The 1920 Great Britain Lions tour was the third British national rugby league team or 'Lions' tour of Australasia, where it was winter and matches were played against the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

and

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 ...

national sides, as well as several local teams. In Australia, the three- Test match series was won by the hosts. In New Zealand another three-Test series was played and won by the visitors. The tour was a success and brought in a handsome profit.

Touring squad

At the 1919–20 Northern Rugby Football Union season's conclusion, the following

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 ...

squad was assembled by the

Northern Rugby Football Union Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

to represent it on the tour of Australasia. Mr S Foster and Mr J Wilson were the team managers. Although it was a Great Britain tour, the team played as 'England' during the games. England * Joe Bowers, forward for Rochdale Hornets * Joe Cartwright, hooker for Leigh * Douglas Clark, forward for Huddersfield * Billy Cunliffe, forward for Warrington * Joe Doyle, three-quarter back for Barrow * Frank Gallagher, forward for Dewsbury * Herman Hilton, forward for Oldham * Arthur Johnson, forward for Widnes *

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

, half back for Rochdale Hornets * Alf Milnes, hooker for Halifax * Jonty Parkin, half back for Wakefield Trinity * William Reid, forward for Widnes * Arthur Skelhorne, forward for Warrington * Cyril Stacey, fullback for Halifax * Squire Stockwell, three-quarter back for Leeds * Billy Stone, three-quarter back for Hull *

Harold Wagstaff Harold Wagstaff (9 May 1891 – 19 July 1939), also known by the nickname of "Waggy", was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played as a and was nicknamed the ''Prince of Centres''. A ca ...

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

), three-quarter back for Huddersfield * Alf Wood, fullback for Oldham Wales * Jim Bacon, three-quarter back for Leeds * Evan Davies, three-quarter back for Oldham *

Ben Gronow Benjamin Gronow (10 March 1887 – 24 November 1967) was a Welsh List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. At club level Grono ...

, forward for Huddersfield * Danny Hurcombe, three-quarter back for Wigan * Bobby Lloyd, half back for Halifax * George Rees, player for Leeds * Johnny Rogers, half back for Huddersfield * Gwyn Thomas (

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...

), fullback for Huddersfield

Australia

The first leg of the tour was Australia, where the game of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

football was in its twelfth year since splitting away from

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

in 1908. The tour included places such as Orange,

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

and Tamworth as well as the standard main venues of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Test venues

The three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues.

---- The opening match of the tour on 5 June took place between rounds 5 and 6 of the fifteen-round 1920 NSWRFL season, and saw a

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

(Sydney) team host the tourists at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

. In front of an overflow crowd of 65,000 the visitors ran out 27–20 winners. ---- ---- As the preliminary match to the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

versus Britain game on 12 June,

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

's first intervarsity match against

Queensland University The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an i ...

under rugby league rules was played before a crowd of 60,000. Sydney won 26–14. Albert Johnston captained New South Wales in two matches against the visiting Lions. ---- ---- On Saturday, 19 June, the tourists played a match against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

before a crowd of around 20,000 at the

Brisbane Exhibition Ground The Brisbane Showgrounds (formerly known as the Brisbane Exhibition Ground) is a multi-purpose venue located in Bowen Hills, Brisbane, Australia. Established in 1875, it hosts more than 250 events each year, the largest being the Royal Queen ...

. The Queensland side featured

Mick Bennett Michael John "Mick" Bennett (born 8 June 1949, Birmingham) is a British former cyclist and cycle race promoter. Cycling career He won the bronze medal in Team Pursuit in the Cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1972 Munich and Cycling at the 19 ...

, Neville Broadfoot, Jeff Daly, Harry Fewin, Thomas Johnson, Jack Maguire, Patrick Moran, Claud O'Donnell, Walter Paten, Norm Potter, Bill Richards, Stan Ryan, E. Sabine, Colin Thompson, and J. Thompson. The British team was F G Thomas, J A Bacon, J Doyle, H Wagstaff, F Stockwell, R Lloyd, J Rogers, H Hilton, W Reid, G Rees, R Gronow, E Milnes and E Johnston. Refereed by L H Kearney, the visitors, after leading 13–10 at half-time, won the game 25–15. ---- ---- ---- ----

First test

The first test of the 1920 Ashes series was played on the 26th of June at the

before a crowd of 32,000. It was refereed by local whistleblower Laurie Kearney. Albert Johnston was selected to captain Australia in the opening Test of the series in the absence of champion centre Herb Gilbert. Despite a last minute reshuffling of the team which saw Johnston move to halfback. Australia won the match 8–4. ---- ----

Second test

Albert Johnston lost the Australian captaincy on Herb Gilbert's return and played at

five-eighth Five-eighth or stand-off is one of the positions in a rugby league football team. Wearing jersey number 6, this player is one of the two half backs in a team, partnering the . Sometimes known as the pivot or second receiver, in a traditional a ...

in the second Ashes Test. The match was played on the 3rd of July at the

and attracted 67,739 spectators, then a record attendance for any sport at the SCG. Australian halfback Duncan Thompson starred in the match, which was won by the hosts 21–8. With this Australia secured the Ashes for the first time on home soil. ---- ----

Third test

The third Test was played on the 10th of July in Sydney, with Great Britain winning 23–13. ---- The British also played two matches against a Newcastle rugby league team that featured Dan "Laddo" Davies. The first game was on the 25th of August and the tourists won 17–10. The second was on the 28th which they also won 24–3. ----

New Zealand

The British team played a three-Test series against New Zealand just as it did against Australia. Karl Ifwerson captained the Kiwis against the tourists. After losing their first game to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, the tourists won all three Tests. In the Test at Wellington, the British were behind on the scoreboard 10–0, but made it 10–6 before Douglas Clark forced his way over the line for the match-winning try which

converted, giving the visitors an 11–10 victory. The second Test was played in Christchurch on Saturday, 7 August, and was won by the tourists 19 points to 3. Both the game against Auckland and the final Test versus the Lions attracted nearly 40,000 spectators to Auckland's Domain ground – the biggest ever New Zealand sporting crowds to that time. Tuesday 3 August the touring England side played a mid week match against a King Country XIII in Taumarunui in front of a 4000 strong Crowd at Taumarunui Domain. England won easily 47–3. Wagstaffe scored twice in the first half for the visitors along with one a piece for Stockwell and Milne. Doran got one back for King Country. The halftime score was 16–3. In the 2nd spell, Stockwell scored 2 tries and Wagstaffe, Bowers, Doyle and Johnston one each. The final score was 47–3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1920 Great Britain Lions tour Great Britain national rugby league team tours Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand Rugby league tours of Australia Rugby league tours of New Zealand

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...