1996 Great Britain Lions tour
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| 1996 Great Britain Lions tour | |||||
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| Date | 25 September 1996 – 1 November 1996 | ||||
| Manager | Phil Lowe | ||||
| Coach(es) | Phil Larder | ||||
| Tour captain(s) | Andy Farrell | ||||
| Top point scorer(s) | Bobbie Goulding (63) | ||||
| Top try scorer(s) | Karle Hammond (5) | ||||
| Summary |
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| Total |
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| Test match |
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| Opponent |
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 Papua New Guinea |
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 Fiji |
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 New Zealand |
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| Tour chronology | |||||
| Previous tour | 1992 | ||||
| Next tour | 2019 | ||||
The 1996 Great Britain Lions tour was a rugby league tour by the Great Britain team which took place from September to November 1996. The tour included games in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand, however due to the ongoing Super League war and with the Australian team under the control of the Australian Rugby League, the team did not play any matches in Australia. The tour was generally considered as a disaster, with Great Britain failing to win any games in New Zealand, and several players being sent home early from the tour in order to cut costs.
Great Britain coach Phil Larder selected a 32-man squad to take on the tour. A notable omission from the squad was Martin Offiah, who took part in the previous three Great Britain tours, but had told Larder he did not have the enthusiasm for another six-week tour.[1] Several changes were made to the initial squad selected, as Gary Connolly, Lee Jackson and Jason Robinson were informed they would not be allowed to play due to their contracts with the ARL.[2] There were also a number of other withdrawals, with John Bentley returning to rugby union, and Shaun Edwards, Paul Newlove and Steve McNamara all ruled out due to injury.[3]
Former Wigan second row forward Denis Betts, who was playing with the New Zealand-based Auckland Warriors in the Australian Rugby League premiership, made history with his selection. The 25 test veteran became the first player selected to tour while playing in the Australian premiership and not in the English premiership.
Larder's assistant coaches on the tour were Clive Griffiths and Gary Hetherington and the tour manager was Phil Lowe. Andy Farrell was appointed as the tour captain, with Denis Betts named as vice-captain.
Prior to the Second Test against New Zealand, 11 players in the squad were sent home early from the tour as a cost-cutting measure.[4][a]
Papua New Guinea
| 25 September 1996 | PNG President's XIII  |
8 – 34 |  Great Britain |
Rebiamul Oval, Mount Hagen[6] | |
| Tries: Itam, Tiki Goals: |
[7] |
Tries: Senior, Bradbury, Hammond, Lowes, Smith (2) Goals: Prescott (5) |
Attendance: 2,059 Referee: Anthony Kuni (Port Moresby) |
28 September 1996 |
| Papua New Guinea |
30 – 32 |  Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Ben Biri (2) Robert Sio David Gomia Stanley Gene Adrian Lam Goals: Elias Paiyo (3) |
[8] |
Tries: Kris Radlinski (2) Anthony Sullivan Bobbie Goulding Keiron Cunningham Goals: Bobbie Goulding (6) |
         Papua New Guinea
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   Great Britain
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Fiji
| 2 October 1996 | Fiji President's XIII  |
16 – 42 | Great Britain |
Churchill Park, Lautoka[11] | |
| Tries: Navale, Baravilala, Koroi Goals: Takaladau (2) |
[12] |
Tries: Hammond (3), Hayes, Senior, Critchley, Tollett, Cassidy Goals: Prescott (5) |
Attendance: 2,000 Referee: T Nunu (Fiji) |
5 October 1996 |
| Fiji |
4 – 72 | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Samuela Marayawa Goals |
[13] |
Tries: Bobbie Goulding (3) Stuart Spruce (2) Alan Hunte (2) Daryl Powell (2) Anthony Sullivan Andy Farrell Keith Senior Mick Cassidy Goals: Bobbie Goulding (10) |
   Fiji
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Great Britain
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New Zealand
| 10 October 1996 | Lion Red Cup XIII  |
22 – 22 | Great Britain |
Carlaw Park, Auckland[16] | |
| Tries: Barlow, Hughes, Malietoa-Brown Goals: Lythe (5) |
[17] |
Tries: Sullivan, Spruce, Cunningham, Powell, Goals: Harris (3) |
Attendance: 3,000 Referee: G Wallace (Auckland) |
| 15 October 1996 | New Zealand XIII  |
30 – 22 | Great Britain |
Fraser Park, Wellington[18] | |
| Tries: Endacott (2), Ropati, Okesene, Taewa, A. Swann Goals: Murray (2) Whittaker |
[19] |
Tries: Hayes, Mather, Smith, Hammond Goals: Prescott (3) |
Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Denis Hale (Auckland) |
First Test
18 October 1996 |
| New Zealand |
17 – 12 | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: John Timu (2) Goals: Matthew Ridge (4) Field Goals: Matthew Ridge |
[20] |
Tries: Alan Hunte Denis Betts Goals: Bobbie Goulding (2) |
    New Zealand
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Great Britain
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| 22 October 1996 | Māori  |
40 – 28 | Great Britain |
Lowe Walker Stadium, Whangārei[22] | |
| Tries: Stevens, Nikau, Murray (2), Ramsey, Gardiner, Walker Goals: Howell (6) |
[23] |
Tries: Dwyer, Smith, Bradbury, Prescott, Lowes Goals: Prescott (4) |
Attendance: 6,000 Referee: G Allcock (Auckland) |
2nd Test
25 October 1996 |
| New Zealand |
18 – 15 | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Ruben Wiki (2) Gene Ngamu Goals: Matthew Ridge (3) |
[24] |
Tries: Alan Hunte Denis Betts Goals: Bobbie Goulding (3) Field Goal: Bobbie Goulding |
New Zealand
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Great Britain
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3rd Test
1 November 1996 |
| New Zealand |
32 – 12 | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Sean Hoppe (2) Marc Ellis Ruben Wiki Gene Ngamu Matthew Ridge Goals: Matthew Ridge (4) |
[26] |
Tries: Denis Betts Adrian Morley Goals: Bobbie Goulding (2) |
New Zealand
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Great Britain
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Aftermath
The tour was considered a huge failure. It was only the second time in tour history that the Lions had suffered a 3–0 whitewash in a Test series against New Zealand (the other being in 1984), and the 12–32 loss in the Third Test was the widest margin of defeat suffered by Great Britain in a Test against New Zealand.[28] Financially, the tour made a loss of £296,000.[29]
The lack of success was attributed to the large number of key players who were unavailable for the tour, and the blow to morale caused by sending some of the squad home early. Fatigue was also an issue - due to the British rugby league season switching from winter to summer the previous year, some players had taken part in over 60 games within the space of 14 months.[30] New Zealand Rugby League president Graham Carden was blamed for the tour's financial losses, having failed to adequately promote the Test series, resulting in poor attendances. He was eventually forced to stand down the following year.[31]
Great Britain did not tour in the Southern Hemisphere again for over 20 years until 2019.[32]