hastings, and Josh Jones (both Great Britain) made their Test debuts. Hastings and Jones were the only Great Britain players to have not previously represented their home nation.'' * '' James Graham (Great Britain) made his 50th Test appearance – his 6th for Great Britain, with 44 for England. He became the 4th Briton and 8th person overall to do so.'' * '' James Graham (Great Britain) is the only player to have previously played for the Lions, who were last active in 2007.''

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Notes: * '' Adam Blair (New Zealand) made his 50th Test appearance for New Zealand becoming the 2nd New Zealander and 9th person overall to do so.''

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Notes: * ''

Blake Austin Blake Austin (born 1 February 1991) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for The Entrance Tigers in the Central Coast Division Rugby League in NSW, Australia. Austin previously played for the Canberra Raiders, Penrith Pant ...

and Jack Hughes (both Great Britain) made their Test debuts, having not previously represented their home nation.''

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Papua New Guinea leg

Aftermath

The tour failed to live up to expectations, with Great Britain failing to win a single match on the tour. Coach Wayne Bennett, whose contract with the RFL expired at the end of the tour, was heavily criticised for his team selections. Six half-backs were chosen in the initial 24-man squad, but injuries during the tour resulted in stand-off

being deployed as an emergency winger due a shortage of other players at the position. Bennett was also criticised for placing too much focus on England players – Lachlan Coote was the only player selected outside of the England setup, while Welsh-born Regan Grace, who had recently won the 2019 Super League Grand Final with St Helens, reportedly wasn't even considered for selection. RFL rugby director

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is an English rugby union coach, currently the skills and kicking coach for the England national rugby union team, England national team. He is a former professional rugby league player for Leeds Rhinos, ...

defended the squad selection, but conceded that there had been less interest than expected in the revival of the Lions tour, with attendances on the New Zealand leg of the tour being lower than expected. Bennett's contract was ultimately not renewed, and he was replaced as England coach by Shaun Wane. In November 2020, a documentary covering the tour, titled "Once Were Lions", was released on

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Notes

References

{{2019 in rugby league Great Britain Lions tour Great Britain national rugby league team tours Great Britain Lions tour Great Britain Lions tour Great Britain Lions tour Great Britain Lions tour