The Great Britain Rugby League side was originally known as “Northern Union” or sometimes erroneously “England” before eventually adopting the Great Britain name everywhere. On tour, they were known as the Lions.
Our first Northern Union players included our first Wales captain Tom Llewellyn. He, along with Bert Jenkins, Johnny Thomas, Dai Jones and George Ruddick all lined up in the first ever Lions match when they beat New Zealand 14-6 on January 25th 1908. All bar Ruddick had played in Wales’ 9-8 win over the touring professional All Blacks 24 days earlier.
A number of Welsh players have turned out for Great Britain. Below is a full list of all the players along with the number of test caps that they won. This does not include the players who made tour appearances for the Lions but were unable to break into the full test side.
* = Welsh born but didn’t play for Wales.
| Name | Clubs | Dates | C | T | G | DG | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Llewellyn | Oldham | 1908 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Bert Jenkins | Wigan | 1908-1914 | 12 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Johnny Thomas | Wigan | 1908-1911 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 26 | ||
| Dai Jones | Merthyr Tydfil | 1908 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| George Ruddick | Broughton R | 1908-1911 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Phil Thomas | Leeds | 1908 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| George Thomas | Warrington | 1908 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Frank Young | Leeds | 1909 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Frank Shugars | Warrington | 1910 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Oliver Burgham | Halifax | 1911 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Will Davies | Halifax | 1911 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Jim Davies | Huddersfield | 1911-1912 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Ben Gronow | Huddersfield | 1911-1920 | 7 | 11 | 22 | |||
| Percy Coldrick | Wigan | 1913-1914 | 4 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Jack Chilcott | Huddersfield | 1914 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Gwyn Thomas | Wigan and Huddersfield | 1914-1922 | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Frank Williams | Halifax | 1914 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Willie Davies | Leeds | 1914 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Johnny Rogers | Huddersfield | 1914-1922 | 7 | 6 | 12 | |||
| Stuart Prosser | Halifax | 1914 | 1 | 0 | * | |||
| Evan Davies | Oldham | 1920 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Jim Bacon | Leeds | 1920-1927 | 9 | 4 | 12 | |||
| Danny Hurcombe | Wigan | 1920-1924 | 8 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Robbie Lloyd | Halifax | 1920-1921 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Jack Beames | Halifax | 1921 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Edgar Morgan | Hull | 1921 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Tommy Howley | Wigan | 1924 | 6 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Jim Sullivan | Wigan | 1924-1934 | 28 | 78 | 156 | |||
| Frank Evans | Swinton | 1924 | 4 | 3 | 9 | |||
| Joe Thompson | Leeds | 1924-32 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| Johnny Ring | Wigan | 1924-1926 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Dai Rees | Halifax | 1926 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Arthur Thomas | Leeds | 1926-1930 | 4 | 2 | 6 | * | ||
| Billo Rees | Swinton | 1926-1930 | 11 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Jack Gore | Salford | 1927 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Emlyn Gwynne | Hull | 1928-1929 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Dai Jenkins | Hunslet | 1929 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Tommy Rees | Oldham | 1929 | 1 | 0 | * | |||
| Billy Williams | Salford | 1930-1932 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Les White | Hunslet | 1932-1933 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Gus Risman | Salford | 1932-1946 | 18 | 2 | 12 | 30 | ||
| Norman Fender | York | 1933 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Billy Watkins | Salford | 1933-1937 | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Billy Davies | Castleford | 1933 | 1 | 0 | * | |||
| Emlyn Jenkins | Salford | 1933-1937 | 11 | 3 | 9 | |||
| Alan Edwards | Salford | 1935-1948 | 7 | 6 | 18 | |||
| Jack Morley | Wigan | 1936-1937 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Dai Prosser | Leeds | 1937 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Doug Phillips | Oldham and Belle Vue R | 1944-1950 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Frank Whitcombe | Bradford N | 1946 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Arthur Bassett | Halifax | 1946 | 2 | 5 | 15 | |||
