View source for Baskerville Shield

{{Short description|Rugby league competition between England and New Zealand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{|class="infobox" style="width: 26em; font-size: 95%;"
|-
|colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; background:lavender;"|'''Baskerville Shield'''<br /><small></small>
|-
|colspan="2" style="width:100%; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;"| [[File:Baskerville Trophy 2.jpg|thumb|Trophy of the Baskerville Shield]]
|-
|colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%; background:lavender;"|'''Contested by'''
|-
|style="width:50%; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;"|[[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|thumb|75px]][[File:Flag of England.svg|thumb|75px]]
|style="width:50%; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center;"|<br>[[File:Flag of New Zealand.svg|thumb|75px]]
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|[[Great Britain national rugby league team|Great Britain]] / [[England national rugby league team|England]]
|style="text-align:center;"| [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]]
|-
|'''Sport'''
|[[Rugby league]]
|-
|'''First held'''
|[[2002 New Zealand rugby league tour|2002]]
|-
|'''Current champion'''
|{{rl|NZL}}
|-
|colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 100%; background:lavender;"|'''Number of wins'''
|-
|style="text-align:center;"| {{rl|GBR}} / {{rl|ENG}}
|style="text-align:center;"| {{rl|NZL}}
|-
|style="text-align:center;font-size: 200%;"| 4
|style="text-align:center;font-size: 200%;"| 1
|-
|colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"|'''Draws:''' None
|-
|}
The '''Baskerville Shield''' is a trophy awarded to the winner of [[rugby league]] test series between [[England national rugby league team|England]] and [[New Zealand national rugby league team|New Zealand]]. It named in honour of [[Albert Henry Baskerville]], who organised the [[1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain|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.<ref name=SeanFaganBaskerville>{{cite web |author= Sean Fagan|title=Albert Baskerville - Or Baskiville?|url=http://www.rl1908.com/articles/Baskerville.htm |access-date=2008-06-28 |work=rl1908.com/index.htm | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080517144647/http://www.rl1908.com/articles/Baskerville.htm| archive-date= 17 May 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

There is also a trophy with this name awarded to the winner of the [[NZRL Men's National Competition|National Competition]] in New Zealand.<ref>[http://www.nznewsuk.co.uk/living/?id=33690&story=Pirtek-NZRL-National-Premiership---Albert-Baskerville-Trophy  NZ News UK] Albert Baskerville Trophy</ref>

==History==
The shield was inaugurated for the [[2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France|2002 New Zealand tour of Great Britain and France]] in which New Zealand played eight games in Europe and one in Oceania, winning six of these, including three against British club sides and one against an [[England national rugby league team|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 rugby league tour of Great Britain and France|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]], [[Kingston upon Hull|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 [[1907–08 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain|1907 tour]]. New Zealand played six games in total with five 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 rugby league tour of England|2015 New Zealand tour of England]], the shield was contested between New Zealand and [[England national rugby league team|England]] as the Great Britain team had been retired in 2007. England won the shield 2–1. The tour was the first to Europe by an Australasian team since the previous tour by New Zealand in 2007. The tour took place because [[Australia national rugby league team|Australia]] pulled out of a similar tour that they had agreed to undertake. The tour was shorter than others with just four games taking place, three against England and one against [[Leeds Rhinos]]. New Zealand won the Leeds game and the second test by just 9–2 in front of 44,393 at [[Olympic Stadium (London)|Olympic Stadium]], [[London]].

England and New Zealand contested the Baskerville Shield again during the [[2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain]]. England won the shield 2–1, taking an unassailable lead with victories in the first two tests before New Zealand gained a consolation win in the final match.

Great Britain toured New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in 2019, which was the first Baskerville Shield to be played out in the southern hemisphere.<ref>[http://www.rugby-league.com/england/article/40010/rugby-football-league-welcomes-international-rugby-league-calendar-announcement rugby-league] Upcoming Tours</ref>

==Results==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:80%; font-size:90%;"
|-
!width=5%|Year
!width=10%|Host
!width=14%|Winner
!width=7%|Series score
!width=14%|Runner-up
|-
|[[2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France|2002]]
|{{GBR}}
|'''{{rl|Great Britain}}'''{{efn|[[New Zealand Rugby League]] agreed Great Britain should win the competition as they were the touring side and did not win it outright.}}
|1.5 &ndash; 1.5
|{{rl|New Zealand}}
|-
|[[2007 All Golds Tour|2007]]
|{{GBR}}
|'''{{rl|Great Britain}}'''
|3 &ndash; 0
|{{rl|New Zealand}}
|-
|[[2015 New Zealand rugby league tour of England|2015]]
|{{ENG}}
|'''{{rl|England}}'''
|2 &ndash; 1
|{{rl|New Zealand}}
|-
|[[2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of England|2018]]
|{{ENG}}
|'''{{rl|England}}'''
|2 &ndash; 1
|{{rl|New Zealand}}
|-
|[[2019 Great Britain Lions tour|2019]]
|{{NZL}}
|'''{{rl|New Zealand}}'''
|2 &ndash; 0
|{{rl|Great Britain}}
|}

