The badge of the national rugby league team of England is a combination of St. George's cross, the Three Lions Coat of Arms of England and Tudor Rose. The St. George's cross, the national flag of England is a red cross on a white background, it was adopted for the uniform of English soldiers during Crusades of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries and in or about 1277 is when it officially became the national flag of England. However with the 1707 Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain was recognised and a Union Flag was created. The flag of England is used now to represent England alone. The English coat of arms was introduced by Richard I of England in the 1190s. The rose on the badge is the Tudor rose, which was introduced by Henry Tudor, who ended the War of the Roses, between Lancashire (red rose) and Yorkshire (white rose), this action was symbolic of the end of the War of the Roses. These motifs are reoccurring in most English sporting badges, such as the England national football team, England national rugby union team and the English national cricket team which all promote similar attributes.
New logo
The England rugby league team’s new official logo was launched on the 6th of February 2008. The cross of St George is positioned across a three-dimensional shield within the design. The date "1895" is placed through the centre of the cross, symbolizing the birth of rugby league.
History
On the 5th April 1904, England versus 'Other Nationalities' (Welsh & Scottish) play a 12-a-side match at Wigan, which England lose 9-3.
England first played at the World Cup in 1975, which was played over several months in both hemispheres on a league basis. England won one and drew the other of their two games against eventual winners Australia. Due to England's defeat by Wales in their final match, Australia took the trophy by finishing one point ahead of England.
In the 1995 World Cup England were coached by Phil Larder. England got off to a flying start beating Australia 20-16 in the opening game at Wembley, then hammering Fiji & South Africa in the remaining group games to finish top of group A, this set up a semi-final game at Old Trafford against Wales. England won the tussle 25-10 to reach the World Cup final, but they lost 16-8 to Australia at Wembley Stadium.
John Kear was coach of England for the World Cup in 2000. Compared to 1995, England had little success in the losing their opening game at Twickenham 22-2 to Australia. England won their remaining two pool games against Fiji and Russia. A surprising display by Ireland in the quarter-finals, saw England scrape through to the semi-finals 26-16. England then lost 49-6 to New Zealand at Bolton and were knocked out of the tournament.
On Wednesday 13 October 1999, England met France in Carcassonne, The England team were without players involved with Great Britain, who were in Queensland for the Tri-Nations competition. The French fielded an experienced and talented squad. In the end England won 28-20.
In 2002 England toured Fiji and Tonga. Karl Harrison became England coach in July 2004 replacing John Kear. He led England to European Nations Cup success in 2004 and coached them to a win over France and a narrow defeat by New Zealand in 2005. Harrison stepped down citing family reasons on 4 August 2006 and was replaced by Paul Cullen. England A took part in the Federation Shield in autumn 2006 which they won.
From 2008 onwards, the England team will compete in all World Cups, international tournaments and Test series,replacing Great Britain,This will support the RFL’s strategy for the growth and development of the sport in this country and throughout Europe. The separation of Great Britain will also create an important opportunity for the celtic nations to drive the growth of the game in their territories.
2008 Fixtures
- friday 28th june - France v England @ toulouse,Stade Ernest Wallon KO 9pm
- 11th october - England v Ireland - venue TBC
Rugby League World Cup 2008
Pool 1 fixtures
- Saturday 25th Ocotober - England v PNG - Townsville, Australia
- Sunday 2nd November - England v Australia - Melbourne, Australia
- Saturday 8th November - England v New zealand - Newcastle, Australia
