The 2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the Kiwi (bird), native bird of that name. The team' ...

. The

drew the series 1.5-1.5 against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and also defeated

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Background

This was the Kiwis first tour of Great Britain since the 2000 World Cup, the Kangaroos having toured Great Britain the previous year. The original squad named in September included

Nathan Cayless Nathan Frederick Cayless (born 28 March 1978) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, and has Coach (sport), coached in the 2010s. He played at representative level for New Zealand ...

, Craig Smith and

Tevita Vaikona Tevita Vaikona (born 18 August 1974) is a Tongan professional rugby league and rugby union footballer, a winger who played rugby league and picked up many honours before switching codes to rugby union. In 2002, Vaikona was voted best rugby leagu ...

who all later had to withdraw from the final squad. Before the tour started the

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand () is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, leader of the New Zealand National Party, took office on 27 November 2023. The prime minister (informally abbreviated to P ...

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

, held an official reception for the team at the

Beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

. It was the first New Zealand rugby league tour to receive an official farewell from a Prime Minister in Parliament. The tour was opened against

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

at The Boulevard, the same ground had hosted the first Test matched played by the 1907 New Zealand team. This match was the last international played at the ground, while the 1907 team had played in the first.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 2002. p.35

Motu Tony Motu Iosefo Tony (born 29 May 1981) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. He previously played in the NRL for the New Zealand Warriors and the Brisbane Broncos before playing in t ...

broke his hand in the match against England A and was ruled out of the rest of the tour.

Steve Clark Stephen Maynard Clark (23 April 1960 – 8 January 1991) was an English musician. He was a guitarist and songwriter for the hard rock band Def Leppard until his death in 1991. In 2007, Clark was ranked No. 11 on ''Classic Rock Magazine's'' "1 ...

refereed all three Test matches against Great Britain. Former Kiwis player

Sean Hoppe Sean "Shoppe" Edward Hoppe (born 19 January 1971) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. Early years As a junior, he played for the Glen Innes Falcons, a feeder club to Ellerslie during the 1 ...

, who had not represented his country since 1999, was given the honour of captaining

St Helens R.F.C. St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

in a tour match against the Kiwis. The match was meant to be his last before retirement however he was later called into the touring squad due to injuries and his final two matches were test matches against Great Britain and France. Hoppe was called up over

Lesley Vainikolo Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo (born 4 May 1979) is a former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. A dual code international, he has played for the New Zealand Kiwis in rugby league and England in rugby union. He began his care ...

who was also considered as a replacement after injuries to several backs including

and

Clinton Toopi Clinton James Te-Whata Toopi (born 29 February 1980) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A New Zealand international representative , he played his club football in the ...

. In the end Great Britain tied the series, taking the inaugural

Baskerville Shield The Baskerville Shield is a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between England and New Zealand. It named in honour of Albert Henry Baskerville, who organised the first ever tour by New Zealand of Great Britain in 1907. T ...

as hosts. The third test match was Great Britain's first win over New Zealand since 1993.

Squad

Kiwis captain

withdrew due to suspension and was replaced by Andrew Lomu while

Willie Talau Viliamu "Willie" Talau (born 25 January 1976) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative , he played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the Canterb ...

required surgery and was unavailable. After the Australia Test both Lomu and

Matt Utai Matthew Utai (born 25 May 1981) is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a er for the Auburn Warriors in the Ron Massey Cup. A New Zealand and Samoa international representative, he previously played for the Wests T ...

were withdrawn by their clubs for off-season surgery. On arriving in England, English based players Craig Smith and

were ruled out due to injury.''New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002'',

, 2002. p.34 Later Motu Tony and Robbie Paul were sidelined with injuries and in France Richard Swain left to sign a deal with the Broncos and Stephen Kearney flew home due to a family illness. Clinton Toopi broke his hand in a scuffle with Nigel Vagana during a team drinking session after the second test. Freeman and team management initially tried to cover up the incident, claiming the injury occurred during the match, before media found out and had a field day. * Coach: Gary Freeman

Fixtures

The New Zealand side played five test matches while on their European tour and one test in New Zealand before leaving.

New Zealand vs Australia

----

British leg

Hull:

Steve Prescott Stephen Prescott (26 December 1973 – 9 November 2013) was a professional rugby league footballer who played as a during the 1990s and 2000s. Prescott made his début for St Helens in 1993, and soon established himself as the club's first ...

, Paul Parker,

Richard Horne Richard Horne (born 16 July 1982) is the head coach at Doncaster in League 1, and a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, Scotland and Yorksh ...

Graham Mackay Graham Mackay (born 12 October 1968) is a former international and state representative rugby league footballer whose club career spanned ten Australian and English clubs, including Western Suburbs, Penrith Panthers, South Queensland Crushers ...

