Rugby League Lions 1910

The first Northern Union tour followed on from the success of the trailblazing visits to England by the New Zealand ‘All Golds’ in 1907 and Australia in 1908-09, when the Kangaroos played 45 games between October and March.

The Lions’ schedule was considerably shorter – just 18 matches over a five-month long trip – and, in stark contrast to the experience of the Australians, whose manager had been bankrupted by the experience 12 months earlier, hugely profitable.

Attendances in Australia totalled 300,000 whilst almost 30,000 people turned out for the four games played in New Zealand. The 26 tourists received an allowance of 10 shillings a week aboard the steam liner RMS Osterley en route to Australia, and twice as much once ashore, with an extra £1 weekly for married men.

In selecting a squad for such a historic tour, the Northern Union set high standards, asking clubs to only nominate players “who will do honour to the Union both on and off the field of play…to secure the reputation of not only having shown the best football, but of having sent out the best-behaved and most gentlemanly team that has toured Australasia.”

The expectations on the shoulder of this pioneering group of working-class heroes was very high…and they did not disappoint.

The tourists won the first two Ashes Tests, 27-20 in Sydney and 22-17 in Brisbane, prompting a change in schedule with the next game taking place against a combined Australia-New Zealand XV.  This game ended in a 13-13 draw, with ‘Australasia’ winning the replay 32-15.

All four games in New Zealand were won, including a 52-20 victory in the Test against the Kiwis played in Auckland.

The leading scorer was captain James Lomas of Salford, with 10 tries and 53 goals; top-try-scorer was Wigan’s Bert Jenkins with 14; Billy Jukes of Hunslet claimed the first Test hat-trick with three tries in the first Ashes Test, a feat trumped by Jimmy Letham of Wigan who touched down four times in the second Test.

Tour Summary