2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations

The 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations was played in Great Britain and Australasia. The final was played between Australia and New Zealand at Elland Road on Saturday 26 November. New Zealand won the match 24-0 and were crowned 2005 Tri-Nations champions, breaking Australia's 27-year undefeated international tournament record.

The tournament was officially known as the 2005 Gillette Tri-Nations due to sponsorship from Gillette.

Participating teams
Each team was to play the other three twice during the round robin tournament. The top two finishing teams would then contest the final.

Officials
One referee from each participating nation was appointed to control matches in the Tri-Nations:
 * 🇦🇺 Tim Mander (2 matches)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Steve Ganson (4 matches)
 * 🇳🇿 Glen Black (1 match)

Venues
The games were played at the following venues in Australia, New Zealand and England.

Final
The Tri-Nations Final was played in Leeds.

Tournament matches
AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Matt King · 3. Mark Gasnier · 4. Brent Tate · 5. Timana Tahu · 6. Darren Lockyer (c) · 7. Andrew Johns · 8. Petero Civoniceva · 9. Danny Buderus · 10. Steve Price · 11. Luke O'Donnell · 12. Craig Fitzgibbon · 13. Ben Kennedy Interchange: 14. Craig Gower · 15. Jason Ryles · 16. Andrew Ryan · 17. Trent Waterhouse

Coach: Wayne Bennett

NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Jake Webster · 3. Paul Whatuira · 4. Clinton Toopi · 5. Manu Vatuvei · 6. Nigel Vagana · 7. Stacey Jones · 8. Paul Rauhihi · 9. Lance Hohaia · 10. Ruben Wiki (c) · 11. David Kidwell · 12. Frank Pritchard · 13. Louis Anderson Interchange: 14. David Faiumu · 15. Roy Asotasi · 16. Nathan Cayless · 17. David Solomona

Coach: Brian McClennan

NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Jake Webster · 3. Paul Whatuira · 4. Shontayne Hape · 5. Manu Vatuvei · 6. Nigel Vagana · 7. Stacey Jones · 8. Paul Rauhihi · 9. Motu Tony · 10. Ruben Wiki (c) · 11. David Kidwell · 12. David Solomona · 13. Louis Anderson Interchange: 14. David Faiumu · 15. Roy Asotasi · 16. Iafeta Palea'aesina · 17. Tony Puletua

Coach: Brian McClennan

AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Matt King · 3. Mark Gasnier · 4. Matt Cooper · 5. Brent Tate · 6. Darren Lockyer (c) · 7. Andrew Johns · 8. Petero Civoniceva · 9. Danny Buderus · 10. Steve Price · 11. Luke O'Donnell · 12. Craig Fitzgibbon · 13. Ben Kennedy Interchange: 14. Trent Barrett · 15. Jason Ryles · 16. Mark O'Meley · 17. Trent Waterhouse

Coach: Wayne Bennett

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Paul Wellens · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Leon Pryce · 6. Kevin Sinfield · 7. Paul Deacon · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Keiron Cunningham · 10. Jamie Peacock (c) · 11. Lee Gilmour · 12. Paul Johnson · 13. Gareth Ellis Interchange: 14. Rob Burrow · 15. Adrian Morley · 16. Chev Walker · 17. Nick Fozzard

Coach: Brian Noble

NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Jake Webster · 3. Paul Whatuira · 4. Clinton Toopi · 5. Manu Vatuvei · 6. Nigel Vagana · 7. Stacey Jones · 8. Paul Rauhihi · 9. Motu Tony · 10. Ruben Wiki (c) · 11. David Kidwell · 12. David Solomona · 13. Awen Guttenbeil Interchange: 14. Louis Anderson · 15. Roy Asotasi · 16. Frank Pritchard · 17. Ali Lauiti'iti

Coach: Brian McClennan

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Paul Wellens · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Leon Pryce · 6. Iestyn Harris · 7. Paul Deacon · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Keiron Cunningham · 10. Adrian Morley · 11. Jamie Peacock (c) · 12. Paul Johnson · 13. Kevin Sinfield Interchange: 14. Lee Gilmour · 15. Chev Walker · 16. Jamie Thackray · 17. Mickey Higham

Coach: Brian Noble

AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Matt King · 3. Mark Gasnier · 4. Matt Cooper · 5. Brent Tate · 6. Darren Lockyer (c) · 7. Scott Prince · 8. Petero Civoniceva · 9. Danny Buderus · 10. Steve Price · 11. Luke O'Donnell · 12. Craig Fitzgibbon · 13. Ben Kennedy Interchange: 14. Trent Barrett · 15. Jason Ryles · 16. Mark O'Meley · 17. Willie Mason

