1968 Rugby League World Cup

The 1968 Rugby League World Cup tournament was the fourth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia and New Zealand during May and June in 1968. Contested by the men's national rugby league football teams of the two host countries plus Great Britain and France, 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). Financially it was a profitable venture for the competing nations.

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 scorer Eric Simms (56)
Top try scorers Lionel Williamson (4)
Ron Coote (4)
Clive Sullivan (4)
 < 1960
1970 > 

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.[1] The final was held at the Sydney Cricket Ground; a crowd of 54,290 watched Australia defeat France.[1] 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

Venues

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

Results

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[1]
Referee: John Percival

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.[2]


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 standings

Australia and France, having finished in first and second places respectively, qualified for the World Cup final.

TeamPlayedWonDrewLost For AgainstDifferencePoints
 Australia33009326+676
 France32012649−234
 Great Britain31025046+42
 New Zealand30033684−480

Final

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.[3] 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)
[4] Try:



Goals:

Field Goals:
Jean Capdouze (1)
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Attendance: 54,290
Referee: John Percival
Man of the Match: John Wittenberg
Australia
France
FB1 Eric Simms
LW2 Johnny Rhodes
RC3 Graeme Langlands
LC4 Johnny Greaves
RW5 Lionel Williamson
FE6 Bob Fulton
HB7 Billy Smith
LK8 Johnny Raper (c)
SR9 Ron Coote
SR10 Dick Thornett
PR11 Arthur Beetson
HK12 Fred Jones
PR13 John Wittenberg
Substitutions:
IC14
IC15 Elton Rasmussen
Coach:
Harry Bath
FB1 Jean-Claude Cros
RW2 Daniel Pellerin
RC3 Jacques Gruppi
LC4 Jean-Pierre Lecompte
LW19 Jean-René Ledru
FE6 Jean Capdouze
HB7 Roger Garrigue
PR8 Christian Sabatié
HK9 Yves Bégou
PR10 George Ailleres (c)
SR11 Francis de Nadaï
SR12 Henri Marracq
LF13 Jean-Pierre Clar
Substitutions:
IC14
IC16 Jacques Gruppi
Coach:
Jep Lacoste

The undefeated Australians went into the tournament decider as favourites.[5] 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

4
3
2
1

References

Inline

  1. McCann, 2006: 83
  2. 1968 RLWC Australia vs Great Britain
  3. "Rugby league debacle". The Age. 10 June 1968. p. 21. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  4. Report
  5. 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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