FULL TIME: PAPUA NEW GUINEA KUMULS 28-10 GREAT BRITAIN LIONS

Really, after all that, was it worth it?

It was supposed to be great. Why wouldn’t it be? After all it was in the name. The Great Britain Lions.

Here they were in the southern hemisphere reformed for the first time since 2007, and undertaking their first tour since 1996.

Round 20

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But while a name may say one thing, the results and performances have been quite the opposite. The conclusion to this tour looked to be finishing in positive style when Blake Austin and Josh Hodgson scored early tries for the Lions in Port Moresby.

Instead, Papua New Guinea came back firing through Watson Boas and Edwin Ipape, before Justin Olam, Alex Johnston and Nixon Putt condemned the Lions to a first defeat against the Kumuls since 1990.

MATCH CENTRE: Papua New Guinea vs Great Britain

This tour will be remembered for a dreary loss against Tonga, consecutive defeats against New Zealand, and this abject defeat to a PNG side with players from the third tier of the English game.

It will live long in the memory for the enforced selection of Blake Austin on the wing, taking six halfbacks and just two wingers, the lack of Celtic players in the Lions squad the moment the British press, unfairly, turned on Wayne Bennett and blamed him for all of the sport’s ills, while most of those can be laid firmly at the door of the governing body.

For the last 12 years the four composite nations of Great Britain have played under their own banners of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

PNG celebrate the second half try from Watson Boas Source: FOX SPORTS

Until it was mothballed in 2007, the Great Britain brand had been a bastion of tradition, history and prestige, not just in the UK but also overseas. That white jersey with a red and blue chevron meant something, and was immediately associated with symbolic moments in the game’s history.

Whether it was Jonathan Davies’ try at Wembley in 1994, Henderson Gill’s “bit of a boogie” in the Third Ashes Test in 1988 or Adrian Morley clobbering Robbie Kearns and getting sent off after 12 seconds – everybody has their own Great Britain moment.

The jersey – and the privilege of wearing it – stood for so much more. It represented Welshman Clive Sullivan, the first black man to captain a side from the home nations, and Dave Valentine and David Rose, the only two Scots to ever win a World Cup in any sport back in 1954.

So when they reformed for the first time in over a decade you would expect that coming-together to be representative and all-encompassing of the talent from the best four nations.

But after a 12-year hiatus the Lions tour has been nothing short of underwhelming. Scrap that, embarrassing. The main bone of contention was Australian-born players – Blake Austin, Jackson Hastings and Lachlan Coote – being picked, amid the non-selection of Celtic players.

No Welshmen were named, the only Scot was Coote, and the sole Irish representative was England-born Joe Philbin. Immediately many thought Bennett – who also coaches England – was using this tour as a proving ground for the 2021 World Cup, a fact confirmed by some of his comments.

Jackson Hastings of Great Britain makes a break during the Kiwis Test Source: Getty Images

Bennett told reporters last week that Hastings had a chance to nail down a permanent halfback role heading into the 2021 World Cup.

“We have got to find one in the next 12 months or so before the World Cup so he has got an opportunity there and I just hope he grabs it,” he said. Speaking about his playmakers, in a separate interview he said: “I didn’t want us going into the series against Australia next year trialling players. It is too close to the World Cup for that.”

But that’s not Bennett’s fault. He didn’t cut funding to development officers in Scotland and Wales, – while the CEO of the governing body and now head of the International Federation Nigel Wood, retained a salary of £314,000 ($585,000) – meaning that the chronic underinvestment in the other three nations meant the team was exclusively English.

Former RFL chief executive Nigel Wood Source: News Corp Australia

It’s not Bennett’s fault, either, that the British game has been unable to breed top-level halfbacks in the last 20 years. And it’s not his fault this pointless tour was shoehorned in the middle of a World Cup cycle to try and earn some cash for a sport without a penny to its name.

It’s not Bennett’s fault that players knocked on, kicked out on the full or missed tackles. The squad he selected is full of NRL and Super League talent. Sure, his side was perhaps light in certain areas, but with titles, countless caps and experience at the elite level they should not be losing to a side whose halfback played for Doncaster in the third division. Instead, at times against PNG, it was Great Britian who looked like little kids lost in a shopping centre.

Jonny Lomax knocks on, an out-of-position Austin has a few clangers, Gareth Widdop looked like he had blown a gasket.

The problem is that when the going gets tough, British players have an inability to stick it out, stay calm and grind their way to victory.

Blake Austin of Great Britain looks dejected after conceding a try Source: Getty Images

They have not been steeled in Origin-type intensity as Australia benefits from, and their natural talents are not on a par with Tonga or New Zealand. Under pressure, they falter, a fact evidenced over the last 25 years.

Bennett has slowly been changing that, shown by England’s upturn in form with three wins from their last four against the Kiwis, and the defeat to Australia in the 2017 World Cup final, proof they are getting closer.

The seeds of the problems of this tour have been sewn long before he took charge of England in 2016. They are intrinsic to the fabric of the British game. Jamie Peacock is the team manager of the this tour, despite having next to no pedigree in that area. Kevin Sinfield, who was a brilliant player, has no knowledge of being a director of rugby evidenced now at international and at club level with Leeds.

They brought the Lions back because the term to describe it once upon a time was great. Sadly, it isn’t any longer.

If you wanted a word to sum up rugby league in Great Britain, it isn’t great. It is expedient. And after all of this, the British will still blame Bennett.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 28 (W Boas E Ipape A Johnston J Olam N Putt tries R Martin 3 K Laybutt goals) bt GREAT BRITAIN 10 (B Austin J Hodgson tries G Widdop goal)at National Football Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins.

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FULLTIME: PNG ORCHIDS 20-16 ENGLAND WOMEN

Papua New Guinea’s women have won their first ever game of rugby league, beating England in a dramatic Test match in Port Moresby.

Tara-Jane Stanley notched a penalty along with a first-minute try as the English stormed into an early lead.

MATCH CENTRE: Papua New Guinea Women vs England Women

But the Orchids hit back literally – via the bone-crunching tackles of Elsie Albert and on the scoreboard – through Belinda Gwassumum and Carol Humeu to take a 10-6 lead in at the break.

Humeu was subjected to an allegation of biting which was put on report in the first half on England’s Emily Rudge.

Roswita Kapo extended PNG’s advantage just after the break as she crashed over from short range before Rudge nipped through a gap to cut the deficit.

England protest over an alleged PNG bite Source: FOX SPORTS

Naomi Williams followed her over the whitewash in a well-executed move which tied the scores up as Stanley converted to tie the scores at 16-16.

With just a minute remaining Shirley Joe darted through a gap in the English defence to seal PNG’s first-ever Test match victory.

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