What happened to the rugby league Lions – and could they be revived?

While Andy Farrell’s team are winning matches and fans in Australia, the league Lions remain in hibernation

By No Helmets Required

If the British & Irish Lions complete a clean sweep against the Wallabies on Saturday in Sydney, there will be more talk of Australia no longer being a sufficiently challenging destination for a Lions tour. It’s a mirror image of what has happened to the rugby league Lions over the past 15 years, with Australia deciding that neither Great Britain nor England brought the jeopardy, ticket sales or eyeballs required to justify an incoming tour. Instead, the Kangaroos will visit London, Liverpool and Leeds later this year to play England.

It has been 33 years since Great Britain toured Australia. Martin Offiah lit up that series in 1992, scoring seven tries in six Tests against Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. Offiah, who won 33 caps for Great Britain, as well as five for England, cannot believe the Rugby Football League and Australian Rugby League have allowed these showcase events to fade from view. “As a nation we’ve got to have regular fixtures against Australia,” says Offiah. “Not playing them since the World Cup final in 2017 is crazy. When you’re trying to get across that bridge and match them, that’s a massive gap. And we should have been Great Britain for this series – then gone back to England for the World Cup.”

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The Breakdown | If Lions complete Australia rout, clamour for tour of France will grow

It may open the Lions to accusations of parochialism, but there is a compelling case for staying in Europe

It may be too early to start asking existential questions about the British & Irish Lions but, sitting in Melbourne’s Southbank, slap bang in the middle of Aussie rules territory, where union makes barely a ripple, you begin to wonder. The sea of red will roll in at the weekend but, for now, Melbourne is pretty much oblivious. “Some kind of carnival on I think,” was one taxi driver’s assessment.

None of this is to criticise Australia. It is a wonderful country, sports mad and as the loosehead prop James Slipper says of the locals: “They’re still Australian, so they’ll be there. I know they’ll be there. It’s one thing about this country, regardless of the sport, they’ll get behind the national colours.”

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James Slipper urges Wallabies to ignore ‘losing mentality’ jibe with Lions series on the line

  • Veteran calls for history to repeat after being part of fightback in 2013

  • Australia boosted by return of Rob Valetini and Will Skelton from injury

Steely Wallabies veteran James Slipper is urging his battered troops to block out the “noise” as they look to stop the Lions juggernaut in their do-or-die second Test in Melbourne.

The series is on the line at the MCG on Saturday night with Slipper offering a unique perspective in the current Australian line-up as the only player to have taken part in two series.

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Australia 19-27 British & Irish Lions: first Test – as it happened

Andy Farrell’s Lions eased to victory in the first Test, leading 24-5 before Australia rallied to make the score respectable

The crowd count us down and Finn Russell boots the test series under way.

Officials for this match:

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)

Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) & Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Television Match Official (TMO): Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

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Captain Harry Wilson backs Wallabies to surprise British & Irish Lions in first Test

  • Australia’s No 8 says team will try to ‘win every moment’ on Saturday

  • Nick Champion de Crespigny and Tom Lynagh come into injury-depleted squad

Australia captain Harry Wilson said the Wallabies were confident of beating the British & Irish Lions in the first Test at Lang Park on Saturday despite being heavy underdogs after losing several key players to injury.

The Wallabies have won only four of their last 11 Tests and on Saturday will be without regular fly-half Noah Lolesio and their best Test player of the last two years, loose forward Rob Valetini.

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Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii learns from Origin pain before renewing hostilities with Lions

  • Wallabies star plays down feud with Sione Tuipulotu

  • 21-year-old was sent off in State of Origin debut for NSW Blues

Wallabies gun Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has avoided throwing fuel on the fire ahead of a possible spicy rematch with British and Irish Lions centre Sione Tuipulotu in Saturday’s opening Test in Brisbane

The star league recruit and the Melbourne-raised Scotland captain had to be separated in a skirmish in their first meeting at Murrayfield last November.

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Australia 21-18 Fiji: international rugby union Test – as it happened

Wallabies survive scare from surging Fiji at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle

Out stride the two teams, side by side, accompanied by mascots. The visitors are wearing white jerseys and black shorts, the hosts are wearing their First Nations jersey, which is predominately gold, with green accents to match the green shorts.

Angus Fontaine puts it all into context for the Wallabies.

Adventurous attack. Bone-rattling defence. Mistakes punished and opportunities seized. Get in the enemy’s faces and bring the crowd into the contest from the get-go. A ragtag NSW Waratahs gave Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies a bold blueprint for how to dismantle the British & Irish Lions in the first Test on 19 July.

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David Porecki returns to Wallabies team to face Fiji after 643-day international absence

  • Hooker to partner James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa in front row

  • Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii returns after recovering from broken jaw

The Wallabies have opted for experience in their front row to face Fiji this weekend, with former captain David Porecki called back into the team, 643 days since he last pulled on a gold jersey.

Porecki, 32, was named on Friday in the starting XV for Sunday’s Test in Newcastle, alongside all-time cap record holder James Slipper and 80-Test tighthead Allan Alaalatoa, in a forward pack missing big guns Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, who both have calf injuries.

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The Breakdown | Trash-talk and rough sleeping: following the 2001 Lions’ tour of Australia

After a taste of the atmosphere during a post-university year travelling I was hooked and the memories will last a lifetime

June 2001. I’m on an overnight Greyhound bus from Cairns to Townsville. A typical post-university year travelling in Australia and New Zealand has taken an unwelcome turn after an equally typical relationship breakup.

Initially there had been no plans to follow that year’s British & Irish Lions tour, even though I had been enthralled by the classic encounter against the Springboks four years earlier. With my newfound freedom it seemed logical to head south, a couple of hundred miles down the coast, to see the legendary tourists in action.

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Incoming Australia coach Les Kiss to take charge of Lions tour invitational team

  • AUNZ Invitational XV play British & Irish Lions in Brisbane in July
  • Former Wallaby Toutai Kefu to coach First Nations and Pasifika XV

Incoming Wallabies coach Les Kiss will get an early taste of international rugby when he oversees the AUNZ Invitational XV against the British & Irish Lions in Adelaide.

Queensland Reds mentor Kiss will team up with former All Blacks coach Ian Foster, who was already announced as an assistant for the July fixture, the first time since 1989 that Australia and New Zealand have combined on the field.

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