Coach: Wayne Bennett

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Paul Wellens · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Leon Pryce · 6. Iestyn Harris · 7. Paul Deacon · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Keiron Cunningham · 10. Adrian Morley · 11. Jamie Peacock (c) · 12. Paul Johnson · 13. Gareth Ellis Interchange: 14. Mickey Higham · 15. Chev Walker · 16. Jamie Thackray · 17. Richard Horne

Coach: Brian Noble

NEW ZEALAND

1. Brent Webb · 2. Jake Webster · 3. Shontayne Hape · 4. Clinton Toopi · 5. Manu Vatuvei · 6. Nigel Vagana · 7. Stacey Jones · 8. Paul Rauhihi · 9. Motu Tony · 10. Ruben Wiki (c) · 11. David Kidwell · 12. David Solomona · 13. Awen Guttenbeil Interchange: 14. David Faiumu · 15. Roy Asotasi · 16. Louis Anderson · 17. Ali Lauiti'iti

Coach: Brian McClennan


 * Australia were without their captain Darren Lockyer for this match and the remainder of the tournament after he injured his foot at training.

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Leon Pryce · 2. Brian Carney · 3. Martin Gleeson · 4. Keith Senior · 5. Gareth Raynor · 6. Iestyn Harris · 7. Richard Horne · 8. Stuart Fielden · 9. Keiron Cunningham · 10. Adrian Morley · 11. Jamie Peacock (c) · 12. Paul Johnson · 13. Gareth Ellis Interchange: 14. Mickey Higham · 15. Chev Walker · 16. Jamie Thackray · 17. Kevin Sinfield

Coach: Brian Noble

AUSTRALIA

1. Anthony Minichiello · 2. Matt King · 3. Mark Gasnier · 4. Matt Cooper · 5. Brent Tate · 6. Trent Barrett · 7. Craig Gower · 8. Petero Civoniceva · 9. Danny Buderus (c) · 10. Jason Ryles · 11. Luke O'Donnell · 12. Craig Fitzgibbon · 13. Ben Kennedy Interchange: 14. Craig Wing · 15. Willie Mason · 16. Mark O'Meley · 17. Trent Waterhouse

Coach: Wayne Bennett

Final
The historic win by the Kiwis over an Australian 17 containing only 3 Queensland players and one player from the previous month's 2005 NRL grand final put an end to the Kangaroos' dominance in international rugby league. It was the first time Australia, hot favourites for the match, had failed to win a series or tournament since France defeated them in both Tests of the 1978 Kangaroo tour.

The win by New Zealand was the first time the Kiwis had beaten Australia in a test series or tournament (not including one-off test wins in 1971, 1987 and 1998) since 1952. Australian coach Wayne Bennett resigned from the national coaching post just over a week after the final.

Non-series tests
During the series, Australia and New Zealand played additional Tests against France. This was the first time the two teams had met in a test match since Australia's 74–0 win in Béziers in the last game of the 1994 Kangaroo tour.

Australia: 1 Anthony Minichiello, 2 Eric Grothe, Jr., 3 Mark Gasnier, 4 Matt Cooper, 5 Brent Tate, 6 Scott Prince, 7 Craig Gower (c), 8 Jason Ryles, 9 Craig Wing, 10 Mark O'Meley, 11 Ben Creagh, 12 Willie Mason, 13 Trent Waterhouse Interchange: 14 Steve Price, 15 Petero Civoniceva, 16 Andrew Ryan, 17 Matt King

France: 1 Renaud Guigue, 2 Frédéric Zitter, 3 Christophe Moly, 4 Jérôme Hermet, 5 Olivier Charles, 6 Laurent Frayssinous, 7 Julien Rinaldi, 8 David Ferriol, 9 David Berthezène, 10 Jérôme Guisset, 11 Aurélien Cologni, 12 Jamal Fakir, 13 Grégory Mounis Interchange: 14 Maxime Grésèque, 15 Adel Fellous, 16 Jean Christophe Borlin, 17. Sébastien Raguin

For this match, Craig Gower was given the honour of captaining Australia for the first time.

Australia 44 (A Minichiello 2, T Waterhouse 2, M Cooper, S Prince, C Gower, W Mason tries; S Prince 6 goals) defeated France 12 (L Frayssinous, M Gresqueu tries; L Frayssinous 2 goals)

Other game
New Zealand played a midweek match against England "A" which did not count as a test match. Halftime was 12-all.