The 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations was played in Great Britain and Australasia. The final was played between Australia and New Zealand at Elland Road on Saturday 26 November. New Zealand won the match 24-0 and were crowned 2005 Tri-Nations champions, breaking Australia's 27-year undefeated international tournament record.
The tournament was officially known as the 2005 Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship from Gillette. __TOC__
Participating teams Each team was to play the other three twice during the round robin tournament. The top two finishing teams would then contest the final. TeamNicknameCoachCaptainRLIF Rank AustraliaThe KangaroosWayne BennettDarren Lockyer 1 Great BritainThe LionsBrian NobleJamie Peacock 2 New ZealandThe KiwisBrian McClennanRuben Wiki 3
Officials One referee from each participating nation was appointed to control matches in the Tri-Nations: Tim Mander (2 matches) Steve Ganson (4 matches) Glen Black (1 match)
Venues The games were played at the following venues in Australia, New Zealand and England.
Sydney Auckland London Telstra Stadium Ericsson Stadium Loftus Road Capacity: 83,500 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 18,439 Wigan Huddersfield Hull JJB Stadium Galpharm Stadium KC Stadium Capacity: 25,138 Capacity: 24,500 Capacity: 25,138
Final The Tri-Nations Final was played in Leeds.
Leeds Elland Road Capacity: 37,890
Results
Tournament matches
Australia were without their captain Darren Lockyer for this match and the remainder of the tournament after he injured his foot at training.
Tournament standings TeamPlayedWonDrewLostForAgainstDifferencePoints 430110284+186 4202118120−24 410384100−162
Final
AustraliaPositionNew ZealandAnthony MinichielloFBBrent WebbMatt KingWGJake WebsterMark GasnierCEPaul WhatuiraMatt CooperCEClinton ToopiBrent TateWGManu VatuveiTrent BarrettFENigel VaganaCraig GowerHBStacey JonesPetero CivonicevaPRPaul RauhihiDanny Buderus (c)HKMotu TonyJason RylesPRRuben Wiki (c)Luke O'DonnellSRDavid KidwellCraig FitzgibbonSRLouis AndersonBen KennedyLKShontayne HapeCraig WingIntDavid FaiumuWillie MasonIntRoy AsotasiMark O'MeleyIntDavid SolomonaSteve PriceIntAli Lauiti'itiWayne BennettCoachBrian McClennan
The historic win by the Kiwis over an Australian 17 containing only 3 Queensland players and one player from the previous month's 2005 NRL grand final put an end to the Kangaroos' dominance in international rugby league. It was the first time Australia, hot favourites for the match, had failed to win a series or tournament since France defeated them in both Tests of the 1978 Kangaroo tour.
The win by New Zealand was the first time the Kiwis had beaten Australia in a test series or tournament (not including one-off test wins in 1971, 1987 and 1998) since 1952. Australian coach Wayne Bennett resigned from the national coaching post just over a week after the final.
Player statistics
Top point scorersPlayerTeamTGFGPts1Stacey Jones0210422Craig Fitzgibbon0120243Clinton Toopi50020Jake Webster50020Matt Cooper50020
Top try scorersPlayerTeamT1 Clinton Toopi5 Jake WebsterMatt Cooper2Brent Webb4Mark Gasnier
Non-series tests During the series, Australia and New Zealand played additional Tests against France. This was the first time the two teams had met in a test match since Australia's 74–0 win in Béziers in the last game of the 1994 Kangaroo tour.
For this match, Craig Gower was given the honour of captaining Australia for the first time.Annual Report 2005 – Australian Rugby League
Australia 44 (A Minichiello 2, T Waterhouse 2, M Cooper, S Prince, C Gower, W Mason tries; S Prince 6 goals) defeated France 12 (L Frayssinous, M Gresqueu tries; L Frayssinous 2 goals)
Other game New Zealand played a midweek match against England "A" which did not count as a test match. Halftime was 12-all.
See also 2005 NRL season Super League X
References
Further reading
External links Kiwis overcome critics to down Kangaroos in Tri-Nations opener – kangaroos.leagueunlimited.com 2005 Tri-nations final at trinations.rlfans.com 2005 Tri-nations at rlhalloffame.org.uk New Zealand Test teams 2005 at nzrl.co.nz