England national rugby league team

England
Governing body Rugby Football League
Region Europe
Head coach Wayne Bennett
Captain Sean O'Loughlin
Most caps James Graham (29)
Top try-scorer Ryan Hall (26)
Top point-scorer Kevin Sinfield (202)
RLIF ranking 3rd
Colours
First international
 England 9–3 Other Nationalities
(Wigan, England; 5 April 1904)
Biggest win
 United States 0–110 England 
(Orlando, Florida, USA; October 2000)
Biggest defeat
 Australia 52–4 England 
(Melbourne; 2 November 2008)
World Cup
Appearances 5 (first time in 1975)
Best result Runners-up, 1975; 1995

The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football 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. As of 2008, the team now participates in all World Cups, Four Nations 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 competed in the 2008 World Cup in Australia. For many years England also competed in the European Nations Cup and in 2006, an England 'A' team, competed for the Federation Shield. In the past England's main rivals have been Wales and France, with the rivalry stretching back to 1908 and 1934 respectively. However, England's main rivals would now be Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, France.

Traditionally a predominantly white kit is worn including white shorts and socks. However the jersey usually features some form of red, like red stripes, crosses or chevrons. These colours are similar to other English sporting teams and are the colours used on the national flag. In 2008 a new kit was introduced featuring a red cross on the front and red strips down the sides of the jersey, shorts and socks were white too with red strips.[3] Also 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,[4] nevertheless the team will still be known as "The Lions".

Currently the team is ranked third in the world, behind Australia and New Zealand. Wayne Bennett is the head coach and Sean O'Loughlin is the current captain.

History

The England team jersey

The first matches

In 1895 twenty-one clubs split with the Rugby Football Union, citing that they wanted to play professionally, and formed the Northern Rugby Football Union. The twenty-one clubs were all from Northern England and the players were largely working class. However it was not just English players who made the switch, Scottish and Welsh players also switched allegiance to the new code, wanting payments for playing. Switching heightened in the early 20th century with more Scottish and Welsh players leaving the RFU than ever before.

The England national rugby union team had been playing international matches since 1871, but it was not until 1904, nine years after the formation of the new code, that an international rugby league match was played. At the start of 1903 season the Northern Union thought about international matches and scheduled a match for England on New Year's Day 1904 in Oldham. On that day though, the ground was frosty and the match was cancelled and it was rescheduled for April.

On 5 April 1904 England competed against a team called "Other Nationalities", who were made up of ten Welshman and two Scotsman, including George Frater, who captained the side. It was a period of experimentation for the Northern Union and each team had twelve players, not thirteen. At Central Park, Wigan the ground was muddy and in poor condition, however the match went ahead. England steamed into a 3–0 lead, from a try by Warrington's Jackie Fish. This is despite Salford's James Lomas arriving late and causing England to start the match with eleven players. Fish missed the conversion and so the Other Nationalities were able to level the scores a little later, Welshman Thomas crashing over for a try. The conversion was missed and going into half-time the score was tied 3–3. In the second half Thomas went over for another try before Wigan's Harris sealed a 9–3 win for the Other Nationalities in the final minutes of the match. A total of 6,000 spectators turned up for the match, which was considered a poor showing despite a Broughton Rangers v Bradford cup clash being scheduled on the same day.

In 1905 a match between the two sides was played at Bradford. This time England won 26–11 even though they were losing 11–0 at half-time. Wigan's Jim Leytham scored four tries in succession, a record that still stand today.[5] The match was played with fifteen players on each side and so was the 1906 match. Played in Wigan again, the match finished a 3–3 draw. The concept was abandoned after the 1906 match. By 1908 the game had expanded much more into Australia, New Zealand and Wales and England began playing those teams. Harold Wagstaff made his debut for England in 1908 against the touring Kangaroos team at 17 years and 228 days.[6]

The Other Nationalities side did return in 1921. An England side beat the Australasian team of the 1921–22 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain 4–5 at Highbury. England played only one international between 10 May 1956 and 7 November 1968 an 18–6 victory at Headingley.

1975 World Cup debut

England played at the World Cup in 1975 coached by Alex Murphy, which was played over several months in both hemispheres on a league basis. Normally Great Britain would represent England in the World Cup, but the RLIF wanted to capitalise on the large amount of Welsh players in the game at the time, and so England and Wales fielded separate teams.