| Billy Davies | Bradford N | 1946-1947 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Trevor Foster | Bradford N | 1946-1948 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Joe Jones | Wigan | 1946 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Ike Owens | Leeds | 1946 | 4 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Ted Ward | Wigan | 1946 | 3 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Dai Jenkins | Leeds | 1947-1953 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Roy Francis | Barrow | 1947 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Elwyn Gwyther | Belle Vue R | 1947-1951 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Dickie Williams | Leeds | 1947-1953 | 13 | 5 | 15 | |||
| Les Thomas | Oldham | 1947 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| George Parsons | St Helens and Salford | 1948-1959 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Jack Evans | Hunslet | 1951-56 | 6 | 4 | 8 | |||
| Arthur Daniels | Halifax | 1952-1955 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Billy Banks | Huddersfield | 1952-1953 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Ray Price | Warrington and St Helens | 1954-1957 | 10 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Billy Boston | Wigan | 1954-62 | 32 | 25 | 75 | * | ||
| Tommy Harris | Hull | 1954-1960 | 25 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Dai Bevan | Wigan | 1952 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |||
| John Thorley | Halifax | 1953-1954 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Lewis Jones | Leeds | 1953-57 | 17 | 5 | 71 | 157 | ||
| Glyn Moses | St Helens | 1955-57 | 9 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Charlie Winslade | Oldham | 1959 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Don Vines | Wakefield T | 1959 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Colin Dixon | Halifax, Salford and Hull KR | 1961-1974 | 14 | 3 | 9 | |||
| Stan Owen | Leigh | 1963 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Ron Morgan | Swinton | 1963-68 | 4 | 1 | 3 | |||
| John Warlow | St Helens | 1964-1971 | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Berwyn Jones | Wakefield T | 1964-66 | 3 | 3 | 9 | * | ||
| Gordon Lewis | Leigh | 1965 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Mervyn Hicks | St Helens | 1965 | 1 | 0 | * | |||
| John Mantle | St Helens | 1966-1973 | 13 | 0 | ||||
| Bill Francis | Wigan | 1967-1977 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Malcolm Price | Oldham | 1967 | 2 | 1 | 3 | * | ||
| Clive Sullivan | Hull and Hull KR | 1967-1973 | 17 | 13 | 39 | |||
| Tony Fisher | Bradford N, Leeds and Castleford | 1969-1979 | 11 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Terry Price | Bradford N | 1970 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| Keri Jones | Wigan | 1970 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| David Watkins | Salford | 1971-1974 | 6 | 3 | 6 | |||
| Jim Mills | Bradford N and Widnes | 1974-1979 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Maurice Richards | Salford | 1974 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| David Willicombe | Wigan | 1974 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |||
| John Bevan | Warrington | 1974-1978 | 6 | 5 | 15 | |||
| Eddie Cunningham | St Helens | 1978 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Roy Mathias | St Helens | 1979 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Glyn Shaw | Widnes | 1980 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Chris Camilleri | Barrow | 1980 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Phil Ford | Warrington and Leeds | 1985-1989 | 13 | 9 | 36 | |||
| Peter Williams | Salford | 1989 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Jonathan Davies | Widnes and Warrington | 1989-1994 | 13 | 4 | 47 | 2 | 112 | |
| David Bishop | Hull KR | 1990 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Gerald Cordle | Bradford N | 1990 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Anthony Sullivan | St Helens | 1991-1999 | 7 | 3 | 12 | |||
| Kevin Ellis | Warrington | 1991 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Paul Moriarty | Widnes and Halifax | 1991-1994 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |||
| John Devereux | Widnes | 1992-1993 | 8 | 6 | 24 | |||
| Allan Bateman | Warrington | 1992-1994 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Jonathan Griffiths | St Helens | 1992 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Mark Jones | Hull | 1992 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Richard Eyres | Leeds and Swinton L | 1993-1998 | 9 | 2 | 8 | |||
| Iestyn Harris | Warrington, Leeds R and Bradford B | 1994-2007 | 15 | 2 | 10 | 28 | ||
| Neil Cowie | Wigan | 1995-1999 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Rowland Phillips | Warrington | 1996 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Keiron Cunningham | St Helens | 1996-2006 | 16 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Paul Atcheson | Oldham | 1997 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Lee Briers | Warrington W | 2001 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Gareth Carvell | Hull FC | 2006 | 2 | 0 |
