Great Britain national rugby league team
951941
220571246
2008-06-20T14:25:41Z
FruitMonkey
2567040
Moved image of the shirt just to prevent the massive text gap.
{{dablink|This article is about the rugby league team representing the British Isles. For the rugby union team representing the same area, see [[British and Irish Lions]]}}
{{Infobox rugby league nation
| Name = Great Britain
| Badge = Great Britain rugby league crest.jpg
| Badge_size = 100px
| Nickname = The Lions
| Association = [[Rugby Football League]]
| Region = [[Europe]]
| Coach = {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Tony Smith (Australian rugby league coach)|Tony Smith]]
| Captain = [[Jamie Peacock]]
| Most caps = {{flagicon|England}} [[Mick Sullivan]]/[[Gary Schofield]] (46)
| Top try-scorer =
| Top point-scorer =
| Home Stadium =
| RLIF Rank =
| pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_GBRL|pattern_ra1=
| leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=0000FF|socks1=FFFFFF
| First game = {{flagicon|New Zealand}} [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] 6 - 14 Great Britain {{flagicon|Great Britain}}<br/>([[Headingley]], [[England]]; [[18 January]] [[1908]])
| Largest win = {{flagicon|Fiji}} [[Fiji national rugby league team|Fiji]] 4 - 72 Great Britain {{flagicon|Great Britain}}<br/>([[Suva]], [[Fiji]]; October 1996)
| Largest loss = {{flagicon|Australia}} [[Australia national rugby league team|Australia]] 64 - 10 Great Britain {{flagicon|Great Britain}}<br/>([[Sydney]], [[Australia]]; July 2002)
| World cup apps = 9
| World cup first = 1954
| World cup best = Winners, [[1954 Rugby League World Cup|1954]]; [[1960 Rugby League World Cup|1960]]; [[1972 Rugby League World Cup|1972]]
}}
'''Great Britain''' is one of the major national teams playing [[rugby league]]. The team is administered by the [[Rugby Football League]] (RFL), and is commonly nicknamed the "'''Lions'''" or "'''Great Britain Lions'''". The RFL has announced that after the [[2007 All Golds Tour]][http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/06/11/08/RUGBYL_Tri-Nations_Lewis.html] the Great Britain team will be retired, and that players will be able to represent [[England national rugby league team|England]], [[Wales national rugby league team|Wales]], [[Ireland national rugby league team|Ireland]] and [[Scotland national rugby league team|Scotland]] at the Test level. It is planned that the Great Britain team will come together only for occasional tours, similar to the [[British and Irish Lions]] [[rugby union]] team,
== Competitions ==
Great Britain have traditionally been one of the strongest teams in rugby league, though usually playing second fiddle to [[Australian Kangaroos|Australia]]. They have won the [[Rugby League World Cup]] on three occasions: [[1954 Rugby League World Cup|1954]], [[1960 Rugby League World Cup|1960]] and [[1972 Rugby League World Cup|1972]]. Since [[1995 Rugby League World Cup|1995]] the RFL have preferred to send the [[home nations]] as separate teams for world cup purposes. Great Britain continue to compete as a test playing nation both home and away (unlike the [[British and Irish Lions]] [[rugby union]] team, who are a touring only team playing sporadically). They compete against Australia for [[The Ashes (rugby league)|The Ashes]], and [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]] for the [[Baskerville Shield]], as well the [[Rugby League Tri-Nations|Tri-Nations]] series with both Australia and New Zealand. Great Britain also play in series and tours against other nations such as [[France national rugby league team|France]], [[Papua New Guinea national rugby league team|Papua New Guinea]] and [[Fiji national rugby league team|Fiji]].
== Titles, selection and identity ==
[[image:Gb-shirt.GIF|left|thumb|200px|Great Britain team shirt]]
As stated above, there is some confusion as to which “nation” the Lions represent. The team was originally known as the ''[[Northern Union]] XIII'' in reference to the name of the sport's governing body. After 1922 the name "The Lions" was first used. In 1948 the team became known as ''Great Britain'' for the [[The Ashes (rugby league)|Ashes Series]]. During the 1990s the Rugby Football League expanded this to ''Great Britain and Ireland'', and the jersey bore the name ''British Isles XIII''. In 2004 the "...and Ireland" was dropped from the title, however, the Irish shamrock continues to form part of the RFL's [[Heraldry|crest]] and ''British Isles XIII'' remains on the jersey, as of 2006. Players from the [[Republic of Ireland]] have been selected to play for Great Britain, one recent example being [[Cork (city)|Cork]]-born [[Brian Carney (rugby footballer)|Brian Carney]] between 2003 and 2006. At matches, the team is represented by the [[Flag of the United Kingdom|Union Flag]] and the singing of [[God Save the Queen]], both symbols of the [[United Kingdom]]. The practice of a UK-wide team being called ''Great Britain'' has a precedent with the Great British [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] team. The formal name of the Olympic team includes "and Northern Ireland", however. In Australia, the Great Britain team is often erroneously referred to as England, most notably by television commentator [[Phil Gould]]. After the [[2007 All Golds Tour]] the Great Britain team will be reserved for Lions tours of the Southern Hemisphere. According to Richard Lewis, chairman of the Rugby Football League:
:"It will bring consistency. What I am passionate about is the international game being consistent. To me, it has always been illogical that we play as Great Britain for three or four years, and when the World Cup comes along, suddenly we become England. In the major competitions, which will be most years, we will play as England. That will also allow Ireland, Scotland and Wales to develop. We have then floated the concept of Great Britain to tour in 2010. It would be a tour as opposed to playing a formal competition, and I wouldn't restrict that to just Australia and New Zealand." [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyleague/story/0,10069,1656696,00.html]
:"Next year (2007) will be the last time Great Britain will play. They will be England after that."[http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/06/11/08/RUGBYL_Tri-Nations_Lewis.htmlhttp://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/06/11/08/RUGBYL_Tri-Nations_Lewis.html]
<CENTER></CENTER>
==History==
{{Main|History of the Great Britain national rugby league team}}
==See also==
* [[British Rugby League Hall of Fame]]
* [[The Ashes (rugby league)|The Ashes]]
* [[Baskerville Shield]]
* [[Rugby League World Cup]]
* [[Rugby League Tri-Nations|Tri-Nations]]
* [[England national rugby league team]]
* [[Wales national rugby league team]]
* [[Scotland national rugby league team]]
* [[Ireland national rugby league team]]
==External links==
* [http://www.rfl.uk.com/Templates/RFLDefault.asp?modeID=Content&uID=11 The Rugby Football League’s Great Britain pages]
* [http://www.rugbynetwork.net/main/s598 Unofficial Great Britain Rugby League ]
{{Great Britain Rugby League squad}}
{{British Rugby League links}}
{{National sports teams of the United Kingdom}}
{{Rugby League in Europe}}
{{International Rugby League}}
[[Category:International rugby league teams]]
[[Category:Rugby league in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:National sports teams of the United Kingdom|Rugby league]]
[[Category:Rugby League Tri-Nations]]
[[fr:Équipe de Grande-Bretagne de rugby à XIII]]