England won their first match, a 20–2 victory over France in Leeds in March. In June the Lions suffered their first defeat in just their second match of the tournament, losing 12–7 against a strong Wales side in Brisbane. A little later England managed to hold on for a draw against Australia in Sydney, the final score being 10–10. And they also picked up a point in Auckland, drawing 17–17 against New Zealand. At the end of October, after the domestic season had finished, England beat the Welsh 22–16 in Warrington and then crossed the English Channel to thrash a French side 48–2 in Bordeaux. Bradford played host the England versus New Zealand match, in which England won comfortably 27–12.

At the start of November, England squeezed past Australia winning 16–13 in November at Wigan. This meant that the Kangaroos had finished on 13 points, with the Lions on 12 points. Australia were deemed champions by finishing top of the table, but because they had not beaten England a final match was quickly arranged. Australia beat England 25–0 at Leeds to clinch their fourth title.

1990s

In the 1995 World Cup for the first time since 1975. 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. England would not play again until 2000.

2000s

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 surprisingly competitive display by Ireland in the quarter-finals, saw England scrape through to the semi-finals 26–16. England then went down to a record defeat, losing 49–6 to New Zealand at Bolton, and were knocked out of the tournament.[7]

England at the 2008 RLWC

England once again competed in the 2008 World Cup, this time travelling to Australia to do so. They got one sole win against Papua New Guinea in the opening match of the tournament, but, following that, lost once to Australia and twice to eventual cup winners New Zealand finishing 3rd in Group A. They then lost to New Zealand in the semi final 32-22. England's performance in the World Cup attracted criticism from the local media.

2010s

England competed in the first Four Nations in 2009 and finished 2nd and lost in the final at Elland Road to Australia 46-16. In 2010 they missed out on getting to the final only winning one game against Papua New Guinea and losing to both Australia and New Zealand. England reached their 2nd final in 2011 but lost again to Australia 30-8.

England automatically qualified for the 2013 World Cup along with Wales who were the co-hosts of the tournament, the first to be held in England for thirteen years. England finished 2nd in Group A only losing once to Australia. They then beat France 34-6 in the quarter final at Wigan but failed to beat current world champions New Zealand at Wembley Stadium in the semi final after conceding a try in the last 30 seconds of play.

England finished third in the 2014 Four Nations in Australia and New Zealand with their only win coming against Samoa. They lost 16-12 to Australia after Ryan Hall had a try disallowed in Melbourne. Their hopes of getting to the final against Australia were ruined when they lost to New Zealand 16-14.

At the conclusion of the 2015 season England will play the world no.1 ranked team, New Zealand, in a three-match test series. A week beforehand they demolished France in a record victory.[8] England won the series 2-1 after a 20-14 victory in the decisive third test in Wigan. This was England's first major series win in 8 years with their last win coming in the previous Kiwis tour of Great Britain.

In early 2016, the RFL hired the experienced Australian Wayne Bennett as the new England national team coach after McNamara's contract expired.[9]

England automatically qualified for the 2016 Four Nations and will co-host the tournament with Scotland.

England qualified for the 2017 World Cup automatically after reaching the semi final in 2013.

Team image

Media coverage

The BBC have the rights to screen all England games. They showed every game England competed in at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup as well as all their Four Nations games.

Badge

The old logo was used until 2008.

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 and the English national cricket team which all promote similar attributes.

The new official logo was launched on 6 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, symbolising the birth of rugby league. Many people involved in the sport were consulted throughout the design process, which took a little under a year. The logo has been used for the 2008 World Cup onwards, and will be for many future events and tournaments.

Kit suppliers and sponsors

Period Manufacturers Sponsors
1995-1999 Germany Puma John Smiths
2000-2007England Patrick Lincoln Financial Group
2008-2010 Germany Puma Gillette
2010-2015 Australia ISC
2015- Australia BLK

Coaching staff

Head coach Australia Wayne Bennett
Assistant manager England Denis Betts
First Team Coach TBA
Fitness Coach TBA
Masseur TBA
Physiotherapist TBA

Current squad

The England national team squad selected for the 2015 end of year internationals against France and New Zealand is as follows.[10] (Caps and points apply after the end of the internationals.)

