1946 Great Britain Lions tour
| 1946 Great Britain Lions tour |
| Manager |
W. Poppleton and W. Gabbatt |
| Tour captain(s) |
Gus Risman |
|
| Summary |
|
|
| Total |
|
| Test match |
|
|
| Opponent |
|
|
| Australia |
|
| New Zealand |
|
| Tour chronology |
| Previous tour |
1936 |
| Next tour |
1950 |
The 1946 Great Britain Lions tour was a tour by the Great Britain national rugby league team of Australia and New Zealand which took place between April and August 1946. The tour involved a schedule of 27 games, 20 in Australia including a three-test series against Australia for the Ashes and a further 7 in New Zealand including a one-test series against New Zealand.
Captained by Gus Risman the Lions returned home having won 21, drawn 1 and lost 5 of their games. The team lost the test match against New Zealand but in winning the Ashes against Australia 2–0 (with one match drawn) they became the only Great Britain team to date to be unbeaten in a Test series against Australia in Australia.
Despite being a British team - 11 of the squad were Welsh - the team played as, and were often referred to by both the press at home and away, as England. The team became known by the nickname The Indomitables due to their travelling to Australia on-board the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable.
The tour was the first major sporting series played abroad by a British side in any sport after the Second World War.
In September 1945 the Australian Minister for External Affairs, H. V. Evatt issued an invitation to the Rugby Football League (RFL) to send a team to Australia during the summer of 1946. The RFL were at first unsure about accepting due to the state of the game in Britain after the war but after consulting with the clubs, the offer was accepted on a 19–4 vote in October 1945 subject to suitable travelling arrangements being made.
The issue of transport to Australia almost resulted in the tour being cancelled; the travel arrangements were the responsibility of the Australian authorities who were unable to find passage on a commercial ship. As late as the beginning of March 1946 there was likelihood that the tour would not go ahead. Eventually the Australian High Commission in London arranged transport on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, the first time a rugby league team had travelled by warship.
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