A Cash-filled Briefcase, A Missing Shield And The Beating Of Australia

England v Australia: Women's Test

Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas Date: Saturday, 1 March (02:00 GMT, Sunday, 2 March)

Coverage: Live matter commentary connected nan BBC Sport website and app

Lisa McIntosh is up-front pinch her thoughts connected England's women facing world champions Australia successful Las Vegas.

"Do you know? It makes maine consciousness really proud," says nan erstwhile Great Britain captain. "But I'm not going to dishonesty - I'm a spot envious.

"I'd person loved to person conscionable turned up pinch my kitbag and sewage connected nan level and played successful Vegas. But I'm made up for them."

When England's players measurement retired astatine Allegiant Stadium successful Vegas connected Saturday night, McIntosh is portion of nan trailblazing group of women they tin thank.

Twenty-nine years ago, pinch minimal help, that group organised and self-funded a Great Britain circuit to Australia - and hit nan hosts. They stay nan past British rugby convention squad to triumph an Ashes series.

So they cognize what it takes to conclusion nan Jillaroos.

"I deliberation what England request to do is not fearfulness them," McIntosh says. "Australia are truthful good, that consecutive distant group commencement to worry.

"But you spell retired location and you beryllium confident. If you lucifer them subordinate for player, there's nary logic why you can't hit them."

Back successful 1996, Great Britain's travelling statement overcame nan likelihood to conclusion Australia.

A bid that was connected a weapon separator until its last seconds featured backing battles, scrambles for flights and accommodation, a circuit head carrying £29,000 successful a briefcase, disappearing kit and affectional telephone calls home.

Then came nan forging of lifelong friendships, belated Hall of Fame nickname - and a triumph shield that vanished.

But first came nan conflict conscionable to get connected to nan pitch.

"It was fundamentally astir 2 weeks earlier we were owed to spell that we really knew we were going," says Jackie Sheldon, Great Britain's adjunct coach successful 1996.

Sheldon was caput of nan Women's Amateur Rugby League Association (Warla), which past oversaw nan British women's game, erstwhile it received an invitation successful 1995 to circuit Australia.

Accepting nan connection was nan easy part. Then came nan trickier aspects. For a start, location wasn't a Great Britain women's team.

So pinch Warla chair Anne Thompson, Sheldon group up a committee to prosecute a caput coach, find players and shape a backroom team. With nary budget, everyone had to beryllium persuaded to return connected nan roles unpaid.

"These group who sewage progressive were master people," Sheldon says. "And they were each giving their clip for free.

"I would go: 'This is what I want, and I haven't sewage immoderate money. Will you travel connected board?' And they'd say: 'Yeah.' Because they believed successful what we were trying to do."

Ian Harris, a coach who worked successful section authority sports development, took complaint of nan team, pinch Sheldon and Thompson arsenic his assistants, and a squad of 26 was put together. Now they had to find £70,000 to salary for nan tour.

Sheldon, herself past a assembly sports improvement officer, sewage to work. "We were not funded by anywhere," she says, "so I wrote a assistance exertion to nan Foundation for Sport and nan Arts, and we sewage thing for illustration £34,000 from them. And each of nan players were fixed a target of astir £1,000 to raise."

As nan summertime of 1996 approached, nan plans were coming together.

Then pinch conscionable weeks to go, nan team's circuit head dropped retired - and chaos loomed.

Sheldon and Thompson knew Nikki Carter, a Hull Vixens subordinate who had guidance acquisition from moving astatine a attraction home. They asked if she would measurement successful arsenic circuit manager.

"I was asked: 'Do you deliberation you could thief them out?'" Carter says.

"I was like: 'What do you mean?' They said: 'Go to Australia pinch them.' I was like: 'Hmm, I'd emotion to. Best spell and inquire my boss, really.'

"But it abruptly started to unravel. Lots of things that should person been organised 12 weeks retired from going to Australia weren't really organised."

The touring statement had nary flights, nary accommodation, nary kit.

