# 2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of England

The 2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of England was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. The tour saw
New Zealand play a three match series against and England for the Baskerville Shield. The hosts, England, won the series by two matches to one.

## Background

New Zealand and England previously took part in a competitive event in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, New Zealand lost to Fiji in the quarter-finals, while England made the final, losing to Australia by a score of just 6-0.
New Zealand and England previously played against each other in a mid-season international on 23 June 2018 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. England won 36-18.
New Zealand was last in Great Britain for the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations. During that tournament New Zealand defeated England 17-16 in Huddersfield. They last played a three match test series against England during the 2015 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain, losing the series 2-1. With the completion of these three tests, New Zealand and England played each other four times in 2018.

## Squads
### New Zealand

A wider squad was named on 3 September 2018 consisting of the best New Zealand eligible players in the running to play in the upcoming tour. The final touring squad of 23 players was named on 1 October.
On 4 October, Corey Harawira-Naera withdrew from the touring 23-man squad due to a groin injury. Agnatius Paasi and Peta Hiku were subsequently added to the squad.
Ages are as of 27 October 2018, the day of the first test.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Games | Points | Club |
| Prop | Leeson Ah Mau | (1989-12-20)20 December 1989 (aged 28) | 3 | 0 | St. George Illawarra Dragons |
| Centre | Gerard Beale | (1990-07-18)18 July 1990 (aged 28) | 0 | 0 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Prop, Lock | Adam Blair | (1986-03-20)20 March 1986 (aged 32) | 2 | 0 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Prop | Jesse Bromwich | (1989-05-03)3 May 1989 (aged 29) | 3 | 4 | Melbourne Storm |
| Second-row, Lock | Kenny Bromwich | (1991-09-22)22 September 1991 (aged 27) | 3 | 0 | Melbourne Storm |
| Lock, Second-row | James Fisher-Harris | (1996-01-05)5 January 1996 (aged 22) | 2 | 0 | Penrith Panthers |
| Centre | Peta Hiku | (1992-12-04)4 December 1992 (aged 25) | 0 | 0 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Fullback, Five-eighth | Jahrome Hughes | (1994-10-08)8 October 1994 (aged 24) | 0 | 0 | Melbourne Storm |
| Wing | Jamayne Isaako | (1996-06-05)5 June 1996 (aged 22) | 1 | 0 | Brisbane Broncos |
| Halfback, Five-eighth | Shaun Johnson | (1990-09-09)9 September 1990 (aged 28) | 3 | 22 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Lock, Second-row | Isaac Liu | (1991-04-26)26 April 1991 (aged 27) | 3 | 4 | Sydney Roosters |
| Centre | Joseph Manu | (1996-06-29)29 June 1996 (aged 22) | 3 | 0 | Sydney Roosters |
| Centre | Esan Marsters | (1996-08-17)17 August 1996 (aged 22) | 3 | 4 | Wests Tigers |
| Wing | Ken Maumalo | (1994-07-16)16 July 1994 (aged 24) | 3 | 12 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Halfback | Kodi Nikorima | (1994-04-03)3 April 1994 (aged 24) | 3 | 4 | Brisbane Broncos |
| Prop | Agnatius Paasi | (1991-11-30)30 November 1991 (aged 26) | 0 | 0 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Second-row | Isaiah Papali'i | (1998-09-20)20 September 1998 (aged 20) | 1 | 2 | New Zealand Warriors |
| Second-row | Kevin Proctor | (1989-02-28)28 February 1989 (aged 29) | 3 | 0 | Gold Coast Titans |
| Wing | Jordan Rapana | (1989-08-15)15 August 1989 (aged 29) | 2 | 0 | Canberra Raiders |
| Hooker, Lock | Brandon Smith | (1996-05-31)31 May 1996 (aged 22) | 3 | 0 | Melbourne Storm |
| Second-row | Joseph Tapine | (1994-05-04)4 May 1994 (aged 24) | 2 | 4 | Canberra Raiders |
| Prop, Lock | Martin Taupau | (1990-02-03)3 February 1990 (aged 28) | 2 | 0 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles |
| Prop | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves | (1989-01-20)20 January 1989 (aged 29) | 3 | 0 | Sydney Roosters |
| Fullback, Wing | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (captain) | (1995-08-17)17 August 1995 (aged 23) | 3 | 8 | Penrith Panthers |

## Pre-tour matches

| 13 October 2018 | New Zealand | 26 – 24 | Australia | Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland |
| 17 October 2018 | England | 44 – 6 | France | Leigh Sports Village, Leigh |

## Baskerville Shield

New Zealand announced three matches on tour, all test matches against England.

