2019 Great Britain Lions tour

The 2019 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team to the New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2019.

2019 Great Britain Lions tour
Date	26 October 2019 – 16 November 2019
Coach(es)	Wayne Bennett
Tour captain(s)	James Graham
Top point scorer(s)	Gareth Widdop (12)
Top try scorer(s)	Josh Hodgson (2)
Summary	P W D L
Total	04 00 00 04
Opponent	P W D L
Tonga	1 0 0 1
New Zealand	2 0 0 2
Papua New Guinea	1 0 0 1
Tour chronology
Previous tour	Pacific 1996

Background

IRL World Rankings v t e
Official Men's Rankings as of July 2019[1]
Rank	Change*	Team	Pts%
2		England[a]
3		New Zealand
4		Tonga
10		Papua New Guinea

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.^[2]

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, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In 2017 the Rugby League International Federation (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.^[3] At the RLIF's 2018 meeting a proposal by the Australian Rugby League Commission 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.^[4]

Squad

The 24-man Great Britain squad was named on 14 October 2019.^[5] Ages are as of 26 October 2019.

Following injuries to Gildart and Hall, Ash Handley was called into the squad on 7 November.^[6]

Nat.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
	Stand-off	Blake Austin	(1991-02-01)1 February 1991 (aged 28)	Warrington Wolves
	Second-row	John Bateman	(1993-09-30)30 September 1993 (aged 26)	Canberra Raiders
	Prop	Tom Burgess	(1992-04-21)21 April 1992 (aged 27)	South Sydney Rabbitohs
	Hooker	Daryl Clark	(1993-02-10)10 February 1993 (aged 26)	Warrington Wolves
	Centre	Jake Connor	(1994-10-18)18 October 1994 (aged 25)	Hull F.C.
	Fullback	Lachlan Coote	(1990-04-06)6 April 1990 (aged 29)	St Helens
	Centre	Oliver Gildart	(1996-08-06)6 August 1996 (aged 23)	Wigan Warriors
	Prop	James Graham (captain)	(1985-09-10)10 September 1985 (aged 34)	St. George Illawarra Dragons
	Wing	Ryan Hall	(1987-11-27)27 November 1987 (aged 31)	Sydney Roosters
	Wing	Ash Handley	(1996-02-16)16 February 1996 (aged 23)	Leeds Rhinos
	Fullback	Zak Hardaker	(1991-10-17)17 October 1991 (aged 28)	Wigan Warriors
	Stand-off	Jackson Hastings	(1996-01-04)4 January 1996 (aged 23)	Salford Red Devils
	Prop	Chris Hill	(1987-11-03)3 November 1987 (aged 31)	Warrington Wolves
	Hooker	Josh Hodgson	(1989-10-31)31 October 1989 (aged 29)	Canberra Raiders
	Second-row	Jack Hughes	(1992-01-04)4 January 1992 (aged 27)	Warrington Wolves
	Second-row	Josh Jones	(1993-05-12)12 May 1993 (aged 26)	Salford Red Devils
	Stand-off	Jonny Lomax	(1990-09-04)4 September 1990 (aged 29)	St Helens
	Wing	Jermaine McGillvary	(1988-05-16)16 May 1988 (aged 31)	Huddersfield Giants
	Second-row	Joe Philbin	(1994-11-16)16 November 1994 (aged 24)	Warrington Wolves
	Prop	Luke Thompson	(1995-04-27)27 April 1995 (aged 24)	St Helens
	Stand-off	Jacob Trueman	(1999-02-16)16 February 1999 (aged 20)	Castleford Tigers
	Prop	Alex Walmsley	(1990-04-10)10 April 1990 (aged 29)	St Helens
	Second-row	Elliott Whitehead	(1989-09-04)4 September 1989 (aged 30)	Canberra Raiders
	Scrum-half	Gareth Widdop	(1989-03-12)12 March 1989 (aged 30)	St. George Illawarra Dragons
	Scrum-half	George Williams	(1994-10-31)31 October 1994 (aged 24)	Wigan Warriors

