Rugby League World Cup

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The Rugby League World Cup is organised by the Rugby League International Federation, the governing body.

The next Rugby League World Cup is to be held in Australia in 2008

For the women's tournament, see Women's Rugby League World Cup

The Rugby League World Cup is an international tournament to determine the best Rugby League playing nation in the world. It was first held in 1954 in France, and will next be contested in Australia in 2008, who are also the current world champions.

1 History
2 Participant nations
3 Results
4 Sources
5 See also

[edit] History

The Rugby League World Cup was an initiative of French, who had been campaigning for a Rugby League World Cup since 1935. The idea was further pursued in 1951 in post-war France, with the pioneer of the concept being Paul Barriere, the President of the French Rugby League. In January 1952 the idea gained momentum as Rugby Football League secretary Bill Fallowfield persuaded the Rugby League Council to support the concept. At a meeting held in Blackpool, England, November 1953, the International Board accepted Paul Barrie’s proposal that France should be the nation to host the first World Cup, the inaugural "Rugby World Cup" of either rugby code. The first World Cup was held the following year, with Great Britain defeating France in Paris on November 13 to claim the title.

The World Cup was initially contested by the four Test nations: Australia, Great Britain, France and New Zealand. The teams played each other in a league format. After a final was played between the top two teams in 1954, it was decided that the team that finished first in the league standings would be declared the winner for the second World Cup in Australia in 1957. Australia proved victorious on their home ground.

After the successful 1960 competition, in which Great Britain won the title for the second time, there would be no further World Cup for 8 years. The competition had be scheduled to be held in France in 1965, but after an unsuccessful tour of Australia, the French withdrew. The tournament was next held in 1968, and followed a 2 year cycle until the mid-1970s. The 1972 World Cup final ended in a 10-all draw, and the title was awarded to Great Britain by virtue of their superior record in the qualifiers.

In 1975 the competition underwent its most radical overhaul to date. It was decided to play matches on a home and away basis around the world, instead of in any one host nation. Furthermore, the Great Britain team was spilt into England and Wales. Australia won that tournament, and in 1977 it was decided that Great Britain should once more compete as a single entity. Although the final between Australia and Great Britain was a closely fought affair, public interest in the tournament waned due to the continuing tinkering with the format, and it would not be held again until the mid-1980s.

From 1985 to 1988, each nation played each other a number of times on a home and away basis. At the end of that period Australia met New Zealand at Eden Park. The match was a physical encounter, and Australian captain Wally Lewis played part of the match with a broken arm. The Kangaroos won the competition 25-12. This format was repeated from 1989-1992, and Australia defeated Great Britain 10-6 at Wembley Stadium in front of 72,000 people. This crowd remains a rugby league World Cup record.

In 1995 the competition was once again restructured, and the largest number of teams to date, 10, entered. New teams competing included Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and South Africa. The tournament, which was also held to celebrate the centenary of the sport in England, was highly successful with over 250,000 people attending the group stages and over 66,000 people attending the final to see Australia defeat England 16-8 in the final.

The 2000 world cup expanded the field further, with 16 teams entering. Blown out scorelines ensured that this tournament was not as successful as the previous one. In the same year, the first women's rugby league world cup was held.

Ten teams are to compete in the next World Cup in Australia in 2008. It has also been announced that a further tournament will be held in Great Britain in 2012 [1]

[edit] Participant nations

Australia, France and New Zealand are the only nations who have appeared at every Rugby League World Cup, Great Britain also have been at all, but participated as England, Wales and Scotland during some of the more recent tournaments.

The following list, are all the teams that have competed in a World Cup tournament since its inception.

Australia
Australia Aborigines
Cook Islands
England
Fiji
France
Great Britain

Ireland
Lebanon
New Zealand
New Zealand Māori
Papua New Guinea
Russia (former USSR)

Samoa
Scotland
South Africa
Tonga
Wales
Western Samoa

[edit] Results

Year	Host	Winner	Final Score	Runner-up	Final venue	Final crowd
1954	France	Great Britain	16 - 12	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	30,368
1957	Australia	Australia	-	Great Britain	-	-
1960	United Kingdom	Great Britain	10 - 3	Australia	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	32,733
1968	Australia New Zealand	Australia	20 - 2	France	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	54,290
1970	United Kingdom	Australia	12 - 7	Great Britain	Headingley, Leeds	18,776
1972	France	Great Britain	10 - 10	Australia	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	4,500
1975	Worldwide	Australia	25 - 0	England	Headingley, Leeds	7,727
1977	Australia New Zealand	Australia	13 - 12	Great Britain	Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	24,457
1985-1988	Worldwide	Australia	25 - 12	New Zealand	Eden Park, Auckland	47,363
1989-1992	Worldwide	Australia	10 - 6	Great Britain	Wembley Stadium, London	73,631
1995	United Kingdom	Australia	16 - 8	England	Wembley Stadium, London	66,540
2000	United Kingdom	Australia	40 - 12	New Zealand	Old Trafford, Manchester	44,329
2008	Australia
2012	United Kingdom