Lions call for the return of Great Britain from 2027

   10/08/2026

THE Rugby League Lions Association is asking for the restoration of Great Britain as the name of the UK’s elite national team. 

The Lions are also urging Rugby league fans across the world to show their support for the return of the Great Britain brand by signing a dedicated petition on the Association’s website.

The Great Britain name was effectively shelved in 2008 when the RFL launched a new identity for England as the national team ahead of that year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 

But for an ill-fated four-game mini tour of Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand in 2019, the Great Britain name has been absent from the sport’s international calendar ever since. 

The Lions Association represents players and staff selected to represent the senior national team on tours or international tournaments played in the southern hemisphere. Since 2008, players representing England in the Four Nations and at World Cups Down Under have continued to be recognised as Lions.

Brian Noble MBE, the Lions Association Chairman who captained the 1984 Great Britain Lions tour and coached Great Britain to their last victory over Australia in Sydney in 2006, said: “Rugby league heritage is built around the Great Britain brand: I visit Australia regularly and when I go there, they understand that Great Britain is the international concept of our national team and that we play as the Great Britain Lions when we’re on tour. 

“When I speak to the Welsh, Scottish and Irish players who I’ve had the privilege to play with or coach, they know that our primary brand is Great Britain, but as things stand, they are excluded from representing their country at the very highest level. That can’t be right.

“The timing to bring back Great Britain is perfect. The RFL has pressed the reset button and installed Brian McDermott as England’s interim coach for this year’s World Cup, and with everything else that’s happening in the game right now, this is the ideal time to settle down, let the dust lie and make some good decisions.

“We are 100 per cent behind England in the 2026 World Cup but rebranding the team as Great Britain from 2027 is the best decision the RFL could make.”