The 2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The New Zealand national rugby league team drew the series 1.5-1.5 against Great Britain and also defeated Wales and France.
Background
This was the Kiwis first tour of Great Britain since the 2000 World Cup, the Kangaroos having toured Great Britain the previous year.
The original squad named in September included Nathan Cayless, Craig Smith and Tevita Vaikona who all later had to withdraw from the final squad.
Before the tour started the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, held an official reception for the team at the Beehive. It was the first New Zealand rugby league tour to receive an official farewell from a Prime Minister in Parliament.
The tour was opened against Hull F.C. at The Boulevard, the same ground had hosted the first Test matched played by the 1907 New Zealand team. This match was the last international played at the ground, while the 1907 team had played in the first.
Motu Tony broke his hand in the match against England A and was ruled out of the rest of the tour. Steve Clark refereed all three Test matches against Great Britain.
Former Kiwis player Sean Hoppe, who had not represented his country since 1999, was given the honour of captaining St Helens R.F.C. in a tour match against the Kiwis. The match was meant to be his last before retirement however he was later called into the touring squad due to injuries and his final two matches were test matches against Great Britain and France. Hoppe was called up over Lesley Vainikolo who was also considered as a replacement after injuries to several backs including Motu Tony and Clinton Toopi.
In the end Great Britain tied the series, taking the inaugural Baskerville Shield as hosts. The third test match was Great Britain's first win over New Zealand since 1993.
Squad
Kiwis captain Nathan Cayless withdrew due to suspension and was replaced by Andrew Lomu while Willie Talau required surgery and was unavailable. After the Australia Test both Lomu and Matt Utai were withdrawn by their clubs for off-season surgery. On arriving in England, English based players Craig Smith and Tevita Vaikona were ruled out due to injury. Later Motu Tony and Robbie Paul were sidelined with injuries and in France Richard Swain left to sign a deal with the Broncos and Stephen Kearney flew home due to a family illness.
Clinton Toopi broke his hand in a scuffle with Nigel Vagana during a team drinking session after the second test. Freeman and team management initially tried to cover up the incident, claiming the injury occurred during the match, before media found out and had a field day.
- Coach: Gary Freeman
Fixtures
The New Zealand side played five test matches while on their European tour and one test in New Zealand before leaving.
New Zealand vs Australia
| 12 October 2002 |
New Zealand 
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24–32 |  Australia
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| Tries: Stacey Jones Richard Swain Clinton Toopi Matt Utai Goals: Richard Swain (4/5) |
Tries: Matthew Gidley (2) Scott Hill Ben Kennedy Willie Mason Timana Tahu Goals: Hazem El Masri (4/7) |
| Westpac Stadium, Wellington Attendance: 25,015 Referee: Bill Harrigan (Australia) Player of the Match: Scott Hill (Australia) |
New Zealand
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Australia
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British leg
| 22 October |
Hull F.C. 
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11–28 | New Zealand
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| Tries: Richard Horne, Paul Parker Goals: Matt Crowther (1) Field Goals: Graham Mackay (1) |
Tries: Henry Fa'afili (2), David Vaealiki, Nigel Vagana, Francis Meli Goals: Lance Hohaia (4) |
| The Boulevard, Kingston upon Hull Attendance: 12,092 Referee: Robert Connolly |
Hull: Steve Prescott, Paul Parker, Richard Horne, Graham Mackay, Matt Crowther, Jason Smith (c), Tony Smith, Craig Greenhill, Lee Jackson, Scott Logan, Adam Maher, Sean Ryan, Chris Chester. Res: Craig Poucher, Paul Cooke, Richard Fletcher, Paul King. Coach: Shaun McRae
New Zealand: David Vaealiki, Francis Meli, Nigel Vagana, Clinton Toopi, Henry Fa'afili, Motu Tony, Lance Hohaia, Jason Cayless, Monty Betham, Paul Rauhihi, Tony Puletua, Ruben Wiki, Logan Swann. Res: Michael Smith, Richard Swain, Awen Guttenbeil, Stephen Kearney
| 25 October |
St Helens 
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26–38 | New Zealand
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| Knowsley Road, St. Helens |
| 30 October |
England A 
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12–34 | New Zealand
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| Griffin Park, London |
Wales vs New Zealand
| 3 November 2002 |
Wales 
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22–50 | New Zealand
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| Tries: Paul Atcheson Hefin O'Hare Kris Tassell Goals: Lee Briers (5) |
Tries: Francis Meli (3) Logan Swann (2) Lance Hohaia Stacey Jones Robbie Paul Goals: Richard Swain (6) Lance Hohaia (1) |
| Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 8,746 Referee: Steve Ganson (England) Player of the Match: Stacey Jones (New Zealand) |
Wales
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New Zealand
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Baskerville Shield
After 30 New Zealand vs England / Great Britain test series since 1907, the Baskerville Shield was inaugurated for series between New Zealand and England / Great Britain. The shield is named in honour of Albert Henry Baskerville who organised New Zealand's first ever tour of Great Britain in 1907.
