Super League Test series
The Super League Test series was a
Background
The Australian side consisted only of players from the
Coming off the disaster of the Lions
Test Venues
The three tests took place at the following venues:
London | Manchester | Leeds |
---|---|---|
Wembley Stadium | Old Trafford | Elland Road |
Capacity: 82,000 | Capacity: 56,000 | Capacity: 40,000 |
First Test
Saturday, 1 November 1997
|
Great Britain | 14 – 38 | Australia |
---|---|---|
Tries: Jason Robinson James Lowes Goals: Andy Farrell (3) |
[6] |
Tries: Laurie Daley (3) Brett Mullins (2) Craig Gower Darren Smith Goals: Ryan Girdler (5) |
This was Australia's first visit to
Former Aussie international John Lang was coach of the Australians with the team captained by Laurie Daley, a veteran of the successful 1990 and 1994 Kangaroo tours, and one of only five players in the team who had played a test at Wembley (Daley, Brett Mullins, Wendell Sailor and Steve Walters had played in 1994, while Andrew Ettingshausen had played in both 1990 and 1994. Walters had also played in the 1992 Rugby League World Cup final at Wembley when Australia defeated Great Britain 10–6 in front of a then world record international attendance of 73,631). Future great of the game Darren Lockyer made his international debut for Australia at fullback.
This would be the last rugby league Test match played at the old Wembley Stadium which was demolished in 2003. The victory giving Australia a 6–4 record at the famous old stadium dating back to the last game of the
Second Test
This game remains the only time that an Australian team has lost at Old Trafford since first playing at the "Theatre of Dreams" in 1986.
Saturday, 8 November 1997
|
Great Britain | 20 – 12 | Australia |
---|---|---|
Tries: Andy Farrell Jason Robinson Goals: Andy Farrell (6/7) |
[9] |
Tries: Steve Walters Craig Gower Goals: Darren Lockyer (2/2) |
Great Britain dropped three players following their first test defeat; Mick Cassidy, Anthony Sullivan and Dean Sampson. Martin Crompton was also sacked from the squad after failing to report to training.[10]
Third Test
Sunday, 16 November 1997
|
Great Britain | 20 – 37 | Australia |
---|---|---|
Tries: Simon Haughton (2) Jason Robinson Goals: Andy Farrell (4) |
[12] |
Tries: Wendell Sailor (2) Ken Nagas Laurie Daley Brad Thorn Robbie Kearns Darren Smith Goals: Ryan Girdler (4) Field Goal: Darren Lockyer |
The Australian's wrapped up the Super League Test series with a 37–20 win over the Lions at Elland Road in Leeds. The Australians also extended their unbeaten run against Great Britain at Elland Road in Leeds, having won all four of their games with the Lions played at the stadium since 1986.
References
- ^ Centrica scores from Rugby deal Marketing, 25 September 1997
- ARL. Archived from the originalon 2011-09-27.
- ^ "Great Britain international stats". englandrl.co.uk. Rugby Football League.
- ^ 1,000 FREE Test tickets to be won The Mirror, 28 October 1997
- ^ 1997 Australia vs Rest of the World at Rugby League Project
- ^ 1st Test Report
- ^ Wilson, Andy (4 November 2011). "Wembley Rugby League internationals – in pictures". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ Hadfield, Dave (1 November 1997). "Britain must not rely on Wembley factor". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ 2nd Test Report
- ^ Atcheson steps up as Crompton goes fishing The Independent, 6 November 1997
- ^ Farrell leads the great British revival The Independent, 9 November 1997
- ^ 3rd Test Report
External links
- Great Britain vs Australia SL 1997 at rugbyleagueproject.org