International Wrap #7 - #GBRLLIONS - It's over...you can open you're eyes now

If you have anything to do with the Great Britain Lions set up and casually glanced at Twitter at 9:30AM this morning, you would soon wish that you had not bothered. Both “Sinfield” and “Wane” were trending nationally.

When the national side is playing, two matters that should not be being talked about is the governing body’s Rugby Director and the name of a man who many clamour to take over from current head coach Wayne Bennett.

Even if you hadn’t watched the game or known the result, simply seeing these two names trending would have been enough of an indication of Britain’s result against Papua New Guinea. Yep, they went down again to face the humiliation of a whitewash in their first overseas tour since 2006.  Worse still, this was the heaviest defeat of the series to date, which included two defeats against so-called "tier 2" nations.

We shall caveat the rest of the article by openly acknowledging that Great Britain is de-facto England in disguise and make no apologies for reviewing the tour in the context of England’s upcoming 2021 World Cup.

England initially progressed following Wayne Bennett's appointment as head coach. A slow start in 2016 gave way to a positive World Cup campaign the following year and a series win over New Zealand thereafter. Those good times seem a long way away at the moment.

In a lesser-said expression, Wayne Bennett gave an interesting press conference exploring the potential reasons for the terrible tour. Firstly, he talked about the progression of “tier 2” nations:


Since 2017, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Tonga have all beaten “tier 1” nations, and in Tonga’s case, have beaten all three of them. For the international game to succeed, it is essential that there is greater uncertainty in results. Whilst often criticised, the NRL have lead the growth by introducing an international weekend in June, which is a huge fillip to the sport.

The pacific nations are now bearing fruit as a result of greater inclusion in the domestic Australian game and more regular international fixtures.

To remove the Great Britain hat for a moment and place on the whole game hat, this autumn’s internationals do have positives to take from them.

It appears that England have learned this lesson after dropping the mid-season international for 2019, with it seeming as though it will return in 2020.

Whilst the southern hemisphere international game appears to have increased depth, the northern hemisphere game lags behind and a chasm seems to be opening. Wayne Bennett also acknowledged this in today’s post-match press conference:


This tour is comparable to the disastrous World Cup 2008 for England. The only saving grace is that this tour, whilst equal for poor results, was not dominated by infighting of club cliques.

So what of the future? It leaves the RFL with a decision to make regarding Wayne Bennett’s future for one. This is made more complex by virtue of the expiration of his contract. If the contract ran until 2021, then the RFL could simply take no action, a neutral stance if you will.

As Bennett’s contract has expired, the RFL’s hand is forced. They must either renew or release. Given the disappointment at this year’s results, renewing his contract is difficult to justify, meaning that it is likely that Bennett will depart and be replaced.

By Bennett’s own admission, performances have gone backwards. This is undeniable. And when you are going backwards when it comes to a contract renewal, there really only is one outcome.

Whilst Bennett has not endeared himself to fans with his deadpan nature, unbalanced squad and questionable selections, the blame cannot be laid solely on his door.

It is important not to overreact and we are not calling for a root-and-branch review as followed the 2008 World Cup debacle, but subtle changes need to be made.

Some of the players who played today (16th November), played their first competitive game of this season on 31st January. Meanwhile squad player Ash Handley played his first game of the season on Boxing Day 2018! The problem is so obvious it does not even need to be said. Is it any wonder that our players often underperform come November?

In 2020, the season starts one day earlier on 30 January, the Christmas friendlies will persist and the Super League players who are not involved internationally are already involved in pre-season training.

We intend on playing an international mid-season next year with no designated domestic break. Our very best players will go from late January to mid-November again with barely one week away from playing.

It is difficult to balance. We need our clubs to be profitable to boost the national team. Some teams will not play a competitive fixture at home from early September 2019 to early February 2019. Any longer of an off-season may push the precarious financial positions of many clubs that bit too far.

We do not know what the answer is or whether it is indeed possible to find that balance. We suspect it is not.

If it is, it may involve taking initially unpopular decisions and significant change. What we do know is that until the international game is given priority, the sport in England will remain in its hamster wheel and consistent international success is likely to evade us…

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