### First test

* 27 October 2018 14:30 BST (UTC+01)
| England | 18 – 16 | New Zealand |
| Tries: Connor, Gildart, Tomkins Goals: Connor (3/4) | Report | Tries: Marsters, Watene-Zelezniak Goals: Johnson (4/4) |
* KCOM Stadium, Hull Attendance: 17,649 Referee: Robert Hicks (England)
Team details :
| FB | 1 | Jonny Lomax |
| WG | 2 | Tommy Makinson |
| CE | 3 | Jake Connor |
| CE | 4 | Oliver Gildart |
| WG | 5 | Jermaine McGillvary |
| FE | 6 | George Williams |
| HB | 7 | Sam Tomkins |
| PR | 15 | Tom Burgess |
| HK | 9 | Josh Hodgson |
| PR | 10 | James Graham |
| SR | 11 | John Bateman |
| SR | 12 | Elliott Whitehead |
| LK | 13 | Sean O'Loughlin (c) |
| Interchange: |||
| BE | 8 | Chris Hill |
| BE | 14 | Luke Thompson |
| BE | 16 | George Burgess |
| BE | 17 | Daryl Clark |
| Coach: |||
| Wayne Bennett ||||
| FB | 1 | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (c) |
| WG | 2 | Ken Maumalo |
| CE | 3 | Esan Marsters |
| CE | 4 | Joseph Manu |
| WG | 5 | Jordan Rapana |
| FE | 6 | Shaun Johnson |
| HB | 7 | Kodi Nikorima |
| PR | 8 | Jesse Bromwich |
| HK | 9 | Brandon Smith |
| PR | 10 | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves |
| SR | 11 | Kevin Proctor |
| SR | 12 | Isaac Liu |
| LK | 13 | James Fisher-Harris |
| Interchange: |||
| BE | 14 | Kenny Bromwich |
| BE | 15 | Leeson Ah Mau |
| BE | 16 | Martin Taupau |
| BE | 19 | Joseph Tapine |
| Coach: |||
| Michael Maguire ||||
* Man of the Match:
* Elliott Whitehead (England)
* Touch judges:
* Chris Kendall (England)
* Richard Thompson (England)
* Video referee:
* Ben Thaler (England)
Notes:
* Oliver Gildart (England) made his Test debut.

### Second test

* 4 November 2018 14:30 GMT (UTC+00)
| England | 20 – 14 | New Zealand |
| Tries: Makinson (3), Connor Goals: Tomkins (1/1), Connor (1/4) | Report | Tries: Maumalo, Watene-Zelezniak Goals: Johnson (3/3) |
* Anfield, Liverpool Attendance: 26,234 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia)
Team details :
| FB | 1 | Jonny Lomax |
| WG | 2 | Tommy Makinson |
| CE | 3 | Jake Connor |
| CE | 4 | Oliver Gildart |
| WG | 5 | Jermaine McGillvary |
| FE | 6 | George Williams |
| HB | 7 | Sam Tomkins |
| PR | 15 | Tom Burgess |
| HK | 9 | Josh Hodgson |
| PR | 10 | James Graham (c) |
| SR | 11 | John Bateman |
| SR | 12 | Elliott Whitehead |
| LK | 13 | Luke Thompson |
| Interchange: |||
| BE | 8 | Chris Hill |
| BE | 14 | Adam Milner |
| BE | 16 | George Burgess |
| BE | 17 | Daryl Clark |
| Coach: |||
| Wayne Bennett ||||
| FB | 1 | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (c) |
| WG | 2 | Ken Maumalo |
| CE | 3 | Esan Marsters |
| CE | 4 | Joseph Manu |
| WG | 5 | Jordan Rapana |
| FE | 6 | Shaun Johnson |
| HB | 7 | Kodi Nikorima |
| PR | 8 | Jesse Bromwich |
| HK | 9 | Brandon Smith |
| PR | 10 | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves |
| SR | 11 | Kevin Proctor |
| SR | 12 | Isaac Liu |
| LK | 13 | Adam Blair |
| Interchange: |||
| BE | 14 | Kenny Bromwich |
| BE | 15 | Leeson Ah Mau |
| BE | 16 | Martin Taupau |
| BE | 17 | James Fisher-Harris |
| Coach: |||
| Michael Maguire ||||
* Man of the Match:
* Tommy Makinson (England)
* Touch judges:
* James Child (England)
* Liam Moore (England)
* Video referee:
* Ben Thaler (England)

### Third test

* 11 November 2018 15:15 GMT (UTC+00)
| England | 0 – 34 | New Zealand |
| | Report | Tries: Maumalo (2), J. Bromwich, Liu, Nikorima, Tapine Goals: Johnson (4/5), Papali'i (1/1) |
* Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 32,186 Referee: Gerard Sutton (Australia)
Team details :
| FB | 1 | Jonny Lomax |
| WG | 2 | Tommy Makinson |
| CE | 3 | Jake Connor |
| CE | 4 | Oliver Gildart |
| WG | 5 | Jermaine McGillvary |
| FE | 6 | George Williams |
| HB | 7 | Richie Myler |
| PR | 15 | Tom Burgess |
| HK | 9 | Josh Hodgson |
| PR | 10 | James Graham (c) |
| SR | 11 | John Bateman |
| SR | 12 | Elliott Whitehead |
| LK | 13 | Luke Thompson |
| Interchange: |||
| BE | 8 | Chris Hill |
| BE | 14 | Adam Milner |
| BE | 16 | Joe Greenwood |
| BE | 17 | Stefan Ratchford |
| Coach: |||
| Wayne Bennett ||||
| FB | 1 | Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (c) |
| WG | 2 | Ken Maumalo |
| CE | 3 | Esan Marsters |
| CE | 4 | Joseph Manu |
| WG | 5 | Jamayne Isaako |
| FE | 6 | Shaun Johnson |
| HB | 7 | Kodi Nikorima |
| PR | 8 | Jesse Bromwich |
| HK | 9 | Brandon Smith |
| PR | 10 | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves |
| SR | 11 | Kevin Proctor |
| SR | 12 | Isaac Liu |
| LK | 13 | Adam Blair |
| Interchange: |||
| BE | 14 | Kenny Bromwich |
| BE | 15 | Leeson Ah Mau |
| BE | 16 | Isaiah Papali'i |
| BE | 17 | Joseph Tapine |
| Coach: |||
| Michael Maguire ||||
* Man of the Match:
* Kodi Nikorima (New Zealand)
* Touch judges:
* James Child (England)
* Liam Moore (England)
* Video referee:
* Phil Bentham (England)
Notes:
* Joe Greenwood (England) made his Test debut, while Isaiah Papali'i made his debut for New Zealand having previously represented Samoa.