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The
Rugby League World Cup
Published
by League Publications Ltd The final of the first Rugby League World Cup was held in Bordeaux, France, in 1954. In front of over 30,000 spectators the home side were held out by Britain 16-12 in the fight for the inaugural trophy. Since then the World Cup tournament has been held another eleven times, with the most recent being in 2000. The primary combatants have been Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and France. These contests hold a sizeable chunk of International Rugby League's history and the compilation of a book paying tribute to the Cup is a welcome contribution to the documented history of the game. League Publications has put together in one volume a complete summary of the history of the Rugby League World Cup, including all match statistics, points and player records of every tournament, detailed match reviews and fully listed team squads. The book also includes a full review of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup with match reports of all games and plenty of photographs (many in colour).
This book recounts the development of the idea for a World Cup, first put forward by Paul Barriere of the French Rugby League in 1954. It was a remarkable achievement. It was a time when international air travel was just starting to become an option. The Kangaroos of 1952 had still travelled to and from England via ship. The fact that rugby league's four Test playing nations could see meeting together in a World Cup as something that could be readily achieved, is testimony to their enterprise. The Rugby League World Cup offers many benefits to the game of rugby league. While many smaller nations took their places in the 1995 and 2000 tournaments, the hosting of the 1988 Final in New Zealand gave rugby league in that country a huge boost. As explored in detail in this book the Kiwis didn't win that match, but the movement to enter a team in the NSWRL club competition began its rise immediately afterwards. The record crowds attracted to Rugby League World Cup Finals in New Zealand (46,000 in 1988) and in England (73,631 in 1992) is a pointer to the interest that this tournament can generate for the game of rugby league. This book reminds us that the 1968 World Cup games held in Sydney were hugely popular with the locals - the opening game and Final drew a total of 115,000 spectators. Such numbers and interest holds up well in comparison to the recent RUWC which drew only 45,000 more to the same two matches - even though they enjoyed the benefit of international visitors and a far larger Sydney population. As the authors of The Rugby League World Cup book point out, Barriere's words of the early 1950s are still worth repeating today: "It appears to us....that the time has now come to organise a World Cup series - indeed we feel it indispensable." 'The
Rugby League World Cup - Published
by League Publications Ltd |
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Rugby
League has many achievements to its credit that it should proudly shout
about. The implementation of a World Cup tournament in 1954 is one of
them. It would be decades before cricket and rugby union followed in
rugby league's footprints.