The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (officially known as the Gillette Four Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over three weeks from Friday, 23 October until Saturday, 14 November, France and England competed for the first time, with Great Britain's permanent split into the home nations' national teams following the 2007 New Zealand All Golds Tour. The tournament culminated in a final between world number 1 side Australia and hosts England. After 60 minutes of highly competitive football, Australia ran away with the match, scoring a barrage of late tries to win 46–16.
The 2009 series was the first of three Four Nations series planned before the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, with the venues rotating between Europe and the South Pacific.RLIF unveils expanded Test schedule NRL.com The RLIF also stated that the next Four Nations would be held in 2010.
Background The Four Nations is run in partnership between the Australian Rugby League, Rugby Football League and New Zealand Rugby League representing the top three nations in the sport: Australia, England and New Zealand. A fourth partner, Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII, accepted an invitation to enter France in the inaugural 2009 tournament.
Teams Each team was to play the other three once during the round robin tournament. The top two finishing teams would then contest the final. TeamNicknameCoachCaptainRLIF Rank AustraliaThe KangaroosTim SheensDarren Lockyer 1 New ZealandThe KiwisStephen KearneyBenji Marshall 2 EnglandThe LionsTony SmithJamie Peacock 3 FranceLes TricoloresBobbie GouldingOlivier Elima 5
Squads Each nation was to choose a 24-man squad in order to participate for the Four Nations.
Australia Australian coach Tim Sheens' squad for the tournament was: No. Name State Club 661 Darren Lockyer (c) QLD Brisbane Broncos 687 Nathan Hindmarsh NSW Parramatta Eels 691 Petero Civoniceva QLD Penrith Panthers 715 Luke Lewis NSW Penrith Panthers 716 Trent Waterhouse NSW Penrith Panthers 731 Johnathan Thurston QLD North Queensland Cowboys 734 Jarryd Hayne NSW Parramatta Eels 735 Justin Hodges QLD Brisbane Broncos 737 Greg Inglis QLD Melbourne Storm 738 Cameron Smith (vc) QLD Melbourne Storm 739 Sam Thaiday QLD Brisbane Broncos 744 Cooper Cronk QLD Melbourne Storm 747 Kurt Gidley NSW Newcastle Knights 748 Ryan Hoffman NSW Melbourne Storm 750 Paul Gallen NSW Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 751 Billy Slater QLD Melbourne Storm 758 Anthony Watmough NSW Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 761 Ben Hannant QLD Bulldogs 762 Brett Morris* NSW St George Illawarra Dragons 763 Brett White NSW Melbourne Storm 764 Robbie Farah NSW Wests Tigers 765 David Shillington QLD Canberra Raiders 766 Michael Jennings NSW Penrith Panthers 767 Josh Morris NSW Bulldogs *Replaced originally selected Israel Folau who withdrew due to injury.Sheens 'cut-throat' with injured players NRL Official website, 8 October 2009
Of the twenty four players, twenty three were Australian born while one was Fijian born.
New Zealand Coach: Stephen Kearney
Of the twenty four players, nineteen were New Zealand born while four were Australian born and one was Tongan born.
Club Team Players Canberra Raiders Bronson Harrison Canterbury Bulldogs Greg Eastwood1 and Bryson Goodwin Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Kieran Foran, Steve Matai and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves Melbourne Storm Adam Blair (vc) and Jeff Lima Newcastle Knights Junior Sa'u New Zealand Warriors Lance Hohaia, Kevin Locke and Ben Matulino Parramatta Eels Krisnan Inu and Fuifui Moimoi Penrith Panthers Frank Pritchard South Sydney Rabbitohs Issac Luke and Eddy Pettybourne2Kiwis call up 'giant' Pettybourne rugbyleague.com, 25 October 2009 St George Illawarra Dragons Nathan Fien and Jason Nightingale Sydney Roosters Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam Perrett and Iosia Soliola Wests Tigers Benji Marshall (c) Wigan Warriors Thomas Leuluai3 1 Ruled out of the rest of the series on 5 November after breaking his hand in the Round two victory over France.Eastwood ruled out of Four Nations NRL.com, 5 November 2009
2 Registered as a member of the squad before the tournament started but this was not revealed to the media until he was called to Europe from Australia by the Kiwis on 25 October.
3 The only non National Rugby League player in the squad.
England Coach: Tony Smith
All twenty four players were English born.
