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1968 Rugby League World Cup

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1968 (1968) World Cup  ()
Number of teams4
Host countries Australia
 New Zealand
Winner Australia (2nd title)

Matches played7
Attendance220,683 (31,526 per match)
Points scored227 (32.43 per match)
Top scorerAustralia Eric Simms (56)
Top try scorersAustralia Lionel Williamson (4)
Australia Ron Coote (4)
United Kingdom Clive Sullivan (4)
 < 1960
1970

The 1968 Rugby League World Cup was the fourth World Cup for men’s national teams and was held between 25 May and 10 June and for the first time co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Australia were the Champions after they defeated France in the final.

Background

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The World Cup was initially set to be played in 1965 however, the Australian Board of Control recommended postponing the tournament to which the English Rugby League Council agreed in November 1964.[1]

For the first time a final to determine the World Cup was specifically pre-arranged (previous finals having only been used when teams finished level on points) and the tournament made a profit for the first time.[citation needed]

The 1968 World Cup was the first to be played under limited tackles rules, the number then being four tackles. The round 1 match between Great Britain and Australia attracted an attendance of 62,256, the highest for a World Cup match until 1992.[2] The final was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground; a crowd of 54,290 watched Australia defeat France.[2] The stars of the Australian team in the tournament were skipper Johnny Raper, second-rower Ron Coote, who scored spectacular tries in each and every game, and the dead-shot kicker Eric Simms, who harvested a record 25 goals (50 points).

Squads

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Venues

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Australia Sydney Australia Brisbane New Zealand Auckland
Sydney Cricket Ground Lang Park Carlaw Park
Capacity: 70,000 Capacity: 40,000 Capacity: 20,000

Group Stage

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Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
 Australia 3 3 0 0 93 26 +67 6 Qualified for the World Cup final
 France 3 2 0 1 26 49 −23 4
 Great Britain 3 1 0 2 50 46 +4 2
 New Zealand 3 0 0 3 36 84 −48 0
Source: [citation needed]
25 May
New Zealand 10 – 15 France
Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: Col Pearce (AUS)

France: Jean-Claude Cros; Daniel Pellerin, Michel Molinier, Jean-Pierre Lecompte, André Ferren; Jean Capdouze, Roger Garrigue; Georges Ailleres (c), Yves Bégou, Christian Sabatié, Francis de Nadaï, Henri Marracq, Jean-Pierre Clar
New Zealand: R Tait; R Mincham, H Sinel, P Schultz, E Wiggs; J Bond (c), J Clarke; O Danielson, Colin O'Neil, George Smith, B Lee, J Dixon, A Kriletich; Henry Tatana.

After only twelve minutes, New Zealand second-rower Brian Lee was sent off in a match in which the classy French stand-off Jean Capdouze bagged 13 points. The game was also notable for the first World Cup substitution when Adolphe Alésina replaced second-rower Francis de Nadaï.


25 May
Australia 25 – 10 Great Britain
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 62,256[2]
Referee: John Percival New Zealand

A record World Cup crowd of 62,256 saw New Zealand referee John Percival mercilessly penalising Great Britain, with debutant full-back Eric Simms booting a record eight goals in Australia's win.[3]


1 June
Australia 31 – 12 New Zealand
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 23,608

Simms repeated the feat of kicking eight goals as he had in the previous match as Australia eventually killed off New Zealand at Brisbane after trailing for much of the game.


2 June
France 7 – 2 Great Britain
Carlaw Park, Auckland
Attendance: 15,760

France surprised Britain in a rain-ruined match at Auckland with an uncharacteristically stubborn defensive display and winger Jean-René Ledru, scoring the winning try to qualify for a World Cup final showdown against Australia.


8 June
Australia 37 – 4 France
Lang Park, Brisbane
Attendance: 32,664

In the final preliminary game in Brisbane, Australia's scrum-half back Billy Smith dropped three goals. French winger Jean-René Ledru and Australia's prop Artie Beetson were both sent off.


8 June
Great Britain 38 – 14 New Zealand
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 14,105

Final

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The final had been billed a 'debacle' following Great Britain's inexplicable loss to France in Auckland, resulting in France contesting the final against Australia despite having been beaten by Australia seven tries to none two days prior.[4] Nonetheless, it attracted a record crowd of 54,290 for a World Cup final match.

10 June 1968
Australia  20–2  France
Try:
Lionel Williamson (2)
Ron Coote
Johnny Greaves
Goals:
Eric Simms (4)
[5]
Try:



Goals:

Field Goals:
Jean Capdouze (1)
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 54,290
Referee: John Percival New Zealand
Player of the Match: John Wittenberg
Australia
France
FB 1 Eric Simms
LW 2 Johnny Rhodes
RC 3 Graeme Langlands
LC 4 Johnny Greaves
RW 5 Lionel Williamson
FE 6 Bob Fulton
HB 7 Billy Smith
LK 8 Johnny Raper (c)
SR 9 Ron Coote
SR 10 Dick Thornett
PR 11 Arthur Beetson
HK 12 Fred Jones
PR 13 John Wittenberg
Substitutions:
IC 14
IC 15 Elton Rasmussen
Coach:
Australia Harry Bath
FB 1 Jean-Claude Cros
RW 2 Daniel Pellerin
RC 3 Jacques Gruppi
LC 4 Jean-Pierre Lecompte
LW 19 Jean-René Ledru
FE 6 Jean Capdouze
HB 7 Roger Garrigue
PR 8 Christian Sabatié
HK 9 Yves Bégou
PR 10 George Ailleres (c)
SR 11 Francis de Nadaï
SR 12 Henri Marracq
LF 13 Jean-Pierre Clar
Substitutions:
IC 14
IC 16 Jacques Gruppi
Coach:
France Jep Lacoste

The undefeated Australians went into the tournament decider as favourites.[6] However France offered stern resistance and held the Australians to 0–7 at half-time and with quarter of an hour were only 0–12 down before losing 2–20. It was Australia's second World Cup title.

Try scorers

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4
3
2
1

References

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Inline

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  1. ^ "England Agrees To Postpone Rugby League World Cup". The Press. Vol. CIII, no. 30588. 3 November 1964. p. 19.
  2. ^ a b c McCann, 2006: 83
  3. ^ 1968 RLWC Australia vs Great Britain
  4. ^ "Rugby league debacle". The Age. 10 June 1968. p. 21. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  5. ^ Report
  6. ^ Kdouh, Fatima (28 November 2013). "We take a look back at the greatest Rugby League World Cup finals of all time". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 December 2013.

General

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