Rugby League Tri-Nations

The Rugby League Tri-Nations (also known as the Gillette Rugby League Tri-nations for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby league tournament involving the top three nations in the sport: Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. First contested in 1999 it is a logical continuation of the format originally used for the Rugby League World Cup in which the best teams in the world play in a round robin tournament leading to a final.

The competition

The tournament has been organised in two different formats. In 1999 each team played the others once, before the top two teams played each other in a final. From 2004 each team has played the others twice before the tournament final. The top two teams are calculated using a league table. Teams receive:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw
0 points for a loss

The tournament begins in the middle of October, after the National Rugby League grand final. Australia and New Zealand play each other at this time, and Great Britain enters the tournament after the Super League grand final.

During the tournament, some teams have also played additional Test matches. In the southern hemisphere New Zealand has played Tonga, and in the northern hemisphere Australia and New Zealand have played France.

History

The first Tri-nations tournament was held in 1999 in Australia and New Zealand. When the Great Britain only narrowly defeated the Queensland Cup premiers, the Burleigh Bears, it became apparent that they would not pose a serious threat to the other two teams. Accordingly, a very small crowd attended the Test between the Kangaroos and the Lions at Suncorp Stadium. Fearing a similar crowd for the tournament final, organisers moved that match from Sydney to Auckland. With the Rugby League World Cup being held in 2000, the Tri-nations tournament was put on hold indefinitely.

Australia was to dominate international rugby league over the next three years, winning the World Cup, defeating Great Britain 2-1 and 3-0 in Kangarooo Tours in 2001 and 2003, and defeating Great Britain and New Zealand by large margins in the mid-year Tests of 2002 and 2003. There was much criticism of the state of international rugby league in the media at this time. In response, Brisbane Broncos coach, Wayne Bennett, proposed that the Tri-nations tournament be resurrected (albeit without a final). Accordingly, a revamped Tri-nations tournament was played in 2004.

With the exception of the first match between Australia and New Zealand, the 2004 Tri-nations was held in the United Kingdom. Each of the qualifying games was highly competitive, especially Australia's loss to Great Britain, who finished at the top of the Tri-nations table. Although Australia soundly defeated Great Britain in the final, the tournament was widely considered to be a success, making a profit of £750,000.

The 2005 Tri-Nations opened with games in both Australia and New Zealand, before moving to the United Kingdom for the remainder of the tournament. Although some of the matches were not as close as the previous tournament, all three teams were in contention for the final by the last group match. New Zealand won the final, defeating Australia 24-0 at Elland Road in Leeds. This was Australia's first defeat in an international test series in 27 years.

Tri-nations tournaments are to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2006 and the United Kingdom in 2009. Great Britain will not compete in the tournament after 2006, with England set to replace them. It is planned to include France in the 2009 tournament . ^*

Statistics

Series results

Year	Winner
1999	Australia
2004	Australia
2005	New Zealand

Aggregate table

Australia||10||6||1||3||238||174||64||13 New Zealand||10||4||1||5||232||241||-10||9 Great Britain||10||4||0||6||174||228||-54||8

Team	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	For	Against	Difference	Points

Top try scorers

Tries scored	Name	Country
7	Nigel Vagana	New Zealand
6	Brian Carney	Great Britain
6	Darren Lockyer	Australia
6	Luke Rooney	Australia
5	Matt Cooper	Australia
5	Anthony Minichiello	Australia
5	Clinton Toopi	New Zealand
5	Brent Webb	New Zealand

Venues

Stadium	City	Matches played (scheduled)
Ericsson Stadium	Auckland	4 (1)
Elland Road	Leeds	2
Galpharm Stadium	Huddersfield	2
JJB Stadium	Wigan	2
KC Stadium	Hull	2
Loftus Road	London	2
City of Manchester Stadium	Manchester	1
North Harbour Stadium	Auckland	1
Suncorp Stadium	Brisbane	1 (1)
Telstra Stadium	Sydney	1
Aussie Stadium	Sydney	0 (2)
Jade Stadium	Christchurch	0 (1)
Telstra Dome	Melbourne	0 (1)
Westpac Stadium	Wellington	0 (1)

Trivia

Australia has never won their opening game.

New Zealand's win in the 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations was the first time that Australia had not won an international test series for 27 years.

The tournament will not be held in 2007, as New Zealand will be doing a celebratory tour of Europe, commemorating 100 years of international rugby league. Australia will be preparing for the 2008 World Cup.

The winning team has never finished top of the table: New Zealand were placed first in 1999, followed by Great Britain in 2004 and Australia in 2005.

The 2009 series will be contested by four nations: Australia, England, France and New Zealand

External links