England national rugby league team
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| England | |||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname | The Lions | ||||||||||||||||
| Association | Rugby Football League | ||||||||||||||||
| Region | Europe | ||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Tony Smith |
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| Captain |  Jamie Peacock |
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| Home stadium | None | ||||||||||||||||
| RLIF ranking | 3rd | ||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | ? (?) | ||||||||||||||||
| Top try-scorer | ? (?) | ||||||||||||||||
| Top point-scorer | ? (?) | ||||||||||||||||
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First international Other Nationalities 9 - 3 England (Wigan, England; 5 April 1904) |
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Biggest win USA 0 - 110 England (Florida, USA; October 2000 |
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Biggest defeat New Zealand 49 - 6 England (Bolton, England; 18 November 2000) |
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| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||
| Appearances | 3 (First in 1975) | ||||||||||||||||
| Best result | Runners-up, 1975; 1995 | ||||||||||||||||
The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League. From 2008 the team will participate in all World Cup's, Tri-Nations's, and test matches[1].
The team dates back to 1904 when they played against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players in Wigan[2]. Since then, and right up until the 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France. But when it was decided that Great Britain would tour the Southern Hemisphere instead of England, France and Wales became the only regular opponents. Even then though, there are some long periods where England barely played any matches. Their first appearance in the Rugby League World Cup was in 1975, and since then they have become runners-up in 1975 and 1995, the latter tournament being held in England. In 2008 they will compete in the 2008 World Cup in Australia. For many years England also competed in the European Nations Cup and in 2006, the Federation Cup. In the past England's main rivals have been Wales and France, with the rivalry stretching back to 1908 and 1934 respectively. However now England's main rivals would be Australia, New Zealand and to a lesser extent, France.
Traditionally a predominantly white kit is worn containing white shorts and socks. However the shirt usually contains some form of red, like red stripes, crosses or chevrons. Recently, the player numbers on the back of the shirt has also been red. These colours are similar to other English sporting teams and are the colours used on the national flag. In 2008 the Rugby Football League chose to abandon the traditional English lion on the badge in favour of a much simpler shield and cross design, nevertheless the team will still be known as "The Lions".
Currently the team are ranked third in the world, behind Australia and New Zealand. But they are ranked first in Europe, ahead of France and Ireland. Australian Tony Smith, who has since taken out British citizenship[3], became the new head coach in 2007 and Jamie Peacock is captain, having played for England since 2000.
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[edit] History
On the 5th April 1904, England versus 'Other Nationalities' (Welsh & Scottish), played a 12-a-side match at Wigan, which England lost 9-3. This was the first international match to feature England, and over the years that followed they would regularly play touring teams from the Southern Hemisphere.
England played at the World Cup in 1975, which was played over several months in both hemispheres on a league basis. They won one match and drew the other of their two games against eventual winners Australia. Due to England's defeat by Wales in their final match, Australia took the trophy, finishing one point ahead of England.
In the 1995 World Cup England were coached by Phil Larder. The Lions got off to a flying start beating Australia 20-16 in the opening game at Wembley, then hammering Fiji and South Africa in the remaining group games to finish top of group A. This set up a semi-final game at Old Trafford against Wales. England won the tussle 25-10 to reach the World Cup final, but they lost 16-8 to Australia at Wembley Stadium.
John Kear was coach of England for the World Cup in 2000. Compared to 1995, England had little success, losing their opening game at Twickenham 22-2 against Australia. But they won their remaining two pool games against Fiji and Russia. A surprising display by Ireland in the quarter-finals, saw England scrape through to the semi-finals 26-16. England then lost 49-6 to New Zealand at Bolton and were knocked out of the tournament.
In October 1999, England met France in Carcassonne. The England team were without players involved with Great Britain, who were in Queensland for the Tri-Nations competition. The French fielded an experienced and talented squad but in the end England narrowly won 28-20.
In 2002 England toured Fiji and Tonga. Karl Harrison became England coach in July 2004 replacing John Kear. He led England to European Nations Cup success in 2004 and coached them to a win over France and a narrow defeat by New Zealand in 2005. Harrison stepped down, citing family reasons in August 2006 and was replaced by Paul Cullen. England took part in the Federation Shield in the Autumn 2006, which they won.
[edit] Badge
[edit] The Lions Crest
The badge was originally a combination of the St. George's cross, the Three Lions Coat of Arms of England and Tudor Rose. It was similar to most other English sporting badges, such as the England national football team, England national rugby union team and the English national cricket team which all promote similar attributes.
[edit] The Shield Crest
The new official logo was launched on the 6th of February 2008 on the rugby league magazine programme Boots N' All. The cross of St George is positioned across a three-dimensional shield within the design. The date "1895" is placed through the centre of the cross, symbolizing the birth of rugby league[4]. Many people involved in the sport were consulted throughout the design process, which took a little under a year. The logo will be used for the 2008 World Cup and many future events and tournaments.
