Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup has been an international sporting competition that has been held irregularly since 1954 , in which the best national rugby league team in the world is chosen.
history
Since 1936 there have been efforts by the French Rugby League Association to introduce a world championship. After the Second World War , the idea was taken up again and at a meeting in Blackpool in November 1953, France was chosen by the World Rugby League as the first host. The following year, Great Britain defeated France in the final, becoming the first rugby league world champion.
In the early years only Australia , Great Britain , France and New Zealand participated. Each team played against the other, and while there had been a final at the 1954 Rugby League World Cup , it was decided that in the next competition, the team that did best in the "placement games" would win the title without another final should receive. Australia succeeded in doing this at the championship in their own country in 1957.
Great Britain secured the title for the second time in 1960. The next time the World Cup was held in 1968, however, as the French canceled the version planned for 1965 in their own country after they had previously returned from a tour to Australia without success. The World Cup took place every two years until the mid-1970s, with the 1972 final ending in a 10:10 draw. Great Britain received the title because of the better performance in the preliminary round games.
In 1975 the World Cup was radically reformed. The tournament no longer took place in a host country, but was played in home and away games. The British team was split in England and Wales . Australia beat England in the final, just as they did two years later when Great Britain came back as a team. Due to the constant changes in the mode of play, the public lost interest and no further tournament took place until the mid-1980s.
Over the years 1985–1988, each team played against each other several times at home and away. In the end there was a final between Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland . The tough game - Australian captain Wally Lewis played part of the game with a broken arm - ended 25-12 for the Australians. From 1989 to 1992 the format was repeated; Australia won again, this time against Great Britain 10-6 in front of 72,000 spectators at Wembley .
With ten participants there was the largest field of participants in the 1995 World Cup - again held in a different mode. Fiji , Tonga , Samoa and South Africa were among the newcomers . The tournament was also held to celebrate the centenary of the sport. Australia defeated England 16-8 in the final in front of 66,000 spectators.
In the new edition in 2000, six more teams were added. However, the games were not very competitive and the competition was not as successful as its predecessor.
In 2008, the number of participants for the World Cup in Australia was therefore again reduced to ten. 2013 UK participated 14 teams in the final between Australia and New Zealand was 74,468 spectators at Old Trafford of Manchester , a new record for a rugby league international game set.
Participating Nations
Australia , France and New Zealand are the only nations that have made it to every Rugby League World Cup. Players from England also took part in every tournament, but with the exception of 1975 until the 1989/92 tournament, the United Kingdom always participated with one, but since then with teams for the individual parts of the country.
