1992 Great Britain Lions tour

1992 Great Britain Lions tour
Date24 May 1992 – 19 July 1992
ManagerMaurice Lindsay
Coach(es)Mal Reilly
Tour captain(s)Ellery Hanley
Top point scorer(s)Paul Eastwood (63)
Top try scorer(s)Martin Offiah (7)
Summary
P W D L
Total
17 13 00 04
Test match
06 03 00 03
Opponent
P W D L
 Papua New Guinea
1 1 0 0
 Australia
3 1 0 2
 New Zealand
2 1 0 1
Tour chronology
Previous tour1990
Next tour1996

The 1992 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team, nicknamed the 'Lions', of Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand which took place between May and July 1992. The tour was the last of such length undertaken by the Great Britain team, and included a test match against Papua New Guinea, a three-test series against Australia for The Ashes, and a two-test series against New Zealand for the Baskerville Shield, all interspersed with matches against local club and representative teams.

Taking place following the conclusion of England's 1991–92 Rugby Football League season and during Australia's 1992 Winfield Cup premiership season, the tour led to friction between the Great Britain team's management and the Australian Rugby League over match scheduling and promotion. For the first time ever, a Lions tour was shown live on television in the United Kingdom through Sky Sports. The commentators for the tour were Eddie Hemmings and former Lions World Cup hooker Mike Stephenson who had a greater insight into the Australian game having spent most of the 1970s and 1980s, playing, coaching and commentating in the Sydney premiership.[1] The Lions finished the tour with thirteen wins and four losses and a profit of £244,645. Unfortunately for the Lions, three of their losses came in the Test matches, two against Australia and one against New Zealand with the other loss coming against Sydney club side Parramatta.[2]

  1. ^ Great Britain's 1992 Tour Of Australasia
  2. ^ Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1992 New Zealand Rugby League, 1992. p.p.52-73