1946 Great Britain Lions tour
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 one test match against New Zealand.
| 1946 Great Britain Lions tour | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | W. Poppleton and W. Gabbatt | ||||
| Tour captain(s) | Gus Risman | ||||
| Top point scorer(s) | Ernest Ward 101 | ||||
| Top try scorer(s) | Jimmy Lewthwaite 25 | ||||
| Top test point scorer(s) | Arthur Bassett 15 | ||||
| Top test try scorer(s) | Arthur Bassett 5 | ||||
| Summary |
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| Total |
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| Test match |
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| Opponent |
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| Australia |
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| New Zealand |
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| Tour chronology | |||||
| Previous tour | 1936 | ||||
| Next tour | 1950 | ||||
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, 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.