International Test Match Comparison : England RU vs England/GB RL

How many international test matches were played by the two oval ball codes in England? Rugby Union puts much greater emphasis on internationals so obviously the RU team will have played more. Looking at the data going back to the 1960's in decade blocks is how I did it. The 2020's are for five years so that number is lower being half of the others. 

One issue is that there have also been GB sides as well. England still played matches each year despite there being GB Lions tours. In addition, the other nations contributing players have done so in large numbers. So the GB RU team is not very English and therefore not counted below.  

In RL, it is different. GB played instead of England and the GB side was overwhelmingly made up of players from England. More recently, GB has been phased out and England is playing as a nation. For those reasons, GB results are counted with England ones below. 

All games against another nation are counted, even if a few may not have been given test match status. Maybe they all were. The noticeable trend as will all RU / RL international match comparisons is how RU has pushed them as time has passed, RL hasn't. Greater emphasis on club competitions in RL is the reason. GB/England played more international games in the 1960's and 70's but by the 2020's it is massively favouring RU and the gap is still widening.

Union is red, league blue.

When looking at win rates, overall there isn't much in it. RU had a very poor two decades to start with but then little difference between them until the latest period. The RL percentage is based on how often they play Australia and to a lesser extent the Kiwis. That has lifted England's success rate in recent times but with the Kangaroos touring in 2025, we can expect the '20' figure to drop.  

Others in the series are as follows. Simply click on the country name to go there: Australia, France, New Zealand.