The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They competed in the first ever rugby league international in 1904, against England,[1][2] fielding players from Wales and Scotland. The team was later represented by players from Australia, Fiji, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa. The Other Nationalities team wore green shirts.
| Team results | |
|---|---|
| First game | |
 England 3–9 Other Nationalities(Wigan, England; 5 April 1904) | |
| Biggest win | |
| England 10–35 Other Nationalities (Wigan, England; 11 April 1951) Other Nationalities 30–5 Wales  (Bradford, England; 7 October 1953) | |
| Biggest defeat | |
 Lancashire 36–7 Other Nationalities(St. Helens, England; 25 November 1975) |
History edit
The Other Nationalities rugby league team was initially formed to act as opposition to England in the early days of the sport when international competition was non-existent. Matches were annual and played mid season from the first game in 1904 until 1907, the year of the first ever rugby league tour and the beginning of the sport being played in a county outside of the UK. Games then became more irregular and were mostly played as warm-up games for England ahead of tours. The final England vs Other Nationalities match was played in 1933.
Following the Second World War between 1949 and 1956, the team competed in the European Championship, at the time a double round robin competition between England, Wales, and France. The team won the 1952–53 and 1955–56 tournaments, in addition to three runners-up finishes.
The team did not play again until 1964 when they played their only match in the Southern Hemisphere in a friendly vs Sydney Colts at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The match was played as a curtain-raiser to France's third and final test against Australia on their 1964 tour of the country and was arranged in order to boost attendance aimed France's poor performances during the tour. The team was made up of foreign players playing in the NSWRL plus two Frenchmen that missed selection for France's match against Australia.
A year later, the team played a friendly against St Helens celebrating the club's first floodlit match. That year, they also played New Zealand at Selhurst Park as part of the 1965 Kiwi tour of Great Britain and France.
1974 and 1975 marked the team's final appearances, competing in the British County Championship. The team faced Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cumbria, played each team once in both editions of the tournament they competed. The team was made up of players from outside those three counties.
Results edit
This list of sports fixtures or results is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021) |
| Other Nationalities | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Home | Score | Away | Competition | Venue | Attendance | ||
| 5 April 1904 | England |
3-9 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Central Park, Wigan | 6,000 | ||
| 2 January 1905 | England |
26-11 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Park Avenue, Bradford | 6,000 | ||
| 1 January 1906 | England |
3-3 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Central Park, Wigan | 8,000 | ||
| 5 February 1921 | England |
33-16 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Lonsdale Park, Workington | |||
| 15 October 1924 | England |
17-23 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Headingley, Leeds | 3,000 | ||
| 4 February 1926 | England |
37-11 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Recreation Ground, Whitehaven | 7,000 | ||
| 20 March 1929 | England |
27-20 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Headingley, Leeds | 5,000 | ||
| 7 April 1930 | England |
19-35 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Thrum Hall, Halifax | 2,000 | ||
| 1 October 1930 | England |
31-18 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 10,000 | ||
| 30 March 1933 | England |
34-27 | Other Nationalities | Friendly | Lonsdale Park, Workington | 11,000 | ||
| 19 September 1949 | England |
7-13 | Other Nationalities | 1949-50 European Championship | Derwent Park, Workington | 17,500 | ||
| 22 October 1949 | Wales |
5-6 | Other Nationalities | The Park, Abertillery | 2,000 | |||
| 15 January 1950 |  France |
8-3 | Other Nationalities | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille | 25,000 | |||
| 10 December 1950 | France |
16-3 | Other Nationalities | 1950-51 European Championship | Stade du Parc Lescure, Bordeaux | 28,000 | ||
| 31 March 1951 | Wales |
21-27 | Other Nationalities | St Helens Rugby Ground, Swansea | 5,000 | |||
