The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

), was the third staging of the

Rugby League Four Nations The Rugby League Four Nations was a rugby league football tournament run in partnership between Australia national rugby league team, Australia, England national rugby league team, England, New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand, a ...

tournament, and was played in

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 ...

and

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 ...

during October and November 2011. It was contested by regular contestants

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 ...

, in addition to

, who had qualified for their first Four Nations by winning the 2010 European Cup. The tournament saw the return of international rugby league to London's

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

for the first time since 1997, with a double-header played on 5 November 2011. Australia won the tournament, defeating England in the final at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, on 19 November 2011. The match was the last of the 17-year professional career of Australia's captain

Darren Lockyer Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profe ...

History

The 2011 tournament was the third of three Four Nations series planned before the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, with the venues rotating between Europe and the South Pacific. There was no Four Nations in 2012 due to teams preparing for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. In addition to automatic inclusions Australia, England and New Zealand, Wales qualified for the tournament by defeating

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 ...

in the final of the 2010 European Cup.

Teams

Squads

Australia

Australian coach Tim Sheens' touring squad was announced on 3 October: Of the twenty four players, twenty three were Australian born while one was Fijian born. ¹ Replaced originally selected Brett Stewart who withdrew due to injury. ² Replaced originally selected David Taylor who withdrew due to injury. ³ Replaced originally selected Glenn Stewart who withdrew for compassionate reasons.

England

The England squad for the 2011 Four Nations: Of the twenty four players, twenty two were English born while one was New Zealand born and one Australian born. Coach: Steve McNamara

New Zealand

The Kiwis announced their 23-man touring squad on 4 October. Of the twenty three players, eighteen were New Zealand born while four were Australian born and one Tongan born. Coach: Stephen Kearney ¹ Replaced original replacement Krisnan Inu who withdrew for family reasons. He replaced originally selected Steve Matai who withdrew due to injury. ² Replaced originally selected Manu Vatuvei who withdrew due to injury. ³ Replaced originally selected Shaun Johnson who withdrew due to injury.

Wales

The Welsh training squad was named on 14 September. Of the twenty three players, nine were English born while eight were Welsh born and five Australian borns and one South African born. Coach: Iestyn Harris Gareth Thomas was originally selected in the squad, but retired with immediate effect in the week leading up to the tournament.

Venues

The games were played at venues in England and Wales. The tournament final was played in Leeds.

Officiating

Referees

* Phil Bentham * Matt Cecchin * Henry Perenara

Touch judges

* Paul Holland (TJ) *

Shane Rehm Shane Rehm is a New Zealand rugby league Rugby league match officials#Referee, referee. An international referee, Rehm has also controlled Auckland Rugby League, New Zealand Rugby League and NRL Under-20s, Toyota Cup matches since 2009. Playing ...

(TJ) * James Child (TJ)

Video Referees

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

* Ben Thaler

Pre-tournament matches

Before the series, England played a Test match against

, New Zealand and Australia played a test in

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 ...

before heading to Great Britain, and

played

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in Neath. New Zealand were originally scheduled to play a Test match against the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

on 7 October, however this was called off due to the unavailability of 29 frontline players.Kiwis' league test against Cook Islands called off
''The Press'', 28 September 2011

Australia vs New Zealand

France vs England

Wales vs Ireland

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Standings

Final

Statistics

Top pointscorers

Johnathan Thurston broke the record for most points in a single tournament with his 56-point haul. The previous record of 42 was set in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

by New Zealand's Stacey Jones.

References

External links

{{2011 in Rugby League Rugby League Four Nations Four Nations

Four Four International rugby league competitions hosted by the United Kingdom