[edit] 2008
From 2008 onwards, the England team will compete in all World Cups, international tournaments and Test series. This is instead of playing as Great Britain. This will support the RFL’s strategy for the growth and development of the sport in this country and throughout Europe. The separation of Great Britain will also create an important opportunity for the Celtic Nations to drive the growth of the game in their territories.[5]
[edit] Fixtures
| Date | Team | Venue | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28th June | France | Toulouse | Test |
| 11th October | Ireland | TBC | Friendly |
| 25th October | Papua New Guinea | Townsville | World Cup |
| 2nd November | Australia | Melbourne | World Cup |
| 8th November | New Zealand | Newcastle | World Cup |
[edit] Squad
[edit] Possible 2008 World Cup Squad
As of 17 November 2007
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Rankings
- World Ranking: 3rd (2007)
- European Ranking: 1st (2008)
[edit] Team
- Highest winning score: 76-4 v Russia at St Helens (World Cup), 1 November 2000
- Widest winning margin: 76-4 v Russia at St Helens (World Cup), 1 November 2000
- Highest losing score: 49-6 v New Zealand at Bolton (World Cup), 18 November 2000
- Widest losing margin: 49-6 v New Zealand at Bolton (World Cup), 18 November 2000
[edit] Individual
- Most tries in a match: 4 by Jim Leytham (Wigan) v Other Nationalities at Bradford, 2 January 1905, Stan Moorhouse (Huddersfield) v Wales at Plymouth, 15 February 1913, Peter Norburn (Swinton) v Other Nationalities at Wigan, 28 November 1953, Keith Fielding (Salford) v France at Bordeaux, 11 October 1975, Stuart Wright (Widnes) v Wales at St. Helens, 28 May 1978, Martin Offiah (Wigan) v France at Gateshead, 12 June 1996
- Most goals in a match: 9 by Geoff Pimblett (St. Helens) v Wales at St. Helens, 28 May 1978, Andrew Farrell (Wigan) v Fiji (World Cup) at Leeds, 4 November 2000
- Most points in a match: 22 (2t, 7g) by Steve Prescott (St. Helens) v France at Gateshead, 12 June 1996, (1t, 9g) by Andrew Farrell (Wigan) v Fiji (World Cup) at Leeds, 4 November 2000
[edit] Other
- Biggest home attendance: 66,000 v Australia at Wembley (World Cup Final), 28 October 1995
[edit] Record
- Main article: England national rugby league team match results
[edit] Overall
The first ever match for England was against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players calling themselves the "Other Nationalities" in 1904. This match was lost, but England won a year later against the same opposition. In 1908 England first played a touring team, New Zealand. The first match played out of England was a little later in 1908 in Tonypandy, Wales. In 1975 they played Papua New Guinea for the first and only time so far. More recently in the 1995 and 2000 World Cup's, England has faced new opposition in teams like South Africa, Fiji and Ireland.
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wales |
60 | 42 | 16 | 2 | 70% |
 France |
37 | 28 | 7 | 2 | 75.6% |
 Other Nationalities |
16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 50% |
| Australia |
16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 56.3% |
| New Zealand |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 60% |
 Tonga |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Fiji |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Samoa |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Papua New Guinea |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Russia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 Ireland |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
 South Africa |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| Total | 143 | 99 | 36 | 8 | 69.2% |
[edit] Rugby League World Cup
Please note that before 1975, and after 1975 until 1995, Great Britain represented England as well as Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and so England did not compete in those tournaments despite many players from those Great Britain teams being English. In 1975 Wales were considered to be good enough for their own team, and so Great Britain split into England and Wales for the competition. This is similar to the 1995 tournament and also the 2000 competition in which Ireland and Scotland also competed as well as England and Wales.
| Year | Round | Position | Won | Drawn | Lost | Pts Scored | Pts Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1975 |
No stages | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 167 | 84 |
| 1995 |
Final | 2nd | 4 | 0 | 1 | 145 | 42 |
| 2000 |
Semi-Final | 3rd/4th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 176 | 95 |
| 2008 |
- | - | - | - | - | - | - |
[edit] Other England Teams
In addition to the England team, there has also been an England "Lionhearts" and England A team selected since 2002.
[edit] England A
The England A team is made up of selected players from the Super League, who are not yet ready for selection in the main England team. In 2003 and 2004, England A participated in the European Nations Cup.
[edit] England Lionhearts
England Lionhearts are selected from players in the Rugby League Conference[6]. They compete against Wales A, Scotland A and Ireland A each year in the Amateur Four Nations competition. The Lionhearts played the Malta Knights, in what was the first ever rugby league game played in Malta, at the Marsa Stadium in October 2005. The Lionhearts lost 36-6. On May 6, 2006 the English Lionhearts played Serbia in Pancevo and won 50-4.
[edit] Famous Players
[edit] See Also
- Rugby league in England
- British Rugby League Hall of Fame
- European Nations Cup
- Great Britain national rugby league team
- England results
[edit] References
- ^ The Rugby Football League
- ^ RL1895
- ^ BBC Sport
- ^ The Rugby Football League
- ^ The Rugby Football League
- ^ England Lionhearts: News
[edit] External Links
- RFL England page
- Google-Video
- 2008 Rugby League World Cup Site
- England Rugby League Fans Forums - RugbyLeague.org
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