In 1990, Great Britain made their first full-scale tour of Papua New Guinea. A combination of soaring temperatures, altitude and the atmosphere created by over 11,500 Papua New Guinea fans, many clinging to trees outside the tiny, ramshackle ground in
Garoka, unnerved the tourists. Papua New Guinea beat Great Britain 20–18, the Lions' one and only loss to the Kumuls. The series was tied 1–1.[
clarification needed] Great Britain then won a series 2–1 in New Zealand.[
clarification needed] Great Britain defeated Australia 19–12 in the first test at Wembley on Saturday 27 October 1990 in front of a new record home crowd of 54,567. It was the first time that an Australian team had been beaten in Britain for twelve years and 37 matches.
[19] Australia made eight changes for the second Test, held at Old Trafford on Saturday 10 November 1990. With the scores tied at 10–10, with twenty seconds to go, Kangaroos halfback
Ricky Stuart raced 70 metres before slipping the ball to Mal Meninga who dived over to give the Kangaroos a 14–10 victory. The third Test was won by Australia 14–0 to complete a 2–1 series win.
[7]
During the
1992 tour of Australia and New Zealand, Great Britain lost the first
Ashes test 22–6 in Sydney. Two weeks later, led by
Garry Schofield and with a pack made up entirely of Wigan players, Great Britain grabbed a 33–10 win in Melbourne. However, they lost the third test 16–10 in Brisbane.
The
1989-92 Rugby League World Cup was played out over three-years, the Great Britain side squeezed into the final at Wembley on goal difference. The
World Cup Final at Wembley set a world record attendance for a rugby league international: 73,631 saw Australia edge Great Britain 10–6 with the only try coming from
Steve Renouf late in the game. This figure beat the previous record of 70,204 set at the
Sydney Cricket Ground during the
1932 Ashes series.
[10] The attendance figure at Wembley would remain the largest for an international until 74,468 saw the Kangaroos defeat New Zealand 34–2 in the
2013 World Cup Final at Old Trafford.
Great Britain won the 1993 home series against New Zealand by three tests to nil, including a 17–0 victory at Wembley in the first test. During the second test in Wigan, Lions and Wigan winger
Martin Offiah's reputation as the fastest player in the game, which had taken a big hit when he was defeated in a 100-metre match race with
Parramatta Eels (Australia) flyer
Lee Oudenryn during the 1992 Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, was further dented when he made a break and despite having a 3-metre start, was run down from behind and unceremoniously bundled into touch by Kiwi and Leeds centre
Kevin Iro.
Mal Reilly stood down as Great Britain coach in 1994.
Ellery Hanley was appointed coach of the Great Britain national rugby league team for the Ashes series of 1994, which was held in Great Britain. The
1994 Kangaroo tour was the last played in the conventional format, where the Australian side plays a number of matches against British provincial outfits, in addition to the Test matches. Great Britain won the first test 8–4 at Wembley but lost the second and third tests.