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Pts Club
Fullback Zak Hardaker 17 October 1991 5 8 Leeds Rhinos
Fullback Sam Tomkins 23 March 1989 25 80 Wigan Warriors
Wing Joe Burgess 14 October 1994 3 4 Wigan Warriors
Wing Ryan Hall 27 November 1987 27 104 Leeds Rhinos
Wing Jermaine McGillvary 16 May 1988 1 0 Huddersfield Giants
Centre Kallum Watkins 12 March 1991 15 36 Leeds Rhinos
Centre Leroy Cudjoe 7 April 1988 10 14 Huddersfield Giants
Stand-off Gareth Widdop 12 March 1989 18 84 St. George Illawarra Dragons
Stand-off George Williams 31 October 1994 3 4 Wigan Warriors
Halfback Matty Smith 23 July 1987 4 0 Wigan Warriors
Halfback Luke Gale 22 June 1988 0 0 Castleford Tigers
Prop Tom Burgess 21 April 1992 9 4 South Sydney Rabbitohs
Prop Mike Cooper 15 September 1988 4 0 St. George Illawarra Dragons
Prop James Graham (Vice Captain) 10 September 1985 29 4 Canterbury Bulldogs
Prop Chris Hill 3 November 1987 14 0 Warrington Wolves
Hooker James Roby 22 November 1985 25 20 St Helens
Hooker Josh Hodgson 31 October 1989 6 8 Canberra Raiders
Second-row Liam Farrell 2 July 1990 9 8 Wigan Warriors
Second-row Brett Ferres 17 April 1986 14 32 Huddersfield Giants
Second-row John Bateman 30 September 1993 4 8 Wigan Warriors
Second-row Elliott Whitehead 4 September 1989 5 8 Catalans Dragons
Second-row Ben Currie 15 July 1994 0 0 Warrington Wolves
Second-row Ben Westwood 25 July 1981 25 14 Warrington Wolves
Lock Sean O'Loughlin (Captain) 24 November 1982 17 20 Wigan Warriors

Records

Most capped players

James Graham is England's most capped player
# Name Career Caps Tries Position
1 James Graham 2008– 29 1 PR
2 Kevin Sinfield 2000–2013 27 5 SO
3 Ryan Hall 2009– 27 26 W
4 Sam Tomkins 2009– 25 20 FB
5 Ben Westwood 2004– 25 3 PR
6 James Roby 2008– 25 5 HK
7 Adrian Morley 2000–2012 23 1 PR
8 Jamie Peacock 2000–2011 21 8 PR
9 Gareth Widdop 2010– 18 3 SO
10 Sean O'Loughlin 2009– 17 5 LF
11 Gareth Ellis 2008–2012 16 2 SR
12 Tom Briscoe 2009– 15 11 W
13 Rob Burrow 2003– 15 12 H
14 Kallum Watkins 2012– 15 9 CE
15 Jamie Jones-Buchanan 2005–2012 14 3 SR
16 Brett Ferres 2006– 14 8 SR
17 Chris Hill 2012– 14 0 PR
18 Sam Burgess 2008– 14 8 PR
19 Paul Wellens 2000–2008 11 4 FB
20 Jon Wilkin 2004–2011 10 1 SO

Top try scorers

Ryan Hall is England's all-time top try scorer

Only two England players have scored 20 tries or more.

# Name Career Tries Caps Position
1 Ryan Hall 2009– 26 27 W
2 Sam Tomkins 2009– 20 25 FB
3 Rob Burrow 2003– 12 15 H
4 Tom Briscoe 2009– 11 15 W
5 Kallum Watkins 2012– 9 15 CE
6 Jamie Peacock 2000–2011 8 21 PR
7 Brett Ferres 2006– 8 14 SR
8 Sam Burgess 2008– 8 14 P

Top points scorers

Sinfield is England's top points scorer
# Name Career Caps Points Position
1 Kevin Sinfield 2000–2013 27 202 SO
2 Ryan Hall 2009– 27 104 W
3 Gareth Widdop 2009– 18 84 SO
4 Sam Tomkins 2009– 25 80 FB

Competitive Record

Overall Record

England have played 188 games in their history with the first being played in 1904. The team have only been playing regularly since 1995, playing 74 of their games from then to the end of 2015 at an approximate average of 4 games a year. This means that in the preceding 91 years before 1995, the team played just 114 games. The reason for this lack of games is because the home nations were represented by Great Britain for most of the 20th century, playing 322 games. England and the other home nations mainly only played in the European Cup. International rugby league teams very rarely play friendlies except as warm-up games to tournaments and so most of England's game are competitive tests. If Great Britain games are taken into account, English players have actually taken part in 510 games between 1904 and 2015.

