2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France
The 2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The New Zealand Kiwis drew the series 1-all against Great Britain and also defeated Wales and France.
Background
This was the Kiwis first tour of Great Britain since the 2000 World Cup, the Kangaroos having toured Great Britain the previous year.
The original squad named in September included Nathan Cayless, Craig Smith and Tevita Vaikona who all later had to withdraw from the final squad.[1][2]
Before the tour started the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, held an official reception for the team at the Beehive. It was the first New Zealand rugby league tour to receive an official farewell from a Prime Minister in Parliament.[3]
The tour was opened against Hull FC at The Boulevard, the same ground had hosted the first Test matched played by the 1907 New Zealand team. This match was the last international played at the ground, while the 1907 team had played in the first.[4]
Motu Tony broke his hand in the match against England A and was ruled out of the rest of the tour. Steve Clark refereed all three Test matches against Great Britain.
Former Kiwis player Sean Hoppe, who had not represented his country since 1999, was given the honour of captaining St Helens RLFC in a tour match against the Kiwis.[5][6] The match was meant to be his last before retirement however he was later called into the touring squad due to injuries and his final two matches were test matches against Great Britain and France. Hoppe was called up over Lesley Vainikolo who was also considered as a replacement after injuries to several backs including Motu Tony and Clinton Toopi.[7]
In the end Great Britain tied the series, taking the inaugural Baskerville Shield as hosts.[8] The third test match was Great Britain's first win over New Zealand since 1993.
Squad
Kiwis captain Nathan Cayless withdrew due to suspension and was replaced by Andrew Lomu while Willie Talau required surgery and was unavailable. After the Australia Test both Lomu and Matt Utai were withdrawn by their clubs for off-season surgery. On arriving in England, English based players Craig Smith and Tevita Vaikona were ruled out due to injury.[9] Later Motu Tony and Robbie Paul were sidelined with injuries and in France Richard Swain left to sign a deal with the Broncos and Stephen Kearney flew home due to a family illness.[10]
Clinton Toopi broke his hand in a scuffle with Nigel Vagana during a team drinking session after the second test. Freeman and team management initially tried to cover up the incident, claiming the injury occurred during the match, before media found out and had a field day.[10]
| Name | Australia | Wales | GB | GB | GB | France | Games | Tries | Goals | FGs | Points | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betham, MontyMonty Betham | BE | BE | BE | LK | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New Zealand Warriors | ||
| Cayless, JasonJason Cayless | PR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sydney Roosters | |||||
| Fa'afili, HenryHenry Fa'afili | WG | WG | WG | WG | WG | WG | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Guttenbeil, AwenAwen Guttenbeil | BE | SR | LK | LK | SR | BE | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Hohaia, LanceLance Hohaia | FE | FE | FE | FE | FE | FE | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 18 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Hoppe, SeanSean Hoppe | WG | CE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | St Helens RLFC | ||||
| Jones, StaceyStacey Jones (c) | HB | HB | HB | HB | HB | HB | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 26 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Kearney, StephenStephen Kearney | LK | LK | SR | SR | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Melbourne Storm | ||
| Lauitiiti, AliAli Lauitiiti | SR | SR | SR | BE | BE | SR | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Lomu, AndrewAndrew Lomu | BE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sydney Roosters | |||||
| Meli, FrancisFrancis Meli | WG | WG | WG | CE | WG | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | New Zealand Warriors | |
| Paul, RobbieRobbie Paul | FB | FB | FB | HK | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Bradford Bulls | ||
| Puletua, TonyTony Puletua | BE | BE | BE | BE | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Penrith Panthers | ||
| Rauhihi, PaulPaul Rauhihi | PR | PR | PR | PR | PR | PR | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bulldogs |
| Seuseu, JerryJerry Seuseu | PR | PR | PR | PR | PR | BE | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Smith, MichaelMichael Smith | SR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Castleford Tigers | |||||
| Solomona, DavidDavid Solomona | BE | BE | BE | BE | BE | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Parramatta Eels | |
| Swain, RichardRichard Swain | HK | HK | HK | HK | HK | 5 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 36 | Melbourne Storm | |
| Swann, LoganLogan Swann | BE | BE | BE | BE | BE | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | New Zealand Warriors | |
| Tony, MotuMotu Tony | BE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New Zealand Warriors | |||||
| Toopi, ClintonClinton Toopi | CE | CE | CE | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | New Zealand Warriors | |||
| Utai, MattMatt Utai | WG | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Bulldogs | |||||
| Vaealiki, DavidDavid Vaealiki | FB | FB | FB | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Parramatta Eels | |||
| Vagana, NigelNigel Vagana | CE | CE | CE | CE | CE | CE | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Bulldogs |
| Wiki, RubenRuben Wiki | SR | CE | SR | SR | LK | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Canberra Raiders |
- Coach: Gary Freeman
Fixtures
The New Zealand side played a total of five test matches while on their European tour and one test in New Zealand before leaving.
Henry Fa'afili scored three tries in the 30-16 first test win over Great Britain at Ewood Park, the first Kiwis hat-trick against the Lions in 97 matches dating back to 1908. His tries all came in the second spell as the Kiwis rallied from a 10-6 halftime deficit to win comfortably.[10]
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score | Attendance | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 October 2002 | Australia | WestpacTrust Stadium, Wellington | Lost | 24-32 | 25,015 | |
| 22 October 2002 | Hull | The Boulevard, Hull | Won | 28-11 | [11] | |
| 25 October 2002 | St. Helens | Knowsley Road, St Helens | Won | 38-26 | [11] | |
| 30 October 2002 | England A | Griffin Park, Brentford | Won | 34-12 | [11] | |
| 3 November 2002 | Wales | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff | Won | 50-22 | 8,746 | |
| 9 November 2002 | Great Britain | Ewood Park, Blackburn | Won | 30-16 | 16,654 | |
| 16 November 2002 | Great Britain | Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield | Drew | 14-14 | 23,604 | |
| 23 November 2002 | Great Britain | JJB Stadium, Wigan | Lost | 10-16 | 22,247 | |
| 30 November 2002 | France | Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan | Won | 22-14 | 6,500 |
Aftermath
New Zealand halfback Stacey Jones won the George Smith Medal as player of the series against Great Britain.[12] The tour was Freeman's last as head coach. In 2003 Daniel Anderson was named as the new Kiwis coach.
References
- ↑ In-form Smith wins Kiwi call-up BBC Sport, 21 September 2002
- ↑ NZ player profiles BBC Sport, 21 October 2002
- ↑ Jessup, Peter (12 October 2002). "Kiwi players let their hair down at Clark bash". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ↑ New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.35
- ↑ Hoppe's last stand; Sean's set to skipper St Helens The Daily Post, 25 October 2002
- ↑ SAINTS STARS' LAST GOODBYE One hell of a bargain for Blues; Knowsley Road favourites bow out against Kiwis Liverpool Echo, 25 October 2002
- ↑ Freeman eyes Vainikolo to replace injured Tony New Zealand Herald, 1 November 2002
- ↑ Lions edge Kiwis in thriller BBC Sport, 23 November 2002
- ↑ New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.34
- 1 2 3 New Zealand Herald. "Rugby League: Kiwis tours build up special magic". nzherald.co.nz.
- 1 2 3 Kiwi tour schedule BBC Sport, 23 October 2002
- ↑ "Jones voted world's best". BBC Sport (BBC). 19 December 2002. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
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