2001 Kangaroo tour

Not to be confused with 2001 Wallaby tour.

2001 Kangaroo tour
Date	11 November 2001 – 24 November 2001
Coach(es)	Chris Anderson
Tour captain(s)	Brad Fittler
Top point scorer(s)	Andrew Johns (34)
Top try scorer(s)	Andrew Johns (3)
Summary	P W D L
Total	03 02 00 01
Test match	03 02 00 01
Opponent	P W D L
Great Britain	3 2 0 1
Tour chronology
Previous tour	1994
Next tour	2003

The 2001 Kangaroo Tour was the Australia national rugby league team's nineteenth Kangaroo tour of Great Britain. The truncated tour featured only the three Ashes series Test matches against Great Britain. The 2001 tour was almost abandoned due to military action in the wake of the September 11 attacks. ^[1] Australia continued its dominance, winning two of the three tests against Great Britain and retaining The Ashes that they have held since 1973.

Background

The 2001 Kangaroo tour was initially cancelled by the Australian Rugby League (ARL) but after strong public opinion in both Great Britain and Australia, it went ahead. However, the only games played were the three tests, marking the first Kangaroo Tour to not play against any British club or provincial teams. The 2001 tour was also the first since 1933–34 not to include a Test match against France along with The Ashes series.

Touring Squad

The team was coached by Chris Anderson who was making his third Kangaroo Tour, and first as coach, after playing in the 1978 and 1982 tours, the second in 1982 as a member of the famed "Invincibles". Team captain was Brad Fittler, the youngest ever Kangaroo tourist in 1990 at the age of 18, was making his third and last Kangaroo Tour after being part of the successful 1990 and 1994 touring teams. Fittler was also the only member of the squad that had previously taken part in a Kangaroo tour.

Player	Club	Position(s)	Games	Tries	Goals	F/Goals	Points
Braith Anasta	Canterbury Bulldogs	Five-eighth	3	1	0	0	4
Trent Barrett	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Five-eighth , Halfback	3	2	0	0	8
Nathan Blacklock	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Wing	1	0	0	0	0
Danny Buderus	Newcastle Knights	Hooker	3	0	0	0	0
Dane Carlaw	Brisbane Broncos	Prop , Second-row	3	0	0	0	0
Petero Civoniceva	Brisbane Broncos	Prop	3	0	0	0	0
Brad Fittler (c)	Sydney Roosters	Five-eighth	3	1	1	0	6
Mark Gasnier	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Centre	0	0	0	0	0
Matthew Gidley	Newcastle Knights	Centre	3	1	0	0	4
Andrew Johns	Newcastle Knights	Halfback	3	3	11	0	34
Robbie Kearns	Melbourne Storm	Prop	3	0	0	0	0
Ben Kennedy	Newcastle Knights	Lock	3	1	0	0	4
Darren Lockyer	Brisbane Broncos	Fullback	3	2	0	0	8
Jamie Lyon	Parramatta Eels	Centre	3	0	0	0	0
Adam MacDougall	Newcastle Knights	Centre , Wing	3	2	0	0	8
Brad Meyers	Brisbane Broncos	Second-row , Prop	2	1	0	0	4
Jason Ryles	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Prop	3	0	0	0	0
Jason Stevens	Cronulla Sharks	Prop	3	0	0	0	0
Lote Tuqiri	Brisbane Broncos	Wing	2	0	0	0	0
Michael Vella	Parramatta Eels	Prop	2	0	0	0	0
Daniel Wagon	Parramatta Eels	Lock , Wing	0	0	0	0	0

Ashes series

Test Venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.

Huddersfield	Bolton	Wigan
Kirklees Stadium	Reebok Stadium	JJB Stadium
Capacity: 24,500	Capacity: 28,700	Capacity: 25,138

Results

Date	Opponent	Score	Ground	Referee	Crowd	Report
November 11	Great Britain	20 – 12	Kirklees Stadium, Huddersfield	R. Connolly (GB)	21,458	bbc.co.uk
November 17	Great Britain	12 – 40	Reebok Stadium, Bolton	B. Harrigan (AUS)	22,152	bbc.co.uk
November 24	Great Britain	8 – 28	JJB Stadium, Wigan	B. Harrigan (AUS)	25,011	bbc.co.uk

1st Test

11 November 2001

Great Britain	20 – 12	Australia
Tries Paul Sculthorpe (2) Jamie Peacock Goals Andy Farrell (3) Paul Sculthorpe (2)	[2]	Tries Adam MacDougall Andrew Johns Goals Andrew Johns (2)

Kirklees Stadium, Huddersfield Attendance: 21,758 Referee: Robert Connolly Player of the Match: Paul Sculthorpe [3]

Great Britain	Position	Australia
Kris Radlinski	FB	Darren Lockyer
Leon Pryce	WG	Lote Tuqiri
Gary Connolly	CE	Matthew Gidley
Paul Johnson	CE	Jamie Lyon
Keith Senior	WG	Adam MacDougall
Paul Sculthorpe	SO	Trent Barrett
Mike Forshaw	SH	Andrew Johns
Terry O'Connor	PR	Jason Stevens
Kevin Sinfield	HK	Danny Buderus
Barrie McDermott	PR	Robbie Kearns
Chris Joynt	SR	Dane Carlaw
Jamie Peacock	SR	Ben Kennedy
Andy Farrell (c)	LF	Brad Fittler (c)
Paul Wellens	Int.	Braith Anasta
Richard Horne	Int.	Michael Vella
Paul Anderson	Int.	Petero Civoniceva
Stuart Fielden	Int.	Jason Ryles
David Waite	Coach	Chris Anderson