Sheldon says: "The erstwhile manager, anterior to Nikki, had been tasked pinch securing nan flights, and he didn't unafraid them and didn't show us, truthful it was only astir 3 weeks beforehand that it each came retired that we had nary flights.

"My head allowed maine clip successful activity to telephone each nan airlines to effort to get, I think, 32 flights astatine 3 weeks' notice."

As Sheldon sorted flights, Carter originated kit, chased hotels and helped to complete nan fundraising. "Most of nan money was raised successful nan last 8 weeks," she says. They needed to group up a slope relationship quickly for nan tour. And successful 1996, that was a problem.

"There was nary slope relationship group up successful Australia," Carter says, "and it wasn't for illustration now, wherever you could ringing nan slope and say: 'I'm going to put this money successful location and I'm going to walk it from my slope account.'

"One of nan girls connected nan tour, who played for Wakefield, was a slope manager. And she said: 'It's not imaginable to group nan slope relationship up. It took excessively long.'

"So I ended up going to Australia pinch a briefcase pinch £29,000 successful rate and travellers' cheques, because location conscionable was nary different way. I carried that briefcase done nan full circuit - everyplace I went, that went."

The Great Britain statement made it to Australia, but location were much obstacles. Arriving astatine Sydney Airport, they were deed pinch an contiguous carrier problem. Their coach was only large capable to fresh either each nan players, aliases each nan kit - but not both. Carter, meanwhile, was organising squad meals connected nan fly.

"I deliberation location was a batch of bartering," skipper McIntosh says, "trying to get bully deals, wherever we'd get meal and beverage included."

The squad faced 7 matches successful 19 days: a Sydney Select broadside were thumped 86-0, earlier an Australian Capital Territory broadside were defeated 36-0 successful Canberra, wherever nan first Test against Australia was besides held.

Great Britain mislaid that lucifer 16-14, to a precocious punishment - amid controversy.

"We sewage a punishment successful nan past fewer minutes," McIntosh says. "Karen Burrows converted it, but nan officials disallowed it - they said it didn't spell over."

Next was a travel northbound to Brisbane, pinch nan squad booked successful for an exhausting 12-hour, 700-mile-plus coach journey. Tour head Carter intervened.

"We'd gone connected nan coach from Sydney to Canberra, but we needed to alert to Brisbane," Carter says.

"So we went to nan airdrome and I said: 'Would you beryllium capable to get america 32 formation tickets from Canberra to Brisbane tomorrow?' And nan feline astatine nan table looked astatine maine a spot strange. He tapped distant and he said: 'Oh, yeah, yeah, we could do that.' Then I had to discuss connected each nan luggage.

"And past I said to him: 'OK. How would I pay: Cash aliases travellers' cheques?' And this guy's look was a picture. So I paid for 32 flights pinch immoderate travellers' cheques."

In Brisbane, nan Great Britain and Australia players stayed successful nan aforesaid accommodation. "They were for illustration student dorms," McIntosh says.

Here, location was different situation for nan visitors - keeping way of their kit.

"We were fixed each 2 shirts, truthful astatine nan extremity of nan tour, we had 1 to switch and 1 to support truthful we could frame," McIntosh says. "But nan kit was laundered and a mates of shirts from our container went missing, including my spare number 13 shirt.

"We ne'er recovered retired what happened to it, but we had our suspicions."

Britain hit a Queensland XIII 22-8 to lukewarm up for nan 2nd Test against Australia, and they won that cardinal lucifer 18-12 to level nan series. Now it was backmost to Sydney for nan decider.

But for immoderate members of nan squad pinch young children, being acold distant from location was proving tough.

"I rang location astatine definite times of nan time because I knew nan kids wouldn't beryllium there," Carter says. "My eldest girl was six erstwhile I went. If I rang home, she would beryllium crying down nan phone, saying: 'I'm missing you, Mummy.' And it would past return days to retrieve from that telephone call.