Itinerary

At the RLIF congress in November 2018 a provisional tour was arranged with Great Britain to play tests against New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa with the exact locations and dates being subject to ratification by the various national league and player organisations.^[7] In March 2019 it was confirmed that test matches would only be played against New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.^[8]

In September 2019 the Tongan National Rugby League'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.^[9] 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.^[10] The International Rugby League (the RLIF was rebranded earlier in October 2019) disagreed and gave the match test status.^[11]

Test Venues

Hamilton	Auckland	Christchurch	Port Moresby
Waikato Stadium	Eden Park	Rugby League Park	PNG Football Stadium
Capacity: 25,800	Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 18,000	Capacity: 14,800

Fixtures

New Zealand leg

Tonga	14–6	Great Britain
Tries: Jennings, Katoa Goals: Taukeiaho (3/3)	Report	Tries: Bateman Goals: Widdop (1/1)

26 October 2019 20:10 NZDT (UTC+13)

Waikato Stadium, Hamilton[12] Attendance: 9,420 Referee: Chris Kendall (England)

Team details

FB 1 William Hopoate WG 2 David Fusitu'a CE 3 Michael Jennings CE 19 Konrad Hurrell WG 5 Daniel Tupou FE 6 Tuimoala Lolohea HB 20 Tesi Niu PR 15 Addin Fonua-Blake HK 9 Siliva Havili PR 10 Sio Siua Taukeiaho (c) SR 11 Ben Murdoch-Masila SR 12 Manu Ma'u LK 13 Jason Taumalolo (c) Interchange: BE 8 Andrew Fifita BE 14 Sione Katoa BE 16 John Asiata BE 17 Sitili Tupouniua Coach: Kristian Woolf FB 1 Lachlan Coote WG 2 Jermaine McGillvary CE 3 Zak Hardaker CE 4 Oliver Gildart WG 5 Ryan Hall SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Jackson Hastings PR 8 Chris Hill HK 9 Josh Hodgson PR 10 Luke Thompson SR 11 John Bateman SR 12 Elliott Whitehead LF 13 James Graham (c) Interchange: BE 14 Josh Jones BE 15 Tom Burgess BE 16 Jonny Lomax BE 17 Alex Walmsley Coach: Wayne Bennett Touch judges: Chris Butler (Australia) Chris McMillan (New Zealand) Video referee: Jared Maxwell (Australia)

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.^[13][14]
• James Graham (Great Britain) is the only player to have previously played for the Lions, who were last active in 2007.^[14]

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New Zealand	12–8	Great Britain
Tries: Isaako, Harawira-Naera Goals: Isaako (2/3)	Report	Tries: Clark Goals: Widdop (2/3)

2 November 2019 17:00 NZDT (UTC+13)

Eden Park, Auckland[12] Attendance: 25,575 Referee: Chris Kendall (England)[15]

Team details

FB 1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck WG 2 Ken Maumalo CE 3 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad CE 4 Joseph Manu WG 5 Jamayne Isaako FE 6 Kieran Foran HB 7 Benji Marshall (c) PR 8 Zane Tetevano HK 21 Kodi Nikorima PR 10 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves SR 11 Briton Nikora SR 12 Kenny Bromwich LK 13 Joseph Tapine Interchange: BE 14 Jahrome Hughes BE 15 Corey Harawira-Naera BE 16 Leeson Ah Mau BE 17 Adam Blair Coach: Michael Maguire FB 1 Jonny Lomax WG 2 Jermaine McGillvary CE 3 Zak Hardaker CE 4 Jake Connor WG 5 Ryan Hall SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Jackson Hastings PR 8 Chris Hill HK 9 Josh Hodgson PR 10 Tom Burgess SR 11 John Bateman SR 12 Elliott Whitehead LF 13 James Graham (c) Interchange: BE 14 Josh Jones BE 15 Joe Philbin BE 16 Daryl Clark BE 17 Alex Walmsley Coach: Wayne Bennett Touch judges: Chris Butler (Australia) Chris McMillan (New Zealand) Video referee: Henry Perenara (New Zealand)

