2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of England

2018 (2018) New Zealand rugby league tour of England  ()
Number of teams2
Host country England
Winner England (2nd title)

Matches played3
Attendance76,069 (25,356 per match)
Points scored102 (34 per match)
Tries scored17 (5.67 per match)
Top scorerNew Zealand Shaun Johnson (22)
Top try scorersEngland Tommy Makinson (3)
New Zealand Ken Maumalo (3)
 < 2015

The 2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of England was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour saw New Zealand play a three match series against and England for the Baskerville Shield. The hosts, England, won the series by two matches to one.

Background

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New Zealand and England previously took part in a competitive event in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, New Zealand lost to Fiji in the quarter-finals, while England made the final, losing to Australia by a score of just 6-0.

New Zealand and England previously played against each other in a mid-season international on 23 June 2018 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. England won 36-18.

New Zealand was last in Great Britain for the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations. During that tournament New Zealand defeated England 17-16 in Huddersfield.[1] They last played a three match test series against England during the 2015 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain, losing the series 2-1.[2] With the completion of these three tests, New Zealand and England played each other four times in 2018.

Squads

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New Zealand

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A wider squad was named on 3 September 2018 consisting of the best New Zealand eligible players in the running to play in the upcoming tour.[3] The final touring squad of 23 players was named on 1 October.[4]

On 4 October, Corey Harawira-Naera withdrew from the touring 23-man squad due to a groin injury. Agnatius Paasi and Peta Hiku were subsequently added to the squad.[5]

Ages are as of 27 October 2018, the day of the first test.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Games Points Club
Prop Leeson Ah Mau (1989-12-20)20 December 1989 (aged 28) 3 0 St. George Illawarra Dragons
Centre Gerard Beale (1990-07-18)18 July 1990 (aged 28) 0 0 New Zealand Warriors
Prop, Lock Adam Blair (1986-03-20)20 March 1986 (aged 32) 2 0 New Zealand Warriors
Prop Jesse Bromwich (1989-05-03)3 May 1989 (aged 29) 3 4 Melbourne Storm
Second-row, Lock Kenny Bromwich (1991-09-22)22 September 1991 (aged 27) 3 0 Melbourne Storm
Lock, Second-row James Fisher-Harris (1996-01-05)5 January 1996 (aged 22) 2 0 Penrith Panthers
Centre Peta Hiku (1992-12-04)4 December 1992 (aged 25) 0 0 New Zealand Warriors
Fullback, Five-eighth Jahrome Hughes (1994-10-08)8 October 1994 (aged 24) 0 0 Melbourne Storm
Wing Jamayne Isaako (1996-06-05)5 June 1996 (aged 22) 1 0 Brisbane Broncos
Halfback, Five-eighth Shaun Johnson (1990-09-09)9 September 1990 (aged 28) 3 22 New Zealand Warriors
Lock, Second-row Isaac Liu (1991-04-26)26 April 1991 (aged 27) 3 4 Sydney Roosters
Centre Joseph Manu (1996-06-29)29 June 1996 (aged 22) 3 0 Sydney Roosters
Centre Esan Marsters (1996-08-17)17 August 1996 (aged 22) 3 4 Wests Tigers
Wing Ken Maumalo (1994-07-16)16 July 1994 (aged 24) 3 12 New Zealand Warriors
Halfback Kodi Nikorima (1994-04-03)3 April 1994 (aged 24) 3 4 Brisbane Broncos
Prop Agnatius Paasi (1991-11-30)30 November 1991 (aged 26) 0 0 New Zealand Warriors
Second-row Isaiah Papali'i (1998-09-20)20 September 1998 (aged 20) 1 2 New Zealand Warriors
Second-row Kevin Proctor (1989-02-28)28 February 1989 (aged 29) 3 0 Gold Coast Titans
Wing Jordan Rapana (1989-08-15)15 August 1989 (aged 29) 2 0 Canberra Raiders
Hooker, Lock Brandon Smith (1996-05-31)31 May 1996 (aged 22) 3 0 Melbourne Storm
Second-row Joseph Tapine (1994-05-04)4 May 1994 (aged 24) 2 4 Canberra Raiders
Prop, Lock Martin Taupau (1990-02-03)3 February 1990 (aged 28) 2 0 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles
Prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (1989-01-20)20 January 1989 (aged 29) 3 0 Sydney Roosters
Fullback, Wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (captain) (1995-08-17)17 August 1995 (aged 23) 3 8 Penrith Panthers

Pre-tour matches

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13 October 2018 New Zealand New Zealand 26 – 24 Australia Australia Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland
17 October 2018 England  44 – 6  France Leigh Sports Village, Leigh

Baskerville Shield

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New Zealand announced three matches on tour, all test matches against England.[6][7]

First test

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27 October 2018
14:30 BST (UTC+01)
England  18 – 16  New Zealand
Tries: Connor, Gildart, Tomkins
Goals: Connor (3/4)
Report
Tries: Marsters, Watene-Zelezniak
Goals: Johnson (4/4)
KCOM Stadium, Hull[8]
Attendance: 17,649[9]
Referee: Robert Hicks (England)[10]

Notes:


Second test

[edit]
4 November 2018
14:30 GMT (UTC+00)
England  20 – 14  New Zealand
Tries: Makinson (3), Connor
Goals: Tomkins (1/1), Connor (1/4)
Report
Tries: Maumalo, Watene-Zelezniak
Goals: Johnson (3/3)

Third test

[edit]
11 November 2018
15:15 GMT (UTC+00)
England  0 – 34  New Zealand
Report
Tries: Maumalo (2), J. Bromwich, Liu, Nikorima, Tapine
Goals: Johnson (4/5), Papali'i (1/1)

Notes:

References

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  1. ^ "England to face New Zealand in three-match series in the autumn of 2018". www.rugby-league.com.
  2. ^ "Tickets on sale for England v New Zealand 2018 International Series". www.rugby-league.com.
  3. ^ "Kiwis and Junior Kiwis Wider Squads Announced". NZRL.co.nz. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Experienced Players Return For Kiwis Campaign". NZRL.co.nz. 1 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Paasi withdraws from Tonga squad to join Kiwis". nrl.com. 8 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Kiwis announce 2018 tour".
  7. ^ "Rugby League Online Ticketing - Web". rugbyleague.tickethour.co.uk.
  8. ^ a b c "Kiwis to face England in three-match Series in 2018". Scoop. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Tweet". Twitter. England Rugby League. 27 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Hicks to Officiate First Test". rugby-league.com. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  11. ^ "Whitehead named man of the match".
  12. ^ a b "Kick-off changes to Autumn International fixtures". rugby-league.com. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  13. ^ "England v New Zealand - Fixture amendment". rugby-league.com. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Tweet". Twitter. England Rugby League. 4 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Gerard Sutton to officiate second England test". rugby-league.com. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Hat-trick hero Makinson man of the match".
  17. ^ "Gerard Sutton to referee final test at Elland Road". rugby-league.com. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.