Great Britain set to return to replace England for Australia tours in 2025
John Bateman playing for Great Britain in 2019.
Senior officials are giving serious consideration to bringing back Great Britain to tour Australia next year – with the men’s and women’s England sides being replaced by the Lions, Love Rugby League understands.
Great Britain was one of the most popular concepts in rugby league’s history towards the end of last century, with the Lions taking precedence over England for large parts of the 1970s and 1980s and consistently proving to be a hit. However, it has only been used once since 2008: and that was for the ill-fated tour of New Zealand in 2019.
However, with the international game stuttering, underlined by the low-key nature of England’s Test in France last month, the RFL and RL Commercial are holding discussions about the prospect of Great Britain coming back to try and provide the sport with a proverbial shot in the arm.
The idea has support internally and is believed to be backed by both England coaches, who would be keen to lead the teams under the Great Britain banner. Furthermore, it is believed that the Lions touring Australia for the first time since 2003 would provide a much bigger commercial draw than England, due to the historical value of the Lions concept.
England has only emerged as the RFL’s preferred international concept in the last 15 to 20 years. Traditionally, Great Britain were the side of choice but that was abandoned in 2008 to allow a greater focus on developing Scotland, Wales and Ireland as standalone nations.
However, that has not happened as intended and now, Great Britain could make a comeback once again to try and drive more interest in the international game. Every previous men’s Ashes series has been Great Britain versus Australia, rather than England: and that theme now looks set to continue in 2025.
It would be a landmark moment for the women’s side. There has not been a Great Britain Lionesses game since 2003, and with the advent of the Women’s Super League and the enormous strides made by women’s rugby league in recent years, playing as Great Britain would be an historic occasion.
If the concept does return, they would travel to Las Vegas as Great Britain next March for their Test against the Jillaroos, before continuing under the Lionesses banner for two more matches against Australia later in the year alongside the men’s Ashes series.
That would allow Stuart Barrow to select some of Wales’ premiere players too, adding strength to the side that faces the world champions in 2025.
But the one criticism of the concept returning lies with the men’s side – with it almost certain that Great Britain is effectively the England side, but under a different name. There are likely to be no Welsh, Scottish or Irish players who make the cut in the touring squad, much like in 2019.
The only player in that squad who was not England-eligible was Scottish-capped Australian fullback Lachlan Coote.
However, the idea of bringing back the Lions is gathering support and if approved, it is hoped that it would drive more commercial and fan interest in a series that has not taken place for well over 20 years.
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