The 2006 Tri-nations tournament was held in Australia and New Zealand. Controversy erupted as Nathan Fien was determined to be ineligible to play for New Zealand. This resulted in a loss of two competition points that New Zealand gained from their win against Great Britain in Christchurch.

Great Britain then went on to beat Australia in Sydney 23-12, their first win in Australia since 1992, leaving the series wide open. However Great Britain went on to suffer heavy defeats in their last two games, leaving Australia and New Zealand to again contest the final.

Australia won 16-12, the game having gone to golden point extra time after finishing 12-12 after 80 minutes.

The 2005 Tri-Nations opened with games in both Australia and New Zealand, before moving to the United Kingdom for the remainder of the tournament. Although some of the matches were not as close as the previous tournament, all three teams were in contention for the final by the last group match.

New Zealand won the final, defeating Australia 24-0 at Elland Road in Leeds. This was Australia's first defeat in an international test series in 27 years.

With the exception of the first match between Australia and New Zealand, the 2004 Tri-Nations was held in the United Kingdom.

Each of the qualifying games was highly competitive, especially Great Britain’s 24-12 victory over world champions Australia, which took the Lions through to the final as group leaders.

Great Britain failed to live up to their pre final efforts and were soundly beaten by 44-4 in the final at Elland Road.

The first Tri-Nations tournament was held in 1999 in Australia and New Zealand. The Kiwis and the Kangaroos contested the first final in Auckland with Australia narrowly beating New Zealand 22-20 in the final.

Great Britain, the other nation in the inaugural tournament, failed to win a group game.