The Great Britain University RL Pioneers squad, which comprises the best of England Universities Rugby League players, returned from Hungary last week following another successful tour led by Head Coach from the Leeds Rhinos Foundation Richard Tate.
The Pioneers visited Hungary’s capital Budapest to take on an all-Hungarian team for the first time as part of the nine-day tour to develop the sport of Rugby League in the country.
The GB Pioneers who were formed in 2005, work with the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) to visit countries new to Rugby League to support their development playing a fixture against the county’s national side along with a series of warm up games and local competitions.
Since the Pioneers inaugural tour in 2005 to Estonia the squad has enjoyed successful development tours to the Czech Republic, Latvia, Ukraine, Norway, Kazakhstan, Greece, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the last few years for the first time to Africa in Morocco and Ghana.
On the back of the tour, each country has gone on to develop and play rugby league domestically and internationally at varying degrees all thanks to the work and help of the Pioneers.
Coached by Leeds Rhinos Rugby League Development Officer Richard Tate for each of the last four years, this year’s GB Pioneers comprised of representatives from 16 different universities across England and Wales.
Tate, who works in schools throughout the South of Leeds as part of his full time role with the Leeds Rhinos Foundation said:
“I would like to thank everyone who has made this tour such a success from the GB Pioneers team, the HRLF and in particular Zsolt Lukacs and his team for their hospitality.
The Pioneers squad spent time training both as a squad and also with the Hungarian players while on tour, developing both their own skills and knowledge to take back to their University clubs, and teaching the hosts about Rugby League, which Tate sees as the most important aspect of the Pioneers trip.
“The tour has been about much more than the games we’ve played out here, it’s about the bigger developmental side where we have been able to work closely with Hungarian Rugby League to upskill players and try and build a Rugby League legacy in the country.” Said Tate
While taking part in a Test match against Hungary and a 9-a-side tournament in Szentes against sides from the region, the Pioneers were also introduced to the concept of EuroTag, which is a development version of Touch Rugby League designed to simulate the contact side of the game and widen the appeal of the sport.
On the back of the Pioneers visit, members of the Hungary Rugby League Federation will continue to build on the legacy of the tour by visiting Great Britain in September to take part in a Match Officials course with Martin Crick from the RLEF to further develop the game in the country.
To find out more about the GB Pioneers click here
The GB Pioneers 2016 Squad: David Harrison (Bristol), Martyn Steel (Leicester), Iestyn Withers, Liam Curnow (Cardiff Met), Lewis Davey (Leeds Trinity), Louis Ford (Swansea), Ben Lines (Oxford Brookes), Tim Smith (University of Hertfordshire), Matt Bell (Durham), Liam Jackson (Loughborough), Ryan Scholes (Bradford), Josh Hill (Salford), Bowden Morgan, Aaron Levy (Newcastle), Mark Cordeaux (Sheffield), Angus Parkin (Liverpool), Corie Shorrock (Bangor), Matt McKelvey (Belfast Met), Elliot Townsend (Hull), Josh Tucker (Durham)