, Matt Crowther, Jason Smith (c), Tony Smith,

Craig Greenhill Craig Greenhill (born ) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He represented Queensland Maroons in State of Origin, as a . Playing career Greenhill made his first grade debut for Cronulla in round 2 1995 against rival ...

, Lee Jackson, Scott Logan,

Adam Maher Adam Maher (; born 20 July 1993) is a Dutch professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Damac FC, Damac. Born in Morocco, he played for the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands nat ...

, Sean Ryan, Chris Chester. Res: Craig Poucher,

Paul Cooke Paul Cooke may refer to: * Paul Cooke (rugby league) (born 1981), English rugby league player * Paul Cooke (rugby union, born 1967), New Zealand rugby union player * Paul Cooke (rugby union, born 1916) (1916–1940), English international ru ...

Richard Fletcher Richard Fletcher may refer to: Politicians * Richard Fletcher (American politician) (1788–1869), US Representative from Massachusetts *Richard Fletcher (died 1560), MP for Rye *Richard Fletcher (died c.1607), MP for Derby (UK Parliament constitue ...

, Paul King. Coach:

Shaun McRae Shaun McRae (born 21 December 1959) is a rugby league coach, who is a former director of rugby at Hull F.C. after a spell with the Salford City Reds. Career Shaun McRae, nicknamed 'Bomber', was born in 1959 and began his rugby league coachin ...

New Zealand: David Vaealiki,

Francis Meli Francis Meli (born 27 April 1979) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Samoa and New Zealand international representative centre or winger, he played in the National Rugby League for New ...

Nigel Vagana Nigel Faletoese Vagana (born 7 February 1975), also known by the nicknames of "Pablo", and "Chiko", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, as a and . A New Zealand and Samoa international represent ...

, Henry Fa'afili,

Lance Hohaia Lance Koro Hohaia (born 1 April 1983), also known by the nickname of "The Huntly Hurricane", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative utility back, he played in the NRL for the Ne ...

Jason Cayless Jason Paul Cayless (born 15 January 1980) is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a prop in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Parramatta Eels, Sydney Roosters and the Wests Tigers in the NRL and St Helen ...

Monty Betham La’auli Montgomery Junior "Monty" Betham (born 12 March 1978) is a professional boxer, and former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative and , he played club football for the New Zealand Warriors i ...

Paul Rauhihi Paul Rauhihi (born 3 July 1973) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. Rauhihi played in both the National Rugby League (NRL) and Super League as a . Background Rauhihi was born in Porirua, N ...

Tony Puletua Anthony Puletua (born 25 June 1979), also known by the nickname of "TP", is a former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. A New Zealand and Samoan international, Puletua previous ...

Ruben Wiki Ruben James Wiki (born 21 January 1973) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative centre-turned-prop forward, he retired with the record for most ...

Logan Swann Logan Swann (born 10 February 1975) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. Swann is related to several other international rugby league players, notably cousins Willie Swann and Anthony Swann. ...

. Res: Michael Smith, Richard Swain,

Awen Guttenbeil Awen Guttenbeil (born 14 March 1976) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. Since retiring after a playing career spanning fifteen years, he went on to work as a broadcaster for Sky Network Televisio ...

Stephen Kearney Stephen Peter Kearney (born 11 June 1972) is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach who until 2020 was the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and a former player. A New Zealand national captain and second-row for ...

---- ---- ----

Wales vs New Zealand

----

Baskerville Shield

After 30

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

test series since 1907, the

was inaugurated for series between New Zealand and England / Great Britain. The shield is named in honour of

Albert Henry Baskerville Albert (Bert) Henry Baskerville (born as "Baskiville") (15 January 1883 – 20 May 1908) was a Wellington, New Zealand, postal clerk, a rugby union forward, author of the book ''Modern Rugby Football: New Zealand Methods; Points for the ...

who organised New Zealand's first ever tour of Great Britain in 1907.

Venues

The three Baskerville Shield tests took place at the following venues.

1st Test

Henry Fa'afili scored three tries in the 30–16 first test win over Great Britain at Ewood Park, the first Kiwis hat-trick against the Lions in 97 matches dating back to 1907. His tries all came in the second half as the Kiwis rallied from a 10–6 halftime deficit to win comfortably. ----

2nd Test

----

3rd Test

----

France vs New Zealand

Aftermath

New Zealand halfback

Stacey Jones Stacey William Jones (born 7 May 1976) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He is currently the head coach of New Zealand national rugby league te ...

won the George Smith Medal as player of the series against Great Britain. The tour was Freeman's last as head coach. In 2003 Daniel Anderson was named as the new Kiwis coach.

References

{{Kiwis tours New Zealand national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Great Britain Rugby league tours of France Tour of Great Britain and France New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France