"There was that pang of guilt because I'm retired present and I'm having a awesome time. At nan aforesaid time, I've near my children astatine location - and arsenic a mother, is that nan correct thing?

"It was difficult and anybody successful that position who says it wasn't, I deliberation will beryllium telling you porky pies."

After a 30-0 triumph complete a Presidents XIII successful Sydney, Great Britain faced nan deciding Test against Australia. It was a nail-biter.

The visitors built up a patient lead, pinch McIntosh moving half nan magnitude of nan transportation for a good individual effort - but had to withstand a battering arsenic Australia fought back. As nan timepiece ticked down, Britain held a slender 20-18 lead.

"We were defending connected our statement for our lives for nan past 10 minutes," McIntosh says. "It conscionable ne'er seemed to end."

The skipper has small representation of watching those closing minutes, having been concussed successful a clattering tackle.

"When nan last whistle went," McIntosh says, "I said to Paula Clark, nan squad physio: Have we won?

"We didn't realise really important it would beryllium successful clip - winning nan Ashes successful Australia. It was conscionable like: 'We hit nan Aussies connected their ain turf and it was great.'"

The Britain squad returned to a quiet reception astatine Heathrow. "We came done nan airdrome and it was for illustration tumbleweed," McIntosh says.

But disconnected nan backmost of nan bid win, Sheldon convinced Sport England to money a nationalist women's rugby convention improvement head and was asked to return connected nan role. She would besides beryllium England's caput coach done a 1998 circuit to New Zealand, nan World Cups of 2000 and 2003 and, successful between, a return circuit to Australia successful 2002.

"The improvement dropped disconnected aft 2003, erstwhile I left," Sheldon says. "GB was not a privilege for nan RFL astatine nan time. It was re-established successful 2007 erstwhile they started getting Sport England backing for it, but neither England nor GB person beaten Australia since 2002.

"You tin spot nan quality successful position of what Australia started to do aft that period.

"It's physicality, building nan team, strength of competition, and improvement of nan women's game, truthful you've sewage breadth and extent of players coming through. It's an infrastructure you need, and you tin spot it successful Australia."

Belatedly, Great Britain's 1996 squad person been recognised. Former referee Julia Lee, who officiated during nan tour, began driving nan Women successful Rugby League project, a ceremony of nan sport's female pioneers.

In 2022, McIntosh joined team-mates Brenda Dobek and Sally Milburn arsenic they became nan first women inducted into nan Rugby League Hall of Fame.

Last October, Jane Banks and Michelle Land followed, while nan 1996 broadside became nan first squad to beryllium inducted.

"I deliberation it's sad that it took truthful long, but I deliberation it's awesome that we're successful a different spot now," Carter says.

October's ceremonial successful Wigan brought virtually nan full squad backmost together.

"There was a camaraderie that was built successful '96," Carter says. "We each met up for nan Hall of Fame inauguration, and it was for illustration we'd ne'er been distant from each other."

Great Britain's players made long-lasting friendships pinch nan Australians excessively - which yet reunited McIntosh pinch 1 of her shirts.

"I ne'er recovered nan garment that was taken during nan tour, but I did get backmost nan 1 that I swapped," McIntosh says. "Their captain, who I swapped my garment with, returned it to me."

But there's 1 awesome memento from 1996 that no-one tin find.

Britain's players, wearing nan Australia shirts they had conscionable swapped, posed for a squad image aft winning nan series.

In that typical moment, they showed disconnected their prize - a ample shield.

Three years ago, earlier an accumulation to observe their achievements, an entreaty was put retired to find nan shield. It hasn't turned up.

"We thought we'd brought it back, and that it was astatine nan RFL," McIntosh says. "But it's not."

The enigma remains unresolved. "Lisa ever said she reckoned I had it successful my attic," Sheldon says. "I've sewage conscionable astir everything other successful my attic but not that shield."

If anyone does person it, they're sitting connected a portion of history.

"It's successful somebody's attic, because I can't spot wherever other it would person gone," Carter says. "So possibly everyone needs to look successful their attic!"