The 1979 Great Britain Lions tour was the

Great Britain national rugby league team The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured oversea ...

's 16th tour of Australasia and took place from May to August 1979. A total of 27 matches were played against local club and representative sides during the tour, including a three match

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

series against Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

respectively.

Touring squad

In March 1979, a 30-man squad was selected for the tour, with

Doug Laughton Charles Douglas Laughton (born 13 May 1944) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain (capt ...

appointed as captain. The squad included

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form t ...

prop Jim Mills, who was banned from playing in New Zealand due to an incident in 1975 when Mills played for

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

against

. Despite an appeal to overturn the ban, the International Board confirmed the ban would be upheld. After the squad was selected, John Bevan and

Stuart Wright Stuart Wright may refer to: * Stuart A. Wright, American sociologist * Stuart P. Wright (1903–1982), American athlete * Stuart Pearson Wright (born 1975), English portrait artist * Stuart Wright (rugby league) RL Record Keepers' Club Stuart ...

were forced to withdraw due to injury, and were replaced by

Roy Mathias Roy Mathias (born 2 September 1949) is a Welsh List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league, and footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played representative level ru ...

and

David Barends David "Dave" Barends (birth unknown) is a South African professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and Other Nationalities, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity ...

. Ken Kelly also suffered an injury shortly before the tour departed, and was replaced by John Holmes.

Results

Australia

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

New Zealand

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Notes

References

{{Great Britain Lions tours Great Britain national rugby league team tours Rugby league tours of Australia Australia–United Kingdom sports relations Rugby league tours of New Zealand New Zealand–United Kingdom sports relations Great Britain Lions tour Great Britain Lions tour Great Britain Lions tour