| 11 April 1951 | England |
10-35 | Other Nationalities | Central Park, Wigan | 17,000 | |||
| 3 November 1951 | Other Nationalities | 17-14 | France |
1951-52 European Championship | Craven Park, Hull | 18,000 | ||
| 1 December 1951 | Wales |
11-22 | Other Nationalities | The Park, Abertillery | 3,386 | |||
| 23 April 1952 | England |
31-18 | Other Nationalities | Central Park, Wigan | 20,000 | |||
| 18 October 1952 | England |
12-31 | Other Nationalities | 1952-53 European Championship | Fartown Ground, Huddersfield | 20,000 | ||
| 23 November 1952 | France |
10-29 | Other Nationalities | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille | 18,000 | |||
| 15 April 1953 | Other Nationalities | 16-18 | Wales |
Wilderspool, Warrington | 8,449 | |||
| 7 October 1953 | Other Nationalities | 30-5 | Wales |
1953-54 European Championship | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 14,646 | ||
| 18 October 1953 | France |
15-10 | Other Nationalities | Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux | 12,000 | |||
| 28 November 1953 | England |
30-22 | Other Nationalities | Central Park, Wigan | 19,000 | |||
| 12 September 1955 | England |
16-33 | Other Nationalities | 1955-56 European Championship | Central Park, Wigan | 18,234 | ||
| 19 October 1955 | Other Nationalities | 32-19 | France |
Hilton Park, Leigh | 7,000 | |||
| 18 July 1964 |  Sydney Colts |
25-16 | Other Nationalities | Curtain-raiser to Australia vs France 3rd Test | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | 16,731 | ||
| 27 January 1965 | Other Nationalities | 2-19 |  St. Helens |
Friendly (switching-on of new floodlights) | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 15,000 | ||
| 18 August 1965 | Other Nationalities | 7-15 |  New Zealand |
1965 Kiwi Tour | Crystal Palace, London | |||
| 11 September 1974 | Lancashire |
14-13 | Other Nationalities | 1974 County Championship | The Willows, Salford | 2,000 | ||
| 18 September 1974 |  Yorkshire |
22-15 | Other Nationalities | Craven Park, Hull | ||||
| 25 September 1974 |  Cumbria |
19-12 | Other Nationalities | Recreation Ground, Whitehaven | ||||
| 25 November 1975 | Lancashire |
36-7 | Other Nationalities | 1975 County Championship | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 29,000 | ||
| 6 December 1975 | Yorkshire |
16-16 | Other Nationalities | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | ||||
| 20 December 1975 | Cumbria |
21-13 | Other Nationalities | Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness | ||||
Player statistics edit
.jpg)
† 5 April 1904 match, against England, was a 12-a-side game.
†† Although originally from South Africa, David Barends also represented Great Britain.
Source[4]
Other teams edit
Throughout history their have been several other teams created using a similar concept.
Exiles edit
Combined Nationalities edit
The Combined Nationalities rugby league team a rugby league team created to play an international fixture against France in 1954. The team comprised European-based (or in the case of the United States players, European touring) non-French rugby league footballers.[5]
The team lost 15-19 during the match at Stade de Gerland, Lyon, on Sunday 3 January 1954.
- Starting XIII
Billy Banks
Lionel Cooper- Gerry Helme
Bob Lampshire- Tom McKinney
- Keith McLellan
- Bernard McNally
- Owen Phillips
- Willie Richardson
- Leon Sellers
- Dave Valentine
Giovanni Vigna- Ernest Ward
Combined Nations All Stars edit
The Combined Nations All Stars was created following the COVID-19 pandemic as opposition to England using UK based players as international travel was still restricted. The team played twice with the following results:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 June 2021 | England |
24–26 | Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington |
4,000 [6] |
| 18 June 2022 | 18–4 | 9,393 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "The History Of Rugby League". Rugby League Information. napit.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
- ^ "Scotland". rlwc2013.com. Rugby League International Federation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Programme 'Yorkshire County Rugby League - Challenge Cup Final - 1957 - Huddersfield v. York'" (PDF). huddersfieldrlheritage.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "Player Directory". Rugby League Records. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ "Summary at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "England beaten by All Stars in Shaun Wane's first game in charge". The Guardian. 26 Jun 2021. Retrieved 27 Jun 2021.