A Farewell To Arms: Great Britain's Last Hurrah
Hello and welcome to this exclusive preview extract of A Different Ball Game: A Written History of Rugby League In The 21st Century. In this extract we take a look at the 2007 test series between Great Britain and New Zealand, the last time the Lions played as a unified nation on home soil.
A Different Ball Game: A Written History of Rugby League In The 21st Century is coming later in 2022. You can purchase a copy of the first book in the series Broken Time: A Written History of Rugby League 1895-2000 from this link. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Broken-Time-Written-History-League/dp/B09KN64W9W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37EQ6TEIO136V&keywords=broken+time+rugby+league&qid=1656272684&sprefix=broken+time%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1
A Farewell To Arms: Great Britain's Last Hurrah
The 2007 test series between Great Britain and New Zealand was memorable for two reasons. First of all, the series marked the 100th anniversary of the infamous All Golds series of 1907 which led to the birth of international Rugby League and secondly, the series was to be the final time Great Britain competed as a unified nation on home soil.
The decision to stand Great Britain down was made in 2006 with the RFL stating that the rationale behind separating the home nations outside of World Cup years was in order for Ireland, Scotland and Wales to become more competitive in future years by freeing up players who may have usually played for Great Britain to play for their respective nation on a more regular basis. The small matter of Sport England funding may also have been a factor in the decision. When the breakup of Great Britain was announced, it was only initially as a temporary measure with the intention being that the team would reconvene as a touring outfit akin to the British and Irish Lions in Rugby Union.
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Going into the series, Great Britain were without an outright series win since their commanding 3-0 whitewash of the Kiwis in 1993. New Zealand had walloped Great Britain during the infamous 1996 ‘Tour From Hell’ and won a series in Britain at the end of the 1998 season before the 2002 series ended rather farcically with Great Britain receiving the inaugural awarding of the Baskerville Shield despite both sides winning a test match each with the other being drawn.
Kiwi preparations were far from ideal heading into the centenary series. Under new coach, former Kiwi test fullback Gary Kemble, the side had been thumped 58-0 by Australia in Wellington while the side were hampered by the injury-enforced withdrawals of high profile players such as Benji Marshall and Sonny Bill Williams, the retirements of Stacey Jones, Ruben Wiki and Nigel Vagana while star fullback Brent Webb withdrew from the team after an extensive season helping Leeds Rhinos win the Super League title.
New Great Britain coach Tony Smith raised eyebrows with one or two selections for the series. The first came in the shape of teenaged Bradford Bulls forward Sam Burgess who had turned out some stellar performances for the Odsal club which defied his tender age. The second was the inclusion of Samoan prop forward Maurie Fa’asavalu of St. Helens. The forward had represented his homeland in the 2003 Union World Cup but was eligible to play for Great Britain under residency grounds having played Rugby League in England for four years previously.
The Kiwis, with the help of one or two guests, came out on top in a special centenary ‘test’ match which pitted the tourists against the hosts under their original monikers of the ‘All Golds’ and ‘Northern Union’, complete with a 1907 scoring system too. After the tourists had prevailed 25-18 in Warrington, hopes were high that a competitive series was in the offing.
Given the dominance of the two clubs during 2007, it came as little surprise to many that eleven of the seventeen man squad for the first test were drawn from either Leeds or St. Helens (Warrington and Bradford were the next best represented club with two players each) but in fact it was two Super League players who combined for the tourists to draw first blood and notch the first try of the series when Bradford’s Shontayne Hape gratefully received Thomas Leuluai of Wigan’s clever grubber kick to open the scoring after just two minutes in a decision awarded by video referee Ashley Klein. Great Britain spent the majority of the ensuing minutes knocking on the Kiwi door before Fa’asavalu went some way to justifying his selection by barging through three New Zealand defenders to leave Rob Burrow an easy kick to nudge Great Britain ahead after Hape’s try had gone unconverted. After Burrow had extended Great Britain’s lead by a further two points, Fa’asavalu was involved in the action again although this time his handling error led to Paul Whatuira scoring a second Kiwi try which ensured the tourists went in at half-time 10-8 to the good.
An early second half try from Hull’s Gareth Raynor put Great Britain back into the lead and then their advantage was further extended when debutant Burgess crowned a sublime international bow when he crossed from Leon Pryce’s short pass after the St. Helens man had made a break for the line. Burgess went some way to further cementing his name in the headlines when he came up with a brutal hit on Kiwi forward Fuifui Moimoi late in the game although while the British players were commending the young forward, New Zealand struck for a third time when Hape crossed for his second try of the evening. Fortunately for British fans and players alike, the home side managed to hold on to claim a 20-14 victory and take a 1-0 series lead to Hull with them.
Smith made two changes to his side for the second test at the KC Stadium, handing a debut to Warrington hooker Jon Clarke in place of Bradford’s Terry Newton while Kevin Sinfield came in at loose forward after missing the first test with a stomach bug.. Anyone hoping for a fast start to proceedings were once again not disappointed as Great Britain got off to a perfect start inside the second minute when captain Jamie Peacock opened the scoring. The home side’s lead was doubled just ten minutes later when Leon Pryce went over before hometown hero Gareth Raynor crossed for a third try just before half-time to the delight of the home crowd and the despair of the tourists.
The onslaught continued in the second half as Great Britain ran rampant with the St. Helens pair of Paul Wellens and Ade Gardner extending the lead further before Leeds duo Rob Burrow and Keith Senior got their names on the scoresheet as the game ran away from the massively outplayed Kiwis. With three minutes to go, Leon Pryce grabbed his second try of the evening with an emphatic 70 metre run to wrap up a bruising 44-0 scoreline and deliver Great Britain their first series win since the aforementioned whitewash of the Kiwis in 1993.
Saturday 10th November 2007 rightly takes it’s place within the annals of Rugby League history as it was on this day, at Wigan’s JJB Stadium, that Great Britain would play as a unified nation on home soil for the final time. With the overall series victory in the bag, it was now time to ensure that the Lions went out as winners in their final outing. A winning finale seemed far away as the Kiwis attempted to atone for their nilling the previous week by flying out of the traps and converting their early onslaught on the British line into an early 12-0 advantage thanks to converted tries from Chase Stanley and Paul Whaturia. Despite rarely threatening, Great Britain finally got themselves on the scoresheet thanks to a James Graham try that sparked a fightback which saw tries from Keith Senior and David Hodgson to send the home side in the sheds at half-time 14-12 to the good.
Leeds pair Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire went over to put Great Britain further ahead but a try each from Stanley and Taniela Tuiaki either side of a Burrow penalty ensured that New Zealand clawed back a modicum of respectability with the score ending 28-22 to the Lions.
The enduring image of Jamie Peacock and Adrian Morley jointly holding the Baskerville Shield ensured Great Britain went into the history books as winners in their final outing. The initial idea was that the team would reconvene in 2012 to tour but as we know, that wouldn’t end up happening. The series was also the end of Gary Kemble as New Zealand coach as they went back to the Southern Hemisphere with only a test win over France to show for their efforts in Europe. After a public campaign led by senior players Roy Asotasi and David Kidwell, Kemble was removed from his position and replaced by Stephen Kearney.
Going into a World Cup year, the two sides appeared to be at polar opposites with one being touted as a favourite and nothing much expected of the other. As is so often the case in international sport, the paradigm was about to shift dramatically once more.
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