1998 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain

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The 1998 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The New Zealand national rugby league team defeated Great Britain 2–0 in the three match test series.

The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. The team's colour's are majority black with white and the players perform a haka before every match they play as a challenge to their opponents. The New Zealand Kiwis are currently second in the RLIF World Rankings. Since the 1980s, most New Zealand representatives have been based overseas, in the professional National Rugby League and Super League competitions. Before that players were selected entirely from clubs in domestic New Zealand leagues.

Great Britain national rugby league team sportsteam that represents Great Britain

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.

Contents

Background

New Zealand arrived in Great Britain for the first time since the 1995 World Cup, having already lost a test series 1–2 with Australia. It was the first full tour of Great Britain by a New Zealand side since 1993.

1995 Rugby League World Cup

The 1995 Rugby League World Cup was held during October in the United Kingdom. It was the eleventh staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was marketed as the Halifax Centenary World Cup, reflecting the tournament's sponsorship and the fact that 1995 marked the centenary of the sport. Envisaged as a celebration of rugby league football, the size of the competition was doubled, with four additional teams invited and Great Britain split into England and Wales

The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos are ranked first in the RLIF World Rankings. The team is the most successful in Rugby League World Cup history, having contested all 15 and winning 11 of them, failing to reach the final only once, in the inaugural tournament in 1954. Only four nations have beaten Australia in test matches, and Australia have an overall win percentage of 67%.

The 1993 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The New Zealand national rugby league team lost a series 0-3 against Great Britain but defeated Wales and France in one-off test matches. They also won games against Wigan, St Helens, Widnes, Leeds and the Great Britain under 23's.

Many of the squad, including coach Frank Endacott, had been involved in the Auckland Warriors' 1998 season, where they had finished 15th out of 20 clubs. In addition to this the Auckland Rugby League were looking to sell the club during the tour.

Frank Morris Endacott, ONZM, also known by the nickname of "Happy Frank", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and coach. His son, Shane, also played rugby league.

The 1998 Auckland Warriors season was the 4th in the club's history. Coached by Frank Endacott and captained by Matthew Ridge, they competed in the 1998 NRL season, finishing the regular season 15th.

Auckland Rugby League

The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league.

Squad

The squad included two sets of brothers; the Iros, Kevin and Tony and the Pauls, Robbie and Henry. [1]

Kevin Leslie Iro, also known by the nickname of '"The Beast", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, and coached in the 2000s. He played at representative level for New Zealand, Cook Islands, Auckland and Rest of the World, and at club level for Mount Albert, Manly-Warringah, Hunter Mariners and Auckland Warriors, and in England for Wigan, Leeds and St. Helens, as a wing, centre, or stand-off, playing in Challenge Cup finals for all three English teams, and coached at representative level for Cook Islands. Iro is the younger brother of fellow New Zealand rugby league international Tony Iro.

Tony Roy Iro is a selector and Assistant Coach of the New Zealand national rugby league team and a former rugby league footballer. He was a New Zealand international - a veteran of 25 Tests, playing either on the wing or in the second row. Tony Iro is also the older brother of former professional rugby league international footballer Kevin Iro.

Robbie Paul New Zealand rugby league player

Robert Rawiri "Robbie" Hunter-Paul is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer, now business owner and television pundit. He currently runs Xtra Mile Marketing, an inbound and digital marketing company. Robbie retired from playing at the end of the 2011 season following a 19 season career with: Bradford Bulls, Harlequin FC, Huddersfield Giants, Salford City Reds and Leigh Centurions. He then spent just under 2 years as business development manager at Huddersfield Giants, and 3 years as CEO at Bradford Bulls. Robbie played for the New Zealand Kiwis national team from 1997 - 2006. He is the younger brother of former New Zealand Kiwis and England Rugby player Henry Paul.

NameTest1Test2Test3GamesTriesGoalsFGsPointsClub
Richie Barnett FBFBFB32008 Sydney Roosters
Nathan Cayless BEBEBE30000 Parramatta Eels
Syd Eru HKHKHK30000 Auckland Warriors
Daryl Halligan WGWGWG3014028 Canterbury Bulldogs
Sean Hoppe WGWGWG31004 Auckland Warriors
Kevin Iro CECECE30000 Auckland Warriors
Tony Iro BEBE20000 Adelaide Rams
Stacey Jones HBHBHB31015 Auckland Warriors
Stephen Kearney SRSRSR31004 Auckland Warriors
Jarrod McCracken SRSRSR30000 Parramatta Eels
Henry Paul BEBEBE32008 Wigan Warriors
Robbie Paul FEFEFE330012 Bradford Bulls
Quentin Pongia (c)PRPRPR30000 Auckland Warriors
Tony Puletua BEBEBE31004 Penrith Panthers
Craig Smith BE10000 Illawarra Steelers
Logan Swann LKLKLK30000 Auckland Warriors
Joe Vagana PRPRPR31004 Auckland Warriors
Ruben Wiki CECECE31004 Canberra Raiders

Fixtures

They won the first two test matches 22–16 and 36–16 before being held to a 23-all draw in the third and final test match. Australian referee Bill Harrigan controlled all three Test matches.

Bill Harrigan is an Australian former rugby league football referee, and former head of refereeing for the National Rugby League. Unusually for a sports official, in his long career he was accorded the same profile as some of the top players he refereed. A policeman off-field before he resigned to concentrate on rugby league, he is widely recognised as one of Australia's greatest sports umpires. He retired with the record for most State of Origin matches officiated.

In the second test match Great Britain were ahead 16–8 at halftime before letting in 28 points in the second half to lose the match and the series. [2] [3]

DateOpponentVenueResultScoreAttendanceReport
31 October 1998 Great Britain Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield Won22–1618,500 [4]
7 November 1998 Great Britain Reebok Stadium, Bolton Win36–1627,486 [5]
14 November 1998 Great Britain Vicarage Road, Watford Draw23–2313,217 [6]

Aftermath

New Zealand next competed against Great Britain in the 1999 Tri-Nations but did not tour Great Britain again until the 2000 World Cup. The next full tour was conducted in 2002 which saw a drawn test series 1-all.

The Auckland Warriors were sold to a consortium that included majority investor the Tainui tribe as well as Graham Lowe and Malcolm Boyle. [7] Kiwi coach Frank Endacott was replaced as Warriors coach and several Kiwis left the club included Stephen Kearney, Quentin Pongia, and Kevin Iro. Endacott's next coaching assignment would be the 1999 ANZAC Test on 23 April.

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References

  1. ↑ Family power struggle is force behind fearsome Paul brothers Analysis of the relationship between Bradford and New Zealand rugby league siblings reveals plenty about their talents The Independent, 10 November 1998
  2. ↑ Brits Face Kiwi Rout; Great Britain 16 New Zealand 36 The Mirror, 9 November 1998
  3. ↑ "Rugby League: Kiwis tours build up special magic". The New Zealand Herald.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ Endacott seeks a new warrior class The coach of New Zealand's rugby league Test side is totally focused on a series victory The Independent, 30 October 1998
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