Venues
The three Baskerville Shield tests took place at the following venues.
| Blackburn | Huddersfield | Wigan |
|---|---|---|
| Ewood Park | McAlpine Stadium | JJB Stadium |
| Capacity: 31,000 | Capacity: 24,500 | Capacity: 25,133 |
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1st Test
| 9 November 2002 |
Great Britain 
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16–30 | New Zealand
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| Tries: Jamie Peacock Leon Pryce Goals: Andy Farrell (4) |
Tries: Henry Fa'afili (3) Nigel Vagana (2) Stacey Jones Goals: Richard Swain (3) |
| Ewood Park, Blackburn Attendance: 16,654 Referee: Steve Clark (Australia) |
Great Britain
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New Zealand
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Henry Fa'afili scored three tries in the 30–16 first test win over Great Britain at Ewood Park, the first Kiwis hat-trick against the Lions in 97 matches dating back to 1907. His tries all came in the second half as the Kiwis rallied from a 10–6 halftime deficit to win comfortably.
2nd Test
| 16 November 2002 |
| Great Britain
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14–14 | New Zealand
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| Tries: Martin Gleeson Leon Pryce Goals: Andy Farrell (3) |
Tries: Stephen Kearney Francis Meli Ruben Wiki Goals: Richard Swain (1) |
| Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield Attendance: 23,604 Referee: Steve Clark (Australia) |
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Great Britain
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New Zealand
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3rd Test
| 23 November 2002 |
| Great Britain
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16–10 | New Zealand
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| Tries: Martin Gleeson Paul Sculthorpe Keith Senior Goals: Andy Farrell (2) |
Tries: Stacey Jones Ali Lauiti'iti Goals: Stacey Jones (1) |
| JJB Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 22,247 Referee: Steve Clark (Australia) |
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Great Britain
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New Zealand
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France vs New Zealand
| 30 November 2002 |
France 
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10–36 | New Zealand
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| Tries: Jérôme Guisset Claude Sirvent Goals: Laurent Frayssinous (2) |
Tries: Stacey Jones (2) Nigel Vagana (2) Jerry Seuseu David Vaealiki Goals: Lance Hohaia (6) |
| Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Robert Connolly (England) |
France
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New Zealand
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Aftermath
New Zealand halfback Stacey Jones won the George Smith Medal as player of the series against Great Britain. The tour was Freeman's last as head coach. In 2003 Daniel Anderson was named as the new Kiwis coach.
References
- In-form Smith wins Kiwi call-up BBC Sport, 21 September 2002
- NZ player profiles BBC Sport, 21 October 2002
- Jessup, Peter (12 October 2002). "Kiwi players let their hair down at Clark bash". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.35
- Hoppe's last stand; Sean's set to skipper St Helens The Daily Post, 25 October 2002
- SAINTS STARS' LAST GOODBYE One hell of a bargain for Blues; Knowsley Road favourites bow out against Kiwis Liverpool Echo, 25 October 2002
- Freeman eyes Vainikolo to replace injured Tony New Zealand Herald, 1 November 2002
- Lions edge Kiwis in thriller BBC Sport, 23 November 2002
- New Zealand Rugby League Annual 2002, New Zealand Rugby Football League, 2002. p.34
- ^ New Zealand Herald. "Rugby League: Kiwis tours build up special magic". nzherald.co.nz.
- New Zealand vs Australia test
- "Hull F.C vs New Zealand". Archived from the original on 2008-11-14. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- ^ Kiwi tour schedule BBC Sport, 23 October 2002
- Wales vs New Zealand
- 1st Test - Great Britain vs New Zealand
- "2nd Test - Great Britain vs New Zealand". Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "3rd Test - Great Britain vs New Zealand". Archived from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- France vs New Zealand
- "Jones voted world's best". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 December 2002. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
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