The 2015 New Zealand rugby league tour of England was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The New Zealand national rugby league team played a match against the Leeds Rhinos and competed in a three match test series against England for the Baskerville Shield, losing 2-1.
New Zealand had originally intended to host a tour against France, while Australia was speculated to host a Great Britain Lions tour. However the Australian Rugby League Commission declined to host a tour and as an alternative the Rugby Football League invited the New Zealand Rugby League to tour Great Britain for a three match series. [1]
New Zealand was last in the United Kingdom for the World Cup in 2013.
On 25 February 2015, the three test match venues were confirmed with Hull's KC Stadium hosting game one on 1 November, the London Olympic Stadium hosting the second test on 7 November and the final test match being held at Wigan's DW Stadium on 14 November. [2]
The match against Leeds was the first time a Super League side had played a touring side since 2002, when the Kiwis played matches against Hull F.C. and St. Helens. It was the first time that Leeds played New Zealand since 1992. The match celebrated the 125th anniversary of Headingley. Leeds has defeated New Zealand once in eleven matches between the two teams. [3] [4]
An initial training squad was named on 8 September 2015 and added to as teams were eliminated from the NRL finals. Kieran Foran was among those initially named but he later withdrew due to injury, joining Shaun Johnson, Thomas Leuluai, Manu Vatuvei, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Jared Warea-Hargreaves as being unavailable for the tour. [5] Skipper Simon Mannering was also later made unavailable for the test series due to injury. [6]
| Club Team | Players |
|---|---|
Squad named on 8 September [7] | |
| Manly Sea Eagles | Kieran Foran, Peta Hiku |
| New Zealand Warriors | Solomone Kata, Tui Lolohea, Simon Mannering (c), Ben Matulino, Bodene Thompson |
| Parramatta Eels | Manu Mau |
| Penrith Panthers | Lewis Brown, Sam McKendry, Elijah Taylor, Dean Whare |
| Wests Tigers | Manaia Cherrington, Tim Simona, Martin Taupau |
Added on 18 September [8] | |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Bryson Goodwin, Issac Luke |
| St George Illawarra Dragons | Jason Nightingale |
Added on 24 September [9] | |
| Canterbury Bulldogs | Curtis Rona, Greg Eastwood |
| Cronulla Sharks | Gerard Beale, Sosaia Feki |
| Wests Tigers | Te Maire Martin |
Added on 1 October [10] | |
| Melbourne Storm | Jesse Bromwich, Tohu Harris, Kevin Proctor |
| Sydney Roosters | Matt McIlwrick, Sio Siua Taukeiaho, Isaac Liu, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Sam Moa |
The final touring squad of 23 players was named on 8 October. [11]
On 10 October, Jason Taumalolo withdrew from the touring 23-man squad due to a knee injury. He was replaced by Manaia Cherrington. [12] Curtis Rona left the tour after the second test match, returning to Australia to be present for the birth of his daughter. [13]
The four matches were played at the following venues in England.
| Leeds | Hull | London | Wigan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headingley | KC Stadium | Olympic Stadium | DW Stadium |
| Capacity: 21,062 | Capacity: 25,400 | Capacity: 66,000 | Capacity: 25,138 |
 |  |  |  |
New Zealand played four matches on tour, including three test matches against England. [14] England also played a test match against France on 24 October. [15] [16]
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Attendance | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 October | Leeds Rhinos | Headingley, Leeds | Won | 34–16 | 20,158 | [17] |
| 1 November | England | KC Stadium, Kingston upon Hull | Lost | 12–26 | 23,526 | [18] |
| 7 November | England | Olympic Stadium, London | Won | 9–2 | 44,393 | [19] |
| 14 November | England | DW Stadium, Wigan | Lost | 14–20 | 24,741 | [20] |
| 2015 Game 1 | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 23 October 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Headingley | ||||||||||||
| Location | Leeds, England | ||||||||||||
| Referee |  Richard Silverwood | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 20,158 | ||||||||||||
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Gerard Beale was originally named to play but was replaced by Lewis Brown.
23 October 2015 |
Leeds Rhinos  | 16–34 |  New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Moon (2) 28' c, 55' c Briscoe 73' Goal: Lilley (2/3) 29', 56' | [17] | Tries: Nightingale 37' c Kahu 40' Bromwich 63' c Whare 66' Tuivasa-Sheck (2) 69', 80' Nikorima 78' c Goal: Luke (1/2) 38' Lolohea (2/5) 63', 78' |
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| 2015 Test 1 | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 1 November 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | KC Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | Hull, England | ||||||||||||
| Brett Ferres | |||||||||||||
| Referee | Ben Thaler [23] | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 23,526 | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
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Alex Glenn and Lewis Brown were named as 18th and 19th man respectively for the Kiwis. [25]
1 November 2015 |
| England | 26–12 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Hodgson 21' c Ferres (2) 36' c, 59' c O'Loughlin 77' c Goal: Widdop (5/5) 21', 36', 46', 59', 77' | [18] | Try: Harris 7' Moa 17' c Goal: Luke (2/3) 17', 27' |
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| 2015 Test 2 | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 7 November 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | London Olympic Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | London, England | ||||||||||||
| Issac Luke | |||||||||||||
| Referee |  Gerard Sutton [23] | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 44,393 | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
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| Commentators | |||||||||||||
Stephen Kearney originally named Tuimoala Lolohea at halfback before selecting Kodi Nikorima to start the match. [26]
7 November 2015 |
| England | 2–9 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Goal: Widdop (1/1) 8' | [19] | Try: Kenny-Dowall 43' c Goal: Luke (1/2) 14' Kahu (1/1) 43' Drop Goal: Kahu (1/1) 77' |
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| 2015 Test 3 | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 14 November 2015 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | DW Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | Wigan, England | ||||||||||||
| Matty Smith | |||||||||||||
| Referee | Ben Thaler [27] | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 24,741 | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
| Broadcasters | |||||||||||||
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With the win, England retained the Baskerville Shield. Isaac Liu and Gerard Beale were 18th and 19th man respectively for New Zealand. [28]
14 November 2015 |
| England | 20–14 | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Whitehead (2) 27' c, 63' c O'Loughlin 72' c Goal: Widdop (4/4) 5', 27', 63', 72' | [20] | Try: Nightingale 36' c Tuivasa-Sheck 75' Kahu 79' Goal: Luke (1/3) 36' |
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England's captain, Sean O'Loughlin was awarded the George Smith Medal as player of the series. This was England's first major series win in 8 years with their last win coming in the previous Kiwis tour of Great Britain. [29]
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