Great Britain led 12 nil at half time but after the break Australia came back strongly. The home side were able to get the upset in the end. ^[4]

2nd Test

17 November 2001

Great Britain	12 – 40	Australia
Tries Leon Pryce Paul Sculthorpe Goals Andy Farrell (2)	[5]	Tries Andrew Johns (2) Braith Anasta Brad Fittler Ben Kennedy Darren Lockyer Adam MacDougall Goals Andrew Johns (6)

Reebok Stadium, Bolton Attendance: 22,152 Referee: Bill Harrigan Player of the Match: Andrew Johns [6]

Great Britain	Position	Australia
Kris Radlinski	FB	Darren Lockyer
Leon Pryce	WG	Lote Tuqiri
Gary Connolly	CE	Matthew Gidley
Keith Senior	CE	Jamie Lyon
Paul Johnson	WG	Adam MacDougall
Paul Sculthorpe	SO	Trent Barrett
Kevin Sinfield	SH	Andrew Johns
Terry O'Connor	PR	Jason Stevens
Mike Forshaw	HK	Danny Buderus
Barrie McDermott	PR	Robbie Kearns
Chris Joynt	SR	Dane Carlaw
Jamie Peacock	SR	Ben Kennedy
Andy Farrell (c)	LF	Brad Fittler (c)
Paul Wellens	Int.	Braith Anasta
Richard Horne	Int.	Michael Vella
Paul Anderson	Int.	Petero Civoniceva
Stuart Fielden	Int.	Brad Meyers
David Waite	Coach	Chris Anderson

After trailing 40 nil at half time, Great Britain's two tries in the final ten minutes were too little too late. ^[7] The main contributors of Australia's victory were scrum half back Andrew Johns, who scored two tries and kicked all but one of the six conversions, and fullback Darren Lockyer. ^[8]

3rd Test

For the first time since the 1986 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France, the Lions and Kangaroos had met in Wigan.

24 November 2001

Great Britain	8 – 28	Australia
Tries Paul Johnson Goals Andy Farrell (2)	[9]	Tries Trent Barrett (2) Matthew Gidley Darren Lockyer Brad Meyers Goals Andrew Johns (3) Brad Fittler

JJB Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 25,011 Referee: Bill Harrigan Player of the Match: Trent Barrett [10]

Great Britain	Position	Australia
Paul Wellens	FB	Darren Lockyer
Leon Pryce	WG	Nathan Blacklock
Gary Connolly	CE	Matthew Gidley
Keith Senior	CE	Jamie Lyon
Paul Johnson	WG	Adam MacDougall
Paul Sculthorpe	SO	Trent Barrett
Paul Deacon	SH	Andrew Johns
Stuart Fielden	PR	Jason Stevens
Mike Forshaw	HK	Danny Buderus
Barrie McDermott	PR	Robbie Kearns
Chris Joynt	SR	Dane Carlaw
Terry O'Connor	SR	Ben Kennedy
Andy Farrell (c)	LF	Brad Fittler (c)
Kevin Sinfield	Int.	Braith Anasta
David Hodgson	Int.	Brad Meyers
Paul Anderson	Int.	Petero Civoniceva
Jamie Peacock	Int.	Jason Ryles
David Waite	Coach	Chris Anderson

Great Britain scored the opening try of the match early in the first half, but by the break trailed 12-6 behind Australia. ^[11] During the first half of the game, Australia's coach Chris Anderson suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital. ^[12]

Statistics

Leading Try Scorer

• 3 by Andrew Johns

Leading Point Scorer

• 34 by Andrew Johns (3 tries, 11 goals)

Largest Attendance

• 25,011 - Third test vs Great Britain at JJB Stadium

References

1. "Ashes tour back on". BBC News . 16 October 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
2. 1st Test Report
3. Gordos, Phil (11 November 2001). "Great Britain stun Aussies". BBC Sport . Retrieved 30 December 2013.
4. "Clockwatch: GB 20-12 Australia". BBC News . 11 November 2001. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
5. 2nd Test Report
6. "Johns warns against complacency". BBC News . 17 November 2001. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
7. "Clockwatch: GB 12-40 Australia". BBC News . 17 November 2001. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
8. Chowdhury, Saj (17 November 2001). "Australia humiliate Lions". BBC Sport . Retrieved 30 December 2013.
9. 3rd Test Report
10. Chowdhury, Saj (24 November 2001). "Kangaroos seal Ashes triumph". BBC Sport . Retrieved 30 December 2013.
11. "Clockwatch: GB 8-28 Australia". BBC News . 24 November 2001. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
12. Chowdhury, Saj (25 November 2001). "Aussie coach suffers heart attack". BBC Sport . Retrieved 30 December 2013.

External links

• 2001 Kangaroo Tour at rugbyleagueproject.org
• 2001 Kangaroo Tour at rl1908.com