League Lions look to tour of NZ

The Great Britain Lions could tour Australia and New Zealand in 2019, while the Kiwis play another series against England next year.

Nigel Wood, chairman of the Rugby League International Federation, has told the BBC it’s a key goal of his to revive the British Lions as a rugby league entity and to bring them down under in two year’s time.

Wood, who is also CEO of the English RFL, will be in Sydney this week for the rep round, where England play Samoa and the Kangaroos host the Kiwis. During the week he will meet key stakeholders in the game to negotiate the Lions tour and a series next year between England and New Zealand.

The Lions haven’t played since a series against the Kiwis in 2007, but Wood said he wants to bring them back.

‘‘That would be for matches against Australia, New Zealand and other nations. It’s a real possibility,’’ Wood said. ‘‘It’s not a foregone conclusion, but I wouldn’t be having this discussion if I didn’t have a degree of confidence.’’

The international calendar leading up to the 2021 World Cup will be worked through this week, with Wood hoping for a Kiwis tour to England in 2018 and the Kangaroos to come in 2020.

But Wood is also keen on the big three countries playing tests against the tier-two nations, to help grow the game.

‘‘We want to give them access to playing against England, Australia and New Zealand,’’ Wood said.

‘‘We saw last year, for example, how spectacularly well Scotland did [drawing with the Kiwis].

‘‘But France have only played against Australia once in the last 10 years.’’