GB squad forced to leave Auckland base due to blaze
HUDDERSFIELD Giants’ Jermaine McGillvary and the rest of the Great Britain squad had to be evacuated from their Auckland base after a fire at the neighbouring SkyCity Convention Centre.
The centre of Auckland has been covered by smoke from the blaze and the team have been moved to Hamilton a day earlier than planned to prepare for Saturday’s first Test of the tour against the Tonga Invitational XIII at the Waikato Stadium.
The players, who had been on a day off yesterday, left Auckland at 5pm local time to make the 69-mile trip south to Hamilton.
A spokesman said: “It all happened very quickly. Within an hour of being told to pack their bags we were on the coach out of Auckland.”
The team were due to train in Auckland today before making the trip but will now train in Hamilton instead.
McGillvary and the rest of the 24-man squad and support staff flew into Auckland from Sydney on Monday after attending the inaugural World Cup Nines tournament last weekend to embark on the first Lions tour to New Zealand since 1996.
The Great Britain banner was mothballed in 2007 to enable the home nations to compete separately but the Rugby Football League bowed to pressure to bring it back.
England coach Wayne Bennett is in charge of the Lions, who will open their four-match tour against the Tongans at the 25,800-capacity Waikato Stadium and play two Tests against the Kiwis before moving on to Port Moresby to face Papua New Guinea.
Winger McGillvary was in the England side at the inaugural World Cup Nines last weekend and was a big fan of the format, despite the side losing to New Zealand in the semifinal.
“We have to be realistic, the best team won on the day,” said the Giants ace. “It’s new to us, we don’t really play Nines in England but I’d love to see a regular fixture.”
And McGillvary has stressed how hard the format was on the players and the excellent work of the coaching staff to keep the players fit.
“The staff were doing a great job to keep everyone loose and moving everyone around,” he said. “It’s only 18 minutes, but people don’t realise how hard it is until you get out there. It was tough on the lungs, but it’s been great preparation, especially fitness wise, with myself not being able to play over the last month.
Now McGillvary is focussed on this weekend, and is excited to face off against Tonga after the dramatic 2017 World Cup semi-final.
“I’ve got fond memories of playing against Tonga in New Zealand, the craziest and best atmosphere I’ve ever seen and been a part of,” he said. So I’m really looking forward to that.”