England have played 17 different teams over their history with 4 of these being representative teams. They hold a 0% win record against one national team, Italy when they were beaten 14-15 in a friendly at the AJ Bell Stadium, Salford as a warm-up to the 2013 World Cup. England have played Wales the most with 69 games, winning 50 of these. Because the home nations were represented by Great Britain for most of their history England have never actually played Scotland although they will when they meet for the first time in the 2016 Four Nations.

Country Matches Won Drawn Lost Win %
Total 188 126 8 54 67%
 Aotearoa Māori 1 0 1 0 0%
Australasia 2 1 0 1 50%
 Australia 16 3 1 12 18.75%
Exiles 4 2 0 2 50%
 Fiji 3 3 0 0 100%
 France 47 38 2 7 80.85%
 Ireland 3 3 0 0 100%
 Italy 1 0 0 1 0%
 New Zealand 15 6 1 8 40%
Other Nationalities 15 8 1 6 53.33%
 Papua New Guinea 3 3 0 0 100%
 Russia 3 3 0 0 100%
 Samoa 2 2 0 0 100%
 South Africa 1 1 0 0 100%
 Tonga 2 2 0 0 100%
 United States 1 1 0 0 100%
 Wales 69 50 2 17 72.46%

World Cup

England have competed five times in the World Cup; in 1975, 1995, 2000, 2008 and 2013. They have never won the competition, though finished runners-up to Australia in 1975 and 1995. In every other year, Great Britain have represented England. Despite having only played in 5 world cups, England have hosted matches in 8 different tournaments including 3 that took part internationally. England have played 28 games in the world cup, winning 15, drawing 2 and losing 11. Out of those losses only one has been against a team other than New Zealand or Australia when Wales won 7-12 in the 1975 tournament. England lost out on reaching the final in 2013 when New Zealand beat them 20-18 after Shaun Johnson scored a conversion in the last 30 seconds of the game to secure the win.

World Cup Record
Year Round Position Pld
France 1954 Did not enter
Australia 1957
England 1960
Australia New Zealand 1968
England 1970
France 1972
1975 Final 2nd out of 5 9
Australia New Zealand 1977 Did not enter
1985-88
1989-92
England 1995 Final 2nd out of 10 5
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland France 2000 Semi-final 4th out of 16 5
Australia 2008 Semi-final 3rd out of 10 4
England Wales 2013 Semi-final 3rd out of 14 5
Australia New Zealand 2017

Four Nations

England replaced Great Britain in competing in the Rugby League Four Nations which replaced the previous Tri Nations tournament. They have been runners up twice in 2009 and 2011, these two tournaments also having been hosted by England.

Four Nations Record
Year Round Position Pld
England France 2009 Final 2nd out of 4 5
Australia New Zealand 2010 Group Stage 3rd out of 4 4
England Wales 2011 Final 2nd out of 4 5
Australia New Zealand 2014 Group Stage 3rd out of 4 4
England 2016

European Championship

England have competed in twenty-six European Nations Cups, the first in 1935. In the past the tournament has been axed and revived many times, and it was stopped for six years because of the Second World War. From 1935 to 1949 (minus the war years) England played France and Wales annually, and won the tournament in 1935, 1946, 1947 and 1948. From 1950 to 1956 an Other Nationalities team were added as the fourth team in the competition (except in 1956 when Wales did not field a team). During those years England won in 1950 and 1954. Since then the tournament has run for some seasons, but never for more than five years at a time. But from 1970 to 1996 England won it six out of a possible nine times. In 2003 the tournament was revived and England comfortably won, beating her old rivals plus Scotland, Ireland and Russia. England beat the same opponents to win the cup again in 2004. This was the last time England competed to give the competition more of a level playing field for other teams, however England Knights competed in 2012.

