It’s been two and a bit decades since the Australian Kangaroos were beaten by England’s rugby league national team. The convicts and their overlords have met on just 13 occasions in Tests since 1975, with the Aussies having bested the English ten times, lost twice, with one match drawn.

Australia’s history and rivalry with Great Britain on the international stage, of course, goes much deeper. It may surprise many Aussies to learn that of the 137 Tests played against GB, Australia holds a relatively slender 72-60-wins lead over the Brits, with five matches drawn. In 2007, Great Britain was removed from the regular international scene and broken up into its various nations. The famous representative team will be bought out only for special occasions from now on, such as tours and visits by teams like the Kangaroos.

England, then, last tasted victory over the Aussies on October 7 1995, in the opening match of that year’s Rugby League World Cup. They won 20-16 at the old Wembley Stadium in front of 41,271 spectators.

The stage leading up to that famous encounter wasn’t exactly set: rather, it had been demolished and trampled to the ground, especially for the Aussies. As Ian Heads and David Middleton recall in A Centenary Of Rugby League: 1908-2008, five days before Australia’s six selectors sat down to choose their country’s team for the 1995 World Cup, the NSW Industrial Court ruled in favour of Canberra Raiders players Laurie Daley, Ricky Stuart, Bradley Clyde, Steve Walters and Brett Mullins, who claimed the ARL had discriminated against them in recent team selections.

“Consequently”, wrote Heads and Middleton, “when the selectors gathered in Sydney to choose the Cup squad, they were first required to study a legal document prepared by the Australian Rugby League’s lawyers that provided instructions on how they could proceed and also avoid possible further action. But after giving the document due consideration, the selectors went ahead and chose the 21 players for the World Cup tour, none of whom happened to be Super League signings.”

Heading into the 1995 World Cup, every international body had signed with Rupert Murdoch’s rebel league except the Australian rugby league.

The Brad-Fittler-skippered Kangaroos were outclassed in a thriller at Wembley by England to open the 1995 World Cup. The Poms boasted some famous league names, all too familiar with Aussie supporters even today. Kris Radlinski wore the number-one jersey back then, and they also had brutes such as Karl Harrison, Lee Jackson and Andy Platt in their side. Andy Farrell, Chris Joynt, Paul Newlove and Jason Robinson (pictured above) were the tryscorers for Phil Larder’s boys that day, while Farrell also kicked two goals.

It was a glorious day for English rugby league; do they dare dream of a repeat 21 years later?