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.
Touring squad 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. 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. 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.
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.
NameClubPositionAppearancesTestsTriesGoalsDGsPoints (vc) Auckland Warriors Second-row 6 5 3 0 0 12 Oldham Second-row 4 0 2 0 0 8 Sheffield Eagles Prop 6 5 0 0 0 0 Wigan Warriors Second-row 5 1 2 0 0 8 Keighley Cougars Wing 3 0 1 0 0 4 St Helens Hooker 6 5 2 0 0 8 Bradford Bulls Prop 4 1 1 0 0 4 (c) Wigan Warriors Loose forward 6 5 1 0 0 4 St Helens Scrum-half 6 5 4 23 1 63 St Helens 6 2 5 0 0 20 Leeds Rhinos Prop 4 0 0 0 0 0 Warrington Wolves 6 5 0 3 0 6 St Helens Wing 3 1 2 0 0 8 St Helens Wing 6 5 4 0 0 16 St Helens Second-row 6 4 0 0 0 0 Bradford Bulls Hooker 4 0 2 0 0 8 Western Reds Centre 5 2 1 0 0 4 Salford Red Devils Wing 1 0 0 0 0 0 Bradford Bulls Prop 4 1 0 0 0 0 Featherstone Rovers Prop 6 2 0 0 0 0 Leeds Rhinos Second-row 6 2 1 0 0 4 Wigan Warriors Prop 6 4 0 0 0 0 Workington Town Loose forward 4 1 0 0 0 0 Keighley Cougars Centre 7 5 3 0 0 12 St Helens Fullback 4 0 1 17 0 38 Wigan Warriors Fullback 6 5 2 0 0 8 Warrington Wolves Wing 3 0 0 0 0 0 Warrington Wolves Loose forward 6 5 0 0 0 0 Sheffield Eagles Centre 6 2 3 0 0 12 Castleford Tigers Scrum-half 5 2 4 0 0 16 Bradford Bulls Fullback 6 5 3 0 0 12 St Helens Wing 6 4 3 0 0 12 London Broncos 5 0 1 0 0 4
Papua New Guinea
FB 1Robert SioRW 2James KopsRC 3Marcus BaiLC 4Robert TelaLW 5David GomiaFE 6Stanley GeneHB 7Adrian Lam (c)PR 8Ben BiriHK 9Elias PaiyoPR 10Raymond KahlSR 11Nande YerSR 12David WestleyLF 13Bruce MamandoSubstitutions:IC 14Simon KundiIC 15Ruben RuingIC 16Max TiriIC 17Obert BatiaCoach: FB 1 Stuart SpruceRW 2 Joey HayesRC 3 Kris RadlinskiLC 4 Alan HunteLW 5 Anthony SullivanSO 6 Iestyn HarrisSH 7 Bobbie GouldingPR 8 Paul BroadbentHK 9 Keiron CunninghamPR 10 Terry O'ConnorSR 11 Denis BettsSR 12 Chris JoyntLK 13 Andy Farrell (c)Substitutions:IC 14 Tony SmithIC 15 Rowland PhillipsIC 16 Daryl PowellIC 17 Paul SculthorpeCoach:Bob Bennett Phil Larder
Fiji
FB 1Waisale SovatabuaRW 2P. BaravilulaRC 3Manoa ThompsonLC 4Joe TamaniLW 5S. TulevuFE 6I. RatudinaHB 7Kaleveti NaisoroPR 8Pio Nakubuwai (c)HK 9M. KaidrokiPR 10Malakai KaunivaluSR 11Josaia DakuitogaSR 12Ian SaigatuLF 13Livai NalagilagiSubstitutions:IC 14Vula DakuitogaIC 15Samuela MarayawaIC 16Waisale VatubuaIC 17Ulaiasi WainidroaCoach: FB 1 Stuart SpruceRW 2 Alan HunteRC 3 Kris RadlinskiLC 4 Daryl PowellLW 5 Anthony SullivanSO 6 Iestyn HarrisSH 7 Bobbie GouldingPR 8 Paul BroadbentHK 9 Keiron CunninghamPR 10 Brian McDermottSR 11 Denis BettsSR 12 Paul SculthorpeLK 13 Andy Farrell (c)Substitutions:IC 14 Tony SmithIC 15 Keith SeniorIC 16 Steve MolloyIC 17 Mick CassidyCoach: Phil Larder
