The Great Britain women's national rugby league team, also known as the Great Britain Lionesses, represents

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Women's rugby league Women's rugby league is the female-only version of rugby league. The sport has growing more popular in Australia, France, Great Britain, and New Zealand. These countries regularly compete in the Women's Rugby League World Cup which has been i ...

. They are administered by the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

(RFL). The Great Britain Lionesses were runner's up in the 2000 World Cup, beating

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twice but losing both matches, including the final, against

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. Great Britain placed third in the 2003 World Cup. The team is now largely defunct with the RFL switching towards home nations representation following the men's

2007 All Golds Tour The 2007 All Golds Tour was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team, the Kiwis, of Great Britain and France. The Kiwis played five test matches, winning one against France national rugby league team, France, but losing the game agains ...

(a process which began in 1995). The

England women's national rugby league team The England women's national Rugby League team represents England in Women's Rugby League. They are administered by the Rugby Football League. History Early years Women's Rugby League was originally established in 1985 through the Women's A ...

was established ahead of the next world cup in

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, with

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making their debut in 2019.

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

had not played a women's match to the end of 2024, but in February 2025 announced their intent to establish a women's team with the appointment of coaches and support staff, and an inaugural training session.

Competitive record

Head to head records

Test Results

Notes: * A Great Britain women's rugby league team toured France in 1989 but played only touch football games against French women. They did play a tackle match against a men's Under 21 team, losing 4–10. * As part of their preparations for the 2000 World Cup, Great Britain played two matches against the England Wildcats. Great Britain won the first match 40–12. * The 2000 World Cup programme lists previous Test series occurring between 1995 and 1999. * An article previewing the 2007 match between England and France mentions that it was the first international to be played by an English or Great Britain side since the 2003 World Cup.

Tours

1996 Tour of Australia

The Great Britain Lionesses toured Australia for the first time in 1996. The team was captained by Lisa McIntosh, with Brenda Dobek as vice-captain. Ian Harris (Hull) was head coach with Jackie Sheldon as assistant coach. Nikki Carter (Hull Vixens) was tour manager. Paula Clark (York) was the touring team's physiotherapist. Great Britain lost the inaugural Test Match against Australia, but won both of the subsequent two Test Matches to claim a two-one series victory. The playing group consisted of captain Lisa McIntosh (Dudley Hill, squad number 13), vice-captain Brenda Dobek ( Wakefield Panthers, squad number 6) and the following: 16. Jill Adams (Redhill), 17. Jane Banks (Wigan St Patricks), 1. Sharon Birkenhead (Redhill), 4. Karen Burrows (Redhill), 5. Wendy Charnley (Rochdale), 20. Julie Cronin (York), 22. Lucy Ferguson (Wakefield Panthers), 7. Mandy Green (Dudley Hill), 18. Nicki Harrison (Dudley Hill), 21. Joanne Hewson (Askam), 15. Lisa Hunter (Hull), 23. Allison Kitchin ( Barrow), 3. Liz Kitchin (Barrow), 9. Michelle Land (Wakefield Panthers), 25. Sally Milburn (Askam), 8. Donna Parker (Hull Vixens), 2. Chantel Patricks (Dudley Hill), 24. Samantha Pearson (Dudley Hill), 26. Joanne Roberts (Wakefield Panthers), 11. Lucia Scott (Rochdale), 14. Vicky Studd (Dudley Hill), 19. Paula Tunnicliffe (Rochdale), 12. Sandra Wade (Barrow) and 1. Joanna Will (Wakefield Panthers).

1998 Tour of New Zealand

The Great Britain Lionesses toured New Zealand for the first time in 1998. The team was captained by Lisa McIntosh and coached by Jackie Sheldon.

2002 Tour of Australia

In 2002 Great Britain Lionesses toured Australia with sponsorship from Munchies. The playing group, captained by Lisa McIntosh ( Bradford Thunderbirds), consisted of Samantha Bailey (Sheffield), Jane Banks (Bradford), Nicola Benstead (Hull Dockers), Teresa Bruce (Bradford Thunderbirds), Sue Cochrane (Wakefield Panthers), Brenda Dobek (Wakefield Panthers), Becky Jones (Hillside Hawks), Alexandra Knight (Keighley), Michelle Land (Wakefield Panthers), Paula McCourt (Wakefield Panthers), Sally Millburn (Barrow), Nikki O'Donnell (Hull Dockers), Natalie Parsons (Bradford Thunderbirds), Chantel Patrick (Bradford Thunderbirds), Nicholette Postlethwaite (Wigan Ladies), Donna Prime (Hull Dockers), Debbie Rice (Hull Dockers), Kirsty Robinson (Bradford Thunderbirds), Amy Robinson (Hull Dockers), Nicola Simpson (Milford Storm), Rebecca Stevens (Sheffield), Danni Titterington (Wakefield Panthers), Gemma Walsh (Wakefield Panthers) and Rachael Wilson (Wakefield Panthers). The team was coached by Jackie Sheldon, with John Mitchell (Bradford Thunderbirds) and Dylan Reynard (Milford) serving as assistant coaches. The touring party was managed by Roland Davis and Andrew McDonald (Keighley). Elaine Kirton (Whitehaven) was on tour as physiotherapist.

2010s

A 2015 Great Britain Lionesses tour of Australasia was approved by the RLIF, however did not occur.
During the decade, England women's teams visited France for away matches, travelled to Australia for the 2017 World Cup and in 2019 toured Papua New Guinea and participated in a four-team international nines competition.

References

External links

{{National sports teams of the United Kingdom Women's national rugby league teams

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...