==Player statistics==
{{unreferencedsection|date=June 2018}}
===Try scorers===

{| class="wikitable"
!Tries!!Name
|-
|3||[[Leon Pryce]] (GB), [[Keith Senior]] (GB), [[Henry Fa'afili]] (NZL)
|-
|2||[[Jamie Peacock]] (GB), [[Martin Gleeson (rugby league)|Martin Gleeson]] (GB), [[Gareth Raynor]] (GB), [[Rob Burrow]] (GB), [[Nigel Vagana]] (NZL), [[Stacey Jones]] (NZL), [[Shontayne Hape]] (NZL), [[Paul Whatuira]] (NZL), [[Chase Stanley]] (NZL), [[Brett Ferres]] (ENG), [[Sean O'Loughlin]] (ENG), [[Elliot Whitehead]] (ENG)
|-
|1||[[Paul Sculthorpe]] (GB), [[Sam Burgess]] (GB), [[Maurie Fa'asavalu]] (GB), [[Ade Gardner]] (GB), [[Paul Wellens]] (GB), [[David Hodgson (rugby league)|David Hodgson]] (GB), [[Danny Maguire]] (GB), [[Jon Wilkin]] (GB), [[Stephen Kearney]] (NZL), [[Francis Meli]] (NZL), [[Ruben Wiki]] (NZL), [[Ali Lauiti'iti]] (NZL), [[Taniela Tuiaki]] (NZL), [[Tohu Harris]] (NZL), [[Sam Moa]] (NZL), [[Shaun Kenny-Dowall]] (NZL), [[Josh Hodgson]] (ENG)
|}

===Goal scorers===

{| class="wikitable"
!Goals!!Name
|-
|10||[[Gareth Widdop]] (ENG)
|-
|9||[[Andy Farrell]] (GB), [[Rob Burrow]] (GB)
|-
|5||[[Kevin Sinfield]] (GB)
|-
|4||[[Richard Swain]] (NZL)
|-
|3||[[Jeremy Smith (rugby league, born 1981)|Jeremy Smith]] (NZL), [[Isaac Luke]] (NZL)
|-
|1||[[Stacey Jones]] (NZL), [[Lance Hohaia]] (NZL)
|}

==Attendances==
{{unreferencedsection|date=June 2018}}
===Average attendances===
The [[2015 New Zealand rugby league tour of England|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)|Olympic Stadium]], [[London]] when 44,393 people were in attendance.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/34739606 bbc sport] Olympic Stadium Test</ref>

Seven different stadiums have been used over the twelve tests that have taken place.  [[DW Stadium]], [[Wigan]] has been used the most times with three tests held there.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Host !! Total attendance !! Matches !! Average attendance !! % of change !! Stadium Capacity !! % Capacity
|-
| [[2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France|2002]] || {{UK}} || 62,505 || 3 || 20,835 || N/A || 80,633 || 77.51%
|-
| [[2007 All Golds Tour|2007]] || {{UK}} || 58,081 || 3 || 19,360 || {{decrease}} 7.08% || 75,033 || 77.35%
|-
| [[2015 New Zealand rugby league tour of England|2015]] || {{ENG}} || 92,660 || 3 || 30,887 ||  {{increase}} 59.54% || 116,538 || 79.51%
|-
| [[2018 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain|2018]] || {{ENG}} || 76,069 || 3 || 25,356 || {{decrease}} 17.91% || 117,364 || 64.81%
|-
|}

===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)|Olympic Stadium]], [[London]], the only game to be played outside of the traditional rugby league heartland of the north of England.   

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Rank !! Stadium !! Attendance !! Event 
|-
| 1 || [[Olympic Stadium (London)|Olympic Stadium]], [[London]] || 44,393 || 2015: Test 2
|-
| 2 || [[Elland Road]], [[Leeds]] || 32,186 || 2018: Test 3
|-
| 3 || [[Anfield]], [[Liverpool]] || 26,234 || 2018: Test 2
|-
| 4 || [[DW Stadium]], [[Wigan]] || 24,741 || 2015: Test 3
|-
| 5 || [[Kirklees Stadium]], [[Huddersfield]] || 23,604 || 2002: Test 2
|}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}{{England national rugby league team}}{{Kiwis}}{{International rugby league}}

[[Category:Rugby league international tournaments]]