New Zealand
First Test
FB 1 Matthew Ridge (c)RW 2 Sean HoppeRC 3 Richie BlackmoreLC 4 John TimuLW 5 Richie BarnettFE 6 Gene NgamuHB 7 Stacey JonesPR 8 Grant YoungHK 9 Syd EruPR 10 Quentin PongiaSR 11 Tony IroSR 12 Stephen KearneyLF 13 Tyran SmithSubstitutions:IC 14 Marc EllisIC 15 Joe VaganaIC 16 Ruben WikiIC 17 Logan SwannCoach: Frank Endacott FB 1 Stuart SpruceRW 2 Alan HunteRC 3 Kris RadlinskiLC 4 Daryl PowellLW 5 Anthony SullivanSO 6 Iestyn HarrisSH 7 Bobbie GouldingPR 8 Paul BroadbentHK 9 Keiron CunninghamPR 10 Terry O'ConnorSR 11 Denis BettsSR 12 Paul SculthorpeLK 13 Andy Farrell (c)Substitutions:IC 14 Tony SmithIC 15 Chris JoyntIC 16 Keith SeniorIC 17 Adrian MorleyCoach: Phil Larder
2nd Test
FB 1 Matthew Ridge (c)RW 2 Sean HoppeRC 3 Ruben WikiLC 4 John TimuLW 5 Richie BarnettFE 6 Gene NgamuHB 7 Stacey JonesPR 8 Grant YoungHK 9 Syd EruPR 10 Quentin PongiaSR 11 Tony IroSR 12 Stephen KearneyLF 13 Tyran SmithSubstitutions:IC 14 Marc EllisIC 15 Joe VaganaIC 16 Richie BlackmoreIC 17 Logan SwannCoach: Frank Endacott FB 1 Stuart SpruceRW 2 Alan HunteRC 3 Kris RadlinskiLC 4 Daryl PowellLW 5 Anthony SullivanSO 6 Iestyn HarrisSH 7 Bobbie GouldingPR 8 Paul BroadbentHK 9 Keiron CunninghamPR 10 Terry O'ConnorSR 11 Denis BettsSR 12 Paul SculthorpeLK 13 Andy Farrell (c)Substitutions:IC 14 Barrie-Jon MatherIC 15 Karle HammondIC 16 Steve MolloyIC 17 Chris JoyntCoach: Phil Larder
3rd Test
FB 1 Matthew Ridge (c)RW 2 Sean HoppeRC 3 Ruben WikiLC 4 John TimuLW 5 Marc EllisFE 6 Gene NgamuHB 7 Stacey JonesPR 8 Grant YoungHK 9 Syd EruPR 10 Quentin PongiaSR 11 Tony IroSR 12 Stephen KearneyLF 13 Tyran SmithSubstitutions:IC 14 Anthony SwannIC 15 Joe VaganaIC 16 Richie BlackmoreIC 17 Logan SwannCoach: Frank Endacott FB 1 Stuart SpruceRW 2 Alan HunteRC 3 Kris RadlinskiLC 4 Daryl PowellLW 5 Barrie-Jon MatherSO 6 Karle HammondSH 7 Bobbie GouldingPR 8 Paul BroadbentHK 9 Keiron CunninghamPR 10 Terry O'ConnorSR 11 Denis BettsSR 12 Paul SculthorpeLK 13 Andy Farrell (c)Substitutions:IC 14 Iestyn HarrisIC 15 Adrian MorleyIC 16 Chris JoyntIC 17 Bernard DwyerCoach: Phil Larder
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. Financially, the tour made a loss of £296,000.
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. 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.
Great Britain did not tour in the Southern Hemisphere again for over 20 years until 2019.
Notes
References General
Specific
External links 1996 Great Britain Tour of the Pacific at wigan.rlfans.com Lions Tour 1996 at rugbyleagueproject.org