The Baskerville Shield is a trophy awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between England and New Zealand. It named in honour of Albert Henry Baskerville, who organised the first ever tour by New Zealand of Great Britain in 1907.
The spelling of the trophy is somewhat controversial, as there is much evidence to suggest that Baskiville was the correct spelling of the surname. However, the Rugby Football League used the Baskerville spelling arguing that this was the version used by the man himself.
There is also a trophy with this name awarded to the winner of the National Competition in New Zealand.
Video Baskerville Shield
History
The shield was inaugurated for the 2002 New Zealand tour of Great Britain and France in which New Zealand played 8 games in Europe and 1 in Oceania, winning 6 of these, including 3 against British club sides and 1 against an England A team. The test series between New Zealand and Great Britain was drawn, with one win each and one draw. The New Zealand Rugby League agreed that Great Britain should keep the inaugural shield because it wasn't won outright.
In the 2007 New Zealand tour of Great Britain and France, Great Britain won the series 3-0 to retain the shield. The largest of these losses was a 0-44 result in front of 20,324 at the KC Stadium, Hull. The tour was conducted as part of the celebrations of 100 years of New Zealand rugby league and was played in honour of the original 1907 tour. New Zealand played 6 games in total with 5 of these in Europe. After the tour, the Great Britain team was put on hiatus with the individual home nations taking priority on the international stage and as a result lengthy tours stopped taking place.
In the 2015 New Zealand tour of England, the shield was contested between New Zealand and England as the Great Britain team had been retired in 2007. England won the shield 2-1. The tour was the first tour to Europe by an Australasian team since the previous tour by New Zealand in 2007. The tour took place because Australia pulled out of a similar tour that they had agreed to undertake. The tour was shorter than others with just 4 games taking place, 3 against England and one against Leeds Rhinos. New Zealand won the Leeds game and the 2nd test by just 9-2 in front of 44,393 at Olympic Stadium, London.
On 22 November 2017, the fixtures and venues for the 2018 series were announced. The first game will take place on 27 October 2018 at KCOM Stadium, Hull. The second game will take placed on 3 November 2018 at Anfield, Liverpool with the series ending on 10 November 2018 at Elland Road, Leeds. It has yet to be announced whether New Zealand will play further fixtures during their tour to Europe.
Future
In 2017 it was confirmed that Great Britain would be revived and would start touring again which means that they will once again start competing for the Baskerville Shield. New Zealand are confirmed to be touring Britain in 2018 with Great Britain touring Australasia in 2019, this being the first Baskerville Shield to be played out in the southern hemisphere.
Maps Baskerville Shield
Results
Attendances
Average attendances
The attendance for the 2015 series saw an average of 11,527 more people attend the three tests, this major increase owing largely to the test played at Olympic Stadium, London which saw 44,393 people in attendance. The upcoming 2018 series has the potential to produce an average of 39,121 and also has the largest overall stadium capacity of 117,364.
Five different stadiums have been used over the nine tests that have currently taken place, with two more due to be used for the first time in 2018. DW Stadium, Wigan has been used the most times with three tests held here, although KCOM Stadium, Hull is due to be used in 2018 which would see a third game also held there.
Highest Attendances
The highest attendance in the history of the Baskerville Shield test series is 44,393 which was seen at the Olympic Stadium, London. The interesting thing about this attendance is that it is the only game to be played outside of the traditional rugby league heartland of the north of England. Only two games have been played in stadiums with a capacity over 30,000 with the other at Ewood Park, Blackburn which produced the 2nd smallest attendance of the series history at 16,654; this was the first ever test to be played in the Baskerville Shield. Two matches are scheduled to take placed in plus-30,000 capacity grounds in 2018 at Anfield, Liverpool and Elland Road, Leeds.
Player Statistics
Overall Try Scorers
Overall Goal Scorers
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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