2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations


The majority of the 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations was played in Great Britain and Australasia. The final was played between Australia and New Zealand at Elland Road on Saturday 26 November. New Zealand won the match 24-0 and were crowned 2005 Tri-Nations champions, breaking Australia's 27-year undefeated international tournament record.
The tournament was officially known as the 2005 Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship from Gillette.

Participating teams

Each team was to play the other three twice during the round robin tournament. The top two finishing teams would then contest the final.
TeamNicknameCoachCaptainRLIF Rank
AustraliaThe KangaroosWayne BennettDarren Lockyer1
Great BritainThe LionsBrian NobleJamie Peacock2
New ZealandThe KiwisBrian McClennanRuben Wiki3

Officials

One referee from each participating nation was appointed to control matches in the Tri-Nations:
The games were played at the following venues in Australia, New Zealand and England.

SydneyAucklandLondon
Telstra StadiumEricsson StadiumLoftus Road
Capacity: 83,500Capacity: 30,000Capacity: 18,439
WiganHuddersfieldHull
JJB StadiumGalpharm StadiumKC Stadium
Capacity: 25,138Capacity: 24,500Capacity: 25,138

Final

The Tri-Nations Final was played in Leeds.

Leeds
Elland Road
Capacity: 37,890

Results

Tournament matches


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Tournament standings

Final

The historic win by the Kiwis over an Australian 17 containing only 3 Queensland players and one player from the previous month's 2005 NRL grand final put an end to the Kangaroos' dominance in international rugby league. It was the first time Australia, hot favourites for the match, had failed to win a series or tournament since France defeated them in both Tests of the 1978 Kangaroo tour.
The win by New Zealand was the first time the Kiwis had beaten Australia in a test series or tournament since 1952. Australian coach Wayne Bennett resigned from the national coaching post just over a week after the final.

Player statistics

Non-series tests

During the series, Australia and New Zealand played additional Tests against France. This was the first time the two teams had met in a test match since Australia's 74–0 win in Béziers in the last game of the 1994 Kangaroo tour.
Australia: 1 Anthony Minichiello, 2 Eric Grothe, Jr., 3 Mark Gasnier, 4 Matt Cooper, 5 Brent Tate, 6 Scott Prince, 7 Craig Gower, 8 Jason Ryles, 9 Craig Wing, 10 Mark O'Meley, 11 Ben Creagh, 12 Willie Mason, 13 Trent Waterhouse
Interchange: 14 Steve Price, 15 Petero Civoniceva, 16 Andrew Ryan, 17 Matt King
France: 1 Renaud Guigue, 2 Frédéric Zitter, 3 Christophe Moly, 4 Jérôme Hermet, 5 Olivier Charles, 6 Laurent Frayssinous, 7 Julien Rinaldi, 8 David Ferriol, 9 David Berthezène, 10 Jérôme Guisset, 11 Aurélien Cologni, 12 Jamal Fakir, 13 Grégory Mounis
Interchange: 14 Maxime Grésèque, 15 Adel Fellous, 16 Jean Christophe Borlin, 17. Sébastien Raguin
For this match, Craig Gower was given the honour of captaining Australia for the first time.
Australia 44 defeated
France 12
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Other game

New Zealand played a midweek match against England "A" which did not count as a test match. Halftime was 12-all.