European Championship Record
Year Round Position Pld
1935 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1935-36 Group Stage 2nd out of 3 2
1936-37 Group Stage 2nd out of 3 2
1938 Group Stage 3rd out of 3 2
1938-39 Group Stage 2nd out of 3 2
1945-46 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1946-47 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1947-48 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1948-49 Group Stage 2nd out of 3 2
1949-50 Winners 1st out of 4 3
1950-51 Group Stage 3rd out of 4 3
1951-52 Group Stage 2nd out of 4 3
1952-53 Group Stage 3rd out of 4 3
1953-54 Winners 1st out of 4 3
1955-56 Group Stage 3rd out of 3 2
1969-70 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1975 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1977 Group Stage 3rd out of 3 2
1978 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1979 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1980 Winners 1st out of 3 2
1981 Group Stage 2nd out of 3 2
1995 Group Stage 2nd out of 3 2
1996 Winners 1st out of 3 2
2003 Winners 1st out of 6 3
2004 Winners 1st out of 6 3

Honours

World Cup:
Runners-up: 1995, 2000

Four Nations:
Runners-up: 2009, 2011

Baskerville Shield (1): 2015

European Championship (14): 1935, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1953–54, 1969–70, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1996, 2003, 2004

Stats

Team

Individual

Other

Rankings

Official Rankings as of December 2015[11]
RankChangeTeamPoints
1 Steady  New Zealand897.00
2  Australia 719.00
3  England 655.00
4  Samoa 280.00
5  France 209.00
6 Increase  Ireland 162.00
7 Decrease  Fiji 147.00
8 Increase  Wales 132.00
9 Decrease  Scotland 121.00
10 Steady  United States 102.00
11 Increase  Serbia 72.00
12 Steady  Italy 65.00
13  Canada 62.00
14 Decrease  Papua New Guinea 60.00
15 Increase  Russia 46.00
16 Decrease  Tonga 40.00
17 Increase  Belgium 40.00
18  Malta 32.00
19 Steady  Germany 28.00
20  Lebanon 27.00
21 Increase  Spain 26.00
22 Decrease  Cook Islands 23.00
23  Ukraine 22.00
24 Steady Greece 21.00
25 Increase  Denmark 20.00
26 Decrease  Norway 19.00
27 Increase  Jamaica 16.00
28 Decrease  Netherlands 15.00
29 Decrease  Sweden 15.00
30 Steady  Czech Republic 14.00
31 Decrease  South Africa 13.00
32 Steady  Niue 4.00
33  Hungary 2.00
34  Latvia 2.00
35  Morocco 0.00

Other England Teams

England Knights

Main article: England Knights

In 2011 the England Knights were created to serve as a step up for the younger players from their club in view of playing for the 1st team. A squad of players were chosen (below the age of 25) to represent the Knights in a few games. Their first ever game was against France and the Knights came out 38–18 victors.

The Knights won the 2012 European Cup by beating Ireland and Scotland in a 3-game tournament.

England Lionesses

Main article: England Lionesses

Famous players

The following players played for England and are either British Rugby League Hall of Fame inductees, or are one of the top five caps, tries, goals, or points scorers for England. Although both Gus Risman, and Jim Sullivan were Welsh, they are British Rugby League Hall of Fame inductees, and actually played for England, as well as for Wales and Great Britain. British Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee Vince Karalius was English (of Lithuanian heritage), and although he played for Great Britain, he never played for England, as England games were limited in his playing era. Although George Fairbairn is Scottish, as of 7 November 2010, he is England's highest goal, and points scorer.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Rugby Football League – Brand England Launched Retrieved on 24 May 2008.
  2. ↑ RL1895 – The First International Retrieved on 6 June 2008.
  3. ↑ England Official Website – New Shirt Launched Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
  4. ↑ England Official Website – New Logo Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
  5. ↑ England Official Website – A Proud Past Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
  6. ↑ Norris McWhirter, Donald McFarlan (1992). The Guinness Book of Records 1992. Guinness World Records Limited. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-85112-378-3. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  7. ↑ Brook, Kip; NZPA (20 November 2000). "Slick Kiwis storm into final". New Zealand Herald (New Zealand: APN Holdings NZ Limited). Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "England demolish France 84-4 in record win". Sky Sports. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Wayne Bennett appointed England rugby league coach for 2016 Four Nations and 2017 World Cup". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "MCNAMARA NAMES 24-MAN SQUAD FOR 2015 INTERNATIONAL SERIES". englandrl.co.uk. 2015-10-11. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  11. ↑ RLIF Rankings.

External links

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