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.^[16]

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New Zealand	23–8	Great Britain
Tries: Manu, Johnson, Maumalo Goals: Isaako (5/7) Drop goals: Isaako		Tries: Hodgson Goals: Widdop (2/2)

9 November 2019 20:00 NZDT (UTC+13)

Rugby League Park, Christchurch[12] Attendance: 8,875 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia)

Team details

FB 1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck WG 2 Ken Maumalo CE 3 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad CE 4 Joseph Manu WG 5 Jamayne Isaako FE 6 Shaun Johnson HB 7 Benji Marshall (c) PR 8 Zane Tetevano HK 9 Brandon Smith PR 10 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves SR 11 Briton Nikora SR 15 Kevin Proctor LK 13 Joseph Tapine Interchange: BE 12 Corey Harawira-Naera BE 14 Kodi Nikorima BE 16 Leeson Ah Mau BE 17 Adam Blair Coach: Michael Maguire FB 1 Jonny Lomax WG 2 Jermaine McGillvary CE 3 Jack Hughes CE 4 Jake Connor WG 18 Blake Austin SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Jackson Hastings PR 8 Chris Hill HK 9 Josh Hodgson PR 10 Tom Burgess SR 11 John Bateman SR 12 Elliott Whitehead LF 13 James Graham (c) Interchange: BE 14 Josh Jones BE 16 Daryl Clark BE 17 Alex Walmsley BE 20 Luke Thompson Coach: Wayne Bennett Touch judges: Chris McMillan (New Zealand) Dave Munro (Australia) Video referee: Henry Perenara (New Zealand)

Notes:

• Blake Austin 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

Papua New Guinea	28–10	Great Britain
Tries: Boas, Ipape, Johnston, Olam, Putt Goals: Martin (3/4), Laybutt (1/1)	Report	Tries: Austin, Hodgson Goals: Widdop (1/2)

16 November 2019 17:30 (UTC+10)

PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby[12] Referee: Grant Atkins (Australia)

Team details

FB 1 Alex Johnston WG 2 Edene Gebbie CE 3 David Mead CE 4 Justin Olam WG 5 Stargroth Amean FE 6 Kyle Laybutt HB 7 Watson Boas PR 8 Wellington Albert HK 9 Wartovo Puara Jr PR 10 Luke Page SR 11 Nixon Putt SR 12 Daniel Russell LK 13 Rhyse Martin (c) Interchange: BE 14 Edwin Ipape BE 15 Garry Lo BE 16 Stanton Albert BE 17 Moses Meninga Coach: Michael Marum FB 1 Jonny Lomax WG 2 Jermaine McGillvary CE 3 Jack Hughes CE 4 Jake Connor WG 5 Blake Austin SO 6 Gareth Widdop SH 7 Jackson Hastings PR 8 Chris Hill HK 9 Josh Hodgson PR 10 Tom Burgess SR 11 John Bateman SR 12 Elliott Whitehead LF 13 James Graham (c) Interchange: BE 15 Luke Thompson BE 17 Alex Walmsley BE 18 Joe Philbin BE 19 George Williams Coach: Wayne Bennett Touch judges: Hanua Rupa (Papua New Guinea) Mexi Topani (Papua New Guinea) Video referee: Shayne Hayne (Australia)

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 Blake Austin being deployed as an emergency winger due a shortage of other players at the position.^[17] 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.^[18][19]

RFL rugby director Kevin Sinfield 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.^[20] 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 BBC iPlayer.^[21]

Notes

1. Great Britain have not been affiliated with the International Rugby League since 2007. England is used to represent Great Britain's rank as all but one of the Great Britain squad were England players.