Club Team Players Bradford Bulls Sam Burgess and Paul Sykes Castleford Tigers Michael Shenton Huddersfield Giants Eorl Crabtree and Scott Moore Hull F.C. Tom Briscoe1 Hull Kingston Rovers Shaun Briscoe and Peter Fox Leeds Rhinos Jamie Peacock (c), Ryan Hall, Danny McGuire, Kevin Sinfield and Lee Smith Salford City Reds Richard Myler St. Helens Kyle Eastmond, James Graham, James Roby and Jon Wilkin Warrington Wolves Chris Bridge, Garreth Carvell, Adrian Morley and Ben Westwood Wests Tigers Gareth Ellis2 Wigan Warriors Sam Tomkins 1 Replaced originally selected Sean O'Loughlin who withdrew due to injury. 2 The only non Super League player in the squad.
France Coach: Bobbie Goulding
Of the twenty seven players, eighteen were French born while three were Australian born, three New Zealand born, one Moroccan born and one New Caledonia born.
Club Team Players AS Carcassonne Romain Gagliazzo, Christophe Moly and Teddy Saddaoui Catalans Dragons Olivier Elima (c), Nicholas Piquemol, Andrew Bentley, Kane Bentley, Jean-Philippe Baile, Thomas Bosc, Rémi Casty, Vincent Duport, Jamal Fakir, David Ferriol, Cyril Gossard, Dimitri Pelo, Sébastien Martins, Sebastien Raguin, Cyril Stacul, Clint Greenshields, Julien Touxagas, Frédéric Vaccari and Casey McGuire Pia Donkeys Maxime Grésèque Toulouse Olympique Mathieu Griffi and Constant Villegas Lézignan Sangliers James Wynne Villeneuve Leopards Artie Shead Casey McGuire was initially named in the squad but withdrew after "an exhausting Super League season". He cannot be replaced.McGuire pulls out of Four Nations NRL.com, 19 October 2009 Rémi Casty suffered a series-ending broken hand in the first match against England.'Depleted' France face tough NZ Test NRL.com, 24 October Artie Shead, James Wynne, Andrew Bentley and Nicholas Piquemol were added to the squad for the match vs New Zealand after several squad members came down with Swine Flu.
Venues There were several venues used during the tournament throughout England and France.
Doncaster London Wigan Keepmoat Stadium Twickenham Stoop DW Stadium Capacity: 15,231 Capacity: 14,816 Capacity: 25,138 Toulouse Paris Huddersfield Stade Ernest-Wallon Stade Sébastien Charléty Galpharm Stadium Capacity: 19,500 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 24,500
Final The Four Nations Final was played at the Elland Road stadium in Leeds, England.
Leeds Elland Road Capacity: 40,242
Referees Four referees were nominated for the tournament by the governing bodies of the participating teams. One from each of the participating nations. The nominated referees were: Thierry Alibert Steve Ganson Shayne Hayne Leon Williamson
Pre-tournament matches Before the series, New Zealand and England played additional Tests against Tonga and Wales respectively.
New Zealand vs Tonga
New Zealand led 24–8 at half-time before Tonga fought back to level the scores at 24-24. New Zealand went on to score 16 unanswered points to win the match 40–24.
Wales vs England
England lead Wales 20-12 approaching the hour, before racking up 28 points in the last quarter.
Results Standings
Round one England vs France
After trailing 12–4 at half-time, England scored 30 consecutive points to defeat France 34–12, who were coached by former Great Britain half, Bobbie Goulding.
FB 1 Shaun BriscoeRW 2 Tom BriscoeRC 3 Lee SmithLC 4 Michael ShentonLW 5 Ryan Hall SO 6 Danny McGuireSH 7 Richard MylerPR 8 Jamie Peacock (c) HK 9 Scott Moore PR 10 Adrian Morley SR 11 Gareth EllisSR 12 Sam Burgess LF 13 Kevin SinfieldSubstitutions:BE 14 James Graham BE 15 James RobyBE 16 Ben WestwoodBE 17 Kyle EastmondCoach: Tony Smith FB 1 Clint GreenshieldsRW 2 Vincent DuportRC 3 Jean-Philippe BaileLC 4 Sebastien RaguinLW 5 Dimitri PeloSO 6 Thomas BoscSH 7 James WynnePR 8 David FerriolHK 9 Kane BentleyPR 10 Rémi CastySR 11 Olivier Elima (c) SR 12 Julien TouxagasLF 13 Jamal FakirSubstitutions:BE 14 Constant Villegas BE 15 Romain GagliazzoBE 16 Sébastien Martins BE 17 Teddy SaddaouiCoach: Bobbie Goulding
New Zealand vs Australia For Australia Ben Hannant, Brett Morris and Brett White were selected to make their debuts. Petero Civoniceva was selected despite not having played any football since he injured his leg in game 2 of the 2009 State of Origin series in June.
When Australian captain Darren Lockyer took the field for this match, he surpassed Mal Meninga's record for most international caps for the Kangaroos. After 6–6 at half-time, Australia quickly went to a 14–6 lead before New Zealand scored fourteen points in a row to make it 14–20. Australia's Cameron Smith scored a try and Johnathan Thurston made the conversion to level the scores with less than five minutes left to play. The score finished at 20-20. The crowd of 12,360 at Twickenham Stoop stadium set a new attendance ground record for a rugby league match.
FB 1 Lance HohaiaRW 2 Sam PerrettRC 3 Steve MataiLC 4 Junior Sa'uLW 5 Bryson GoodwinSO 6 Benji Marshall (c)SH 7 Nathan FienPR 8 Jeff LimaHK 9 Issac Luke PR 10 Fuifui Moimoi SR 11 Bronson HarrisonSR 12 Frank Pritchard LF 13 Adam BlairSubstitutions:BE 14 Thomas Leuluai BE 15 Frank-Paul Nu'uausalaBE 16 Iosia SoliolaBE 17 Jared Waerea-HargreavesCoach: Stephen Kearney FB 1 Billy SlaterRW 2 Brett MorrisRC 3 Greg InglisLC 4 Justin HodgesLW 5 Jarryd HayneSO 6 Darren Lockyer (c)SH 7 Johnathan ThurstonPR 8 Ben HannantHK 9 Cameron SmithPR 10 Petero CivonicevaSR 11 Trent WaterhouseSR 12 Ryan HoffmanLF 13 Anthony WatmoughSubstitutions:BE 14 Brett White BE 15 Sam ThaidayBE 16 Paul Gallen BE 17 Kurt GidleyCoach: Tim Sheens
Round two England vs Australia Changes made to the Australian side included the removal of Sam Thaiday, Ryan Hoffman, Trent Waterhouse and Kurt Gidley. Taking their places were débutants Luke Lewis and David Shillington as well as Robbie Farah and also Nathan Hindmarsh, making his test football comeback. Australian captain Darren Lockyer equalled Ken Irvine's record of 33 test tries for Australia by scoring in this match. On a warm and sunny day, the Kangaroos went into half-time 26-0 up and after Australia defeated England 52–4 in their previous meeting in last year's Rugby League World Cup, the English looked set for another thrashing. However, England made an ambitious fight-back in the second half but, keeping Australia scoreless to lose by a more respectable margin of 26–16. Towards the end of the match, Johnathan Thurston was sent to the sin bin.
FB 1 Shaun BriscoeRW 2 Tom BriscoeRC 3 Lee SmithLC 4 Michael ShentonLW 5 Ryan HallSO 6 Danny McGuireSH 7 Sam TomkinsPR 8 Adrian MorleyHK 9 James RobyPR 10 James GrahamSR 11 Jamie Peacock (c)SR 12 Gareth EllisLF 13 Kevin SinfieldSubstitutions:BE 14 Eorl CrabtreeBE 15 Sam BurgessBE 16 Ben WestwoodBE 17 Kyle EastmondCoach: Tony Smith FB 1 Billy SlaterRW 2 Brett MorrisRC 3 Greg InglisLC 4 Justin HodgesLW 5 Jarryd HayneSO 6 Darren Lockyer (c)SH 7 Johnathan ThurstonPR 8 Ben HannantHK 9 Cameron SmithPR 10 Petero CivonicevaSR 11 Anthony WatmoughSR 12 Paul GallenLF 13 Nathan HindmarshSubstitutions:BE 14 Brett WhiteBE 15 Luke LewisBE 16 David ShillingtonBE 17 Robbie FarahCoach: Tim Sheens
New Zealand vs France New Zealand were leading 16–6 at half-time. France got to within 4 points of New Zealand at 16-12 before New Zealand scored 46 points in a row to comfortably win 62–12. New Zealand's Bryson Goodwin scored 22 individual points and Sam Perrett scored a hat-trick of tries. This